Ended up riding further down to Audubon for brunch at the Legacy Diner. Their parking lot was so jammed full, I was sure I'd never get a seat. Thankfully, one of the small tables was open. Had deliciously sweet coconut pineapple pancakes with syrup, whipped cream, and butter and two iced teas. The waitress was a sweetheart, joking with me about my vacation and talking about her own previous trip to Cape May. I made sure to tip her extra.
Stopped at WaWa on the way back to Oaklyn. I had no trouble picking up money for vacation. Grabbed two sodas, too. Coke was two for $4.25; I got Orange Cream Zero and Cherry Zero. For a Sunday, the line wasn't bad. Everyone must have been at brunch.
Went straight home after that. Had a quick lunch, then dusted the bedroom and washed the windows while listening to The Beach Boys In Concert. This collection of performances from various concerts in 1972 and 1973 wound up being their biggest hit in almost 8 years...and it's not surprising, with the great line-up here. The album kicks off in the Boys' native LA with "Sail On, Sailor," and goes on to give us some of the Boys' biggest hits from there. "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" and "Surfer Girls" are especially good, and I'm always glad to hear my favorite Boys song "Heroes and Villains."
Worked on editing Land of WENN for the next two hours after I finished cleaning. Betty, Mackie, and the others arrive in Port Harbor, a ritzy resort town on the edge of a wide lake. Every year, the town holds a Summer Arts Festival with a theater contest for the best plays. Betty hopes to win the contest and earn money to continue their journey and get in touch with Lady Hilary Booth, who owns the Pearl Knife and Water Talisman.
Jeff does manage to convince his imperious former diva wife Hilary to see their play. She's impressed enough to order re-writes, so she can star in it too. She's less open to discussions of joining Betty's quest. Her father and her mentor Giels Aldrych were killed for being openly against the Shadow Realm. Hilary would prefer to remain neutral and avoid their fate.
Betty spends a busy week writing, rehearing the show, dealing with Hilary's demands, and exploring Port Harbor. On one of her trips into town, she meets Doug Thompson, a sweet and gentle lawyer. They become good friends, and though she agrees to attend Hilary's big end-of-the Festival ball, she's not sure it's really love.
Scott has his own problems in Port Harbor when he meets one of Palermo Racine's flunkies at a dive on the waterfront. The lizard-man tells him they'll let his debts go if he turns in Mackie, but Scott won't do it. He turns the man into crystal instead before he can shoot him and sends him back to Racine.
A week later her "Valiant Journey" play is a success, and Betty and the others win the contest. While heading back through the halls, Betty encounters Scott hiding in the shadows. He's been watching her and Doug all week, waiting for her to be alone. He finally invites her on a midnight stroll on the lakefront during the ball.
I texted Jessa earlier in the day, and she said she was already in Philadelphia and didn't mind giving us a ride back from 30th Street if I found another way there. I ended up calling Uber. They took 14 minutes to arrive, and it cost me over $37, but despite some evening rush hour traffic in Cherry Hill and on the Schuylkill Expressway, I got there just in time.
Which proved to be a moot point. Lauren's train was late. I spent more than 20 minutes wandering around the busy station, waiting for her train to come in. I finally gave up and went to the bathroom...and Lauren ended up finding me not five minutes after I got out. It then took us even longer to find where Jessa parked. It wasn't with the other cars. It was on 29th Street, where the cabs pick up and drop off.
It took us even longer than that to get home. Many streets downtown were blocked off. We saw people strolling down the streets carrying rainbow flags. Today's the first day of Pride Month. It must have been a big parade or block party. She wound slowly through South Philly and Old Town before finally turning onto the Ben Franklin Bridge. We had no trouble after that, finally getting in around 8 PM.
After we got in and Lauren put her things upstairs, we went right back out. Lauren wanted to stretch her legs, and considering I'd been inside for much of the day, it wouldn't hurt me, either. My first thought was Phillies Yummies, but they close at 6 on Sunday. We ended up at WaWa. She got a Pepsi Zero, a Mountain Dew, and a chipotle turkey sandwich. I bought my soda earlier and settled on a mint cookies and cream smoothie.
At least the weather was decent. Though it remained blustery and cool, the clouds had largely given way to soft sunshine. There was even a lovely pink and blue sunset as we hiked home.
Spent the rest of the night watching tonight's YouTube marathon. Match Game Productions continued to honor the late Loretta Swit, this time with episodes of the other two game shows she made prominent appearances on. She was one of the better players on the $10,000 and $20,000 Pyramids during their runs. One full week of $10,000 with her and a full week and an episode of $20,000 survive. The $10,000 week is an all-star special with her and McLean Stevenson playing David Spielburg and Anita Gillette of the short-lived TV version of Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice (and kicking their rears - Spielburg wasn't very good). Her $20,000 weeks with Clifton Davies and Peter Boneranz are even more fun, especially the big wins during the latter.
She appeared even more often on Password Plus, doing four weeks in 1979 and early 1980 before Allen Ludden left. Her first week had her doing battle with an irascible Jack Klugman, who spent the time fending off jokes about the bucket hat he wore to cover his balding head. Big, goofy John Schuck was her partner during her second week. Ron Masak proved to be a far sharper partner several months later. Her last appearance on the show was with smooth, laid-back action star Greg Morris. She probably did the best with Schuck and Klugman, though she tended to do better with the puzzles than with the Alphabetics bonus round.
Lorretta turned up on Hollywood Squares in 1979, late in its original syndicated run. Her surviving episode has her joined by Florence Henderson, Rose-Marie, George Gobel, Lance Kerwin, and Victor Borge, with Paul Lynde presiding over the center square. Though I don't think she did as well here as she did on Match Game, she certainly had no trouble tossing out zingers to the contestants. And speaking of Match Game, the hilarious nighttime episode featuring the adorable little old man who called himself Tiger showed up here, too.
Celebrate Swit's life with some of her most memorable game show appearances!
Oh, and as we always do on our first day of vacation, we're going to visit Bob at Abbie Road Music tomorrow, then head to the Audubon Crossings shopping center for lunch and to check out the stores there.
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