We got off at the Franklin Square station and went straight around the corner to Franklin Square. I've been wanting to show Lauren this beautiful park since I visited here last August. The Chinese Lantern Festival was even more beautiful this year than it was last year! Flowers were the theme. We were greeted by towering daisies, sunflowers, lily pads, and gorgeous purple fabric blooms. I saw a soccer and baseball-themed "Philly" display near one of the entrances, and fabric horses who looked real enough to jump over the fence.
The fountain wasn't running and none of the food booths were open at quarter of 12, but everything else was ready to go. We played the mini-golf course. It was a lot of fun! The obstacles are all based on Philadelphia landmarks, like Elfreth's Alley, the Ben Franklin Bridge, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (they even have Rocky's footprints next to the course). Lauren got two holes in one, one of them right through the Chinatown Friendship Arch. There's even one with "records" representing hits from Philadelphia International Records, like "Me and Mrs. Jones" and "Ain't No Stopping Us Now." The last course has the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Lauren won, but only by a few points. We were flanked on one side by two middle-aged gentlemen who gallantly allowed us to go on ahead of them, and three college students who laughed a lot and seemed to really enjoy themselves.
After we finished, we headed down Race Street to the Race Street Cafe for lunch. Despite its name, this small brick-and-wood-paneling watering hole is really more of a local bar. Lauren had tilapia tacos she said were delicious. I tried them when I ate there last year and found them to be too spicy for me. I went with a nice, simple grilled chicken sandwich and slender, salty fries.
The Race Street Cafe is just steps away from 2nd Street. Our first stop here was A Four Foot Prune, which specializes in Muppet memorabilia, character toys and media from the 50's through the 90's, and anything Liza Minnelli ever did. Lauren found two cute bags - one with Snoopy, one with a scene from The Monster at the End of This Book that matches a shirt she has - and some pins and patches. I found a small Dakin Bear dressed as a pilgrim girl, with a turkey on a ribbon, for only $2. I think the kids will love Jim Henson's Muppet Babies Big Book of Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales, with its adorable illustrations depicting Rolf as Humpty Dumpty, Skeeter and Scooter as Jack and Jill, Kermit as Wee Willie Winkie, and Piggy as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. I only dug up one record, but it was one of the Tale Spinners for Children series from England, Sinbad the Sailor.
We crossed 2nd Street to check out Brave New Worlds, a popular local comics book shop. This is a lot more organized than the book stores, a long, dark room with shelves and shelves of comic books, manga, and toys. I didn't get anything here. Lauren got a figure for a friend and Marvel Meow, with Marvel characters hilariously interacting with cats and other pets.
The Book Trader is two blocks down from Brave New Worlds. It's a wonderful used book store, with rickety shelves filled from floor to ceiling with books, records, CDs, DVDs, and videos. This time, Lauren didn't find anything. She spent the time relaxing by the fiction and foreign language sections on the second floor. I did dig out two cast album LPs:
The original Broadway cast of Little Me with Sid Caesar playing the seven loves of a Hollywood starlet
The original London cast of Salad Days...which I was kind of shocked to find. Though this charming small-scale musical was a huge hit on the West End in 1954, it played off-Broadway in 1958, didn't do well, and hasn't tried the US since.
And four books:
Standing In the Rainbow and The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg
Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies by Ted Chapin
The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey (I did take this one out of the Haddon Township Library about 15 years ago, but that copy is long gone.)
Last year, I wandered around in Old City until I found my way back to Franklin Square...but that wasn't going to fly this time. For one thing, we were both carrying heavy bags with books, records, toys, and other items. For another, Lauren wanted to hit up Fashion District Mall. Not to mention, while not killer humid like it's supposed to be later in the week, it was much hotter than yesterday. I called an Uber driver, who arrived within 7 minutes and got us to Primark in less than 5.
Lauren briefly explored Primark, an Irish department store, when we arrived. They don't really carry my size, so I just waited in the main mall until she came out and admitted she didn't find anything she wanted. We walked around a bit and got sodas before going upstairs to Round 1 on the third floor. Even newer spaces in Philly can be deceptively small on the outside. Though this doesn't have some of the games seen at other arcades in South Jersey - no skee ball, no ring toss - it does have pinball. I ran from Star Wars pinball to The Munsters pinball (did really well with that one) to Bust-a-Move to Space Invaders. Came in second with a sweet cherry-red Lamborghini on Crusin' Blast. I earned over 2,500, but just decided to save most of it for when we go to Deptford tomorrow. I went with a darling white Beanie Baby kitten named Amelia.
By that point, we were tired, hungry, and sore. Time to take the PATCO home. I got us turned around a bit, but we did manage to make it to the 8th Street Station by 5:30. We took a jammed-full rush hour train back to South Jersey, getting off at Westmont.
I thought we'd try something different for dinner. The Haddon Diner is just two blocks from the Westmont PATCO Station. I figured it would be less busy and closer to the station than the Collingswood restaurants. (Not to mention, a lot of them aren't open on Mondays.) They were busy, but not so much that we didn't quickly get one of the sweet stenciled wooden booths. Lauren had a BLT and a Yankee Bean Soup she loved. I had banana and pecan pancakes that were so fluffy and tasty and fat turkey sausages.
I also thought it would be easier to pick up Uber here than in Collingswood...and I was right. It took me a while, but I finally got a driver who came in 15 minutes and got us home in less than 5. No traffic here or, thank heavens, in Philadelphia.
I took the recycling out and we put our laundry in the washing machine, then put on Match Game '75. I came in time for the first day of Carol Bartos' run. Dr. Joyce Brothers and Bill Daily got to match one of her more peculiar answers, one that had Gene wanting to drag Dr. Brothers to her own couch! The next week was Game Show Host Week, with Bob Barker, Arlene Francis, and (ironically) Fannie Flagg.
Moved to Tubi for Hard Boiled Mahoney. Slip and Sach are at a private eye's office, trying to get the money he owes Sach, when Salina Webster (Betty Compson) comes in and mistakes them for the detective. She offers them $50 to find her lost sister. Slip trails the sister, only to see a man shot. Turns out the two women in question aren't related. Phony medium Armand (Dan Seymour) has incriminating letters that are blackmailing them. Slip, Sach, and their buddies have to dodge the police (who think Slip did it) to bring Armand to justice...but first, they have to get off Professor Quizard's (Bryan Foulger) radio show by driving him crazy!
Finished the night with more of Daredevils of the Red Circle. By the time of chapter 5, "The Ray of Death," former prisoner Harry Crowel (Charles Middleton) has gotten the idea that there's someone tipping off the trio of Daredevils. He intends to kill off anyone in the household he talks to regularly, starting with Granville's granddaughter Blanche (Carole Landis). The boys have to restore the electricity on an old mine and get Blanche and several workers out of there before it's flooded...and before Crowel's goons electrocute the entire lot of them.
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