Trial by Philly

A group of friends had a trip to Philly planned for this weekend and asked us to go, and I thought since it’s a “light” week it would be an opportunity to see how I do with some travel. Seven of us piled into Jerry’s van and headed for Philly. Our first stop was lunch at the Redding Terminal Market. It was packed, but I managed to nab a table for Jerry and me. He got us sandwiches. Oddly there didn’t seem to be a ginger ale to be found. No matter, I ate my entire sandwich— Turkey— and it was huge. It’s an odd sensation making sure I eat enough. I feel that my life has been ruled by Weight Watchers. But since the surgery and the start of chemo, life has changed. I’ve got to keep my health and my white count up. After a tour around the market we drove to our hotel and checked in. Everyone but Jerry and me went to a museum. I napped. It was raining and I have great respect for my stamina. Napping and lying around for the afternoon was definitely in order. That evening, we headed over to a small middle eastern restaurant near the Italian market. I had done a search a few days earlier and finding a place that would take seven of us on a Saturday night was no small feat. Turns out the choice was pretty good, it was a BYO so we had some good wine, and definitely some good food. We finished up with some mint tea. It was still fairly early and Dan really wanted to go someplace else, so we found a place that, if it had been a quarter of its size would have been a bistro, but it was huge. A large bar and a multitude of tables. It could have been Europe but the tables weren’t close enough together. I continued my eating frenzy by ordering a creme brûlée, which Jerry happily helped me eat. There were drinks, coffee, and lovely desserts. When we got back to the hotel I was happy. I felt like I was “winning” Philly. Then came Sunday. It was raining. A lot. We gathered in the lobby and Dan said he knew a Spanish restaurant “nearby” for breakfast. To me, a mile is not nearby, especially when we finally got there it wasn’t open. I was dehydrated and pissed. We ended up in a little carry out close to the closed restaurant. I had a bagel and cream cheese, but no way I was having coffee there. And my new body chemistry is such that if I don’t have coffee early on, I don’t want it. And anyone who knows me will realize how sad that makes me. I drank a couple glasses of water and a hot tea, but by now I had a pretty significant headache and I was mostly an unhappy, exhausted girl. We then headed for the Barnes Foundation Museum. Some of the group walked; I went via Uber. The museum is glorious, but by this point my headache was dominating and I was just plain tired. I was thankful that every gallery had a bench. My guess is that part of my malaise was psychosomatic. The morning had been hard on me. The little cafe at the museum had ginger tea and that did help somewhat. I would have loved to have headed home after the museum, but a couple people wanted lunch, so we went to a place near the hotel and where our car was parked. It was an Italian place, and it was terrible. It looked great, but I have never had a pasta fagiole that had no taste. I thought well maybe it’s because I’m not hungry, but Jerry tasted it as well and he agreed. He had a panini that was barely acceptable. Bitch Bitch Bitch. Yes. That is what I am doing. But I learned a lot. I think Jerry and I can take overnight trips, but it has to be just the two of us. We can go on our own pace. And plan. This upcoming week will be another chemo light, though I’m not sure we will head out next weekend. Here I sit with a couple of cats, drinking a cappuccino. My neighborhood is pretty great, and maybe we will take a staycstion next weekend.