We didn’t have to get up particularly early on Wednesday. Our Villanova tour wasn’t until 11 am, and it was only about a half hour car ride there. So I was really annoyed when the hotel alarm clock went off at 3:30 am! I hit buttons until it went off, and then I couldn’t sleep because I had to go the bathroom. I took care of that and was almost back to sleep when the alarm went off again. I must have hit the snooze button. Again, I hit buttons until it stopped making noise, and then I pulled on the power cord until it came unplugged. (I discovered later that I had basically pulled a panel out of the wall, but I have no regrets.)
Of course, then I was totally awake. I really, really wanted to go back to sleep, but it wasn’t happening. I got up and did a few things on the computer and got sleepy again about 5:00. I went back to bed and woke up at 8:00, ready for the day. We checked out of our room and left our bags with the front desk, then walked to breakfast.
The night before while watching Forrest Gump I had researched breakfast places, and we decided on a place, a few blocks from the hotel, called FRIEDA. I don’t know why the all caps, but that’s how it was always printed. It was a neat little place with just a few tables, and some retail art for sale as well. The most unique thing about FRIEDA was hundreds of paper butterflies hanging from the ceiling. And, the butterflies continued outside, albeit laminated to protect them from the weather. They were on the outside of the building, over the sidewalk, and filling a tree beside the street. Hanging them must have been quite a project.
Now that I look at that picture, the ceiling was actually kind of gross, but I truly didn’t notice it at all while we ate there. And the food was really good. I had a croissant with prosciutto, Brie, and FRIEDA’s special chutney, which was so tasty.
We called a Lyft to take us to Villanova’s campus, and the app predicted we’d get there about 30 minutes before the tour time. It’s a good thing we left early! There was an accident on the highway, and things were backed up for miles. Still, our driver was safe, and we arrived with about eight minutes to spare. That gave us enough time to find the Connelly Center, where we were to check in for the tour. It turns out there was no need to worry, as the tour started about 15 minutes late because about half the group was late arriving.
Our tour guide was a sophomore named Kelsey, and she reminded me very much of Ellie. Ellie and I both really liked Villanova. The campus is beautiful and on the small side, but not too small. I liked that Kelsey didn’t spend all her time talking about amenities. She spoke about the different academic programs, teaching support, etc. Another good thing is there are two train stations on campus, so it is easy to get to downtown Philly, or the airport, etc. My only complaint about the tour, really is that they only took us inside the newer academic buildings, except for the library, which was not on the new side.
After the tour we went to the bookstore, because somehow every teen touring college campuses has gotten the idea that they have to have a shirt from every school they visit. We had a very odd encounter at the checkout. The woman behind the counter asked if we were there on a college visit, and when we confirmed that we were, she encouraged us to visit a different university up the road! It was so weirdly uncomfortable. I don’t even think we’d made it out of the building before Ellie was talking about how strange it was.
We walked around campus a bit more and checked out the area around some of the residence halls, although we couldn’t go in because of COVID. When we finished we were right by a train station, but we didn’t see a ticket machine, and it was so bright out I couldn’t really check out the web site on my phone. We decided to call a Lyft back to Philly, rather than walking in the terrible heat all the way back across campus to the other train station. We had the driver take us to a deli, called Waterfront Gourmet Deli, at the Cherry Street Pier just a few blocks from our hotel. Unfortunately, it was not a pier that you could walk around on, and there was a ton of construction on the sidewalk between the buildings and the road. Still, we had really good sandwiches and were able to sit where we could at least see the water.
When lunch ended we decided it was too hot to walk around and see more things, so we just walked back to the hotel. I worked, and Ellie made progress on her college application. Soon it was time to take a Lyft to the train station, and we arrived 45 minutes before our boarding time. The Philly station is gorgeous, but unfortunately not much was open. I assume that was because of COVID. I was able to get a beverage and some fruit to take on the train in case we got hungry.
The train arrived on time, but when we boarded we realized that our seats were not together. A nice lady switched so we could be. When I booked our seats, I chose business class because I thought it would be quieter. Boy, was I wrong! The guy in the seat behind Ellie was on the phone nearly the whole time. And one of the ladies in front of us talked the ear off of the lady next to her. I though they knew each other, but when they exited (one stop ahead of us), I heard the talky one ask the other one if she’d like to stay in touch. By the end of that train ride, I knew all about talky lady’s divorce, how much money her (ex-)husband made, and many other personal details you don’t typically share with a perfect stranger.
Still, I managed to get a bit of work done on the train, and the trip went fairly quickly. In D.C. we called a Lyft and waited outside the main entrance for the driver. It was a long wait. The police or transit authority or someone were pulling drivers over for some infraction, and really blocking the way for everyone else. Finally he picked us up, and we had a nice drive to our hotel, past a few D.C. monuments. Our check in at the hotel was the fastest ever. Ellie and I settled in, researched restaurants, and headed out for dinner at a place called Founding Farmers.
Just as we were leaving the hotel I received a text telling me to check my email for an email about Madeline’s casting for the 2021-22 dance season! I glanced at it enough to realize she was placed into the Diamond level, the highest at the studio, and had a solo and a trio with two good friends. When we arrived at the restaurant and were seated I looked more closely, and she has TEN dances this season. That’s three more than last year, a 50% increase in new routines. She was incredibly excited, and there was a lot of texting back and forth.
Founding Farmers is a farm-to-table restaurant, and everything we had was really good. Ellie and I started with some cornbread, she had a burger, and I ate goat cheese ravioli. I also got a Pilsner, but the beer menu was complicated. They were out of some things and had some substitutes, and I don’t remember the brewery where the beer came from, or the name of the beer.
On the way back Ellie talked me into stopping at the Whole Foods along the path to buy a pint of ice cream. When we got to the room we called Andy & Madeline over FaceTime to celebrate her casting. I had a shower, completed some work, and went to bed, ready for Georgetown the next morning.