The Three-City Tour of Love Parts Three and Four
Let's recap, shall we? In the first half of my enormous dissertation of my most recent visit with Erin, I told you guys all about how I met up with my friends Mike and Kim, how we drove to Pittsburgh to pick up the love of my life, and how the four of us spent the weekend of Wizard World Philadelphia 2007. But we had several days of fun still coming to us after that. Here's what happened next...
After the final day of the con, we went back to the hotel and cleaned ourselves up for a special dinner -- we were meeting Erin's best friend, Joanna, who lives in Philly. I've heard about Joanna since Erin and I first got together, but I never got a chance to meet her before. We met her at a little sports bar, Tony Luke's, and spent the evening talking, telling stories and getting to know each other. It was a lot of fun, and I really liked Joanna. I just hope I made as good an impression.
This was Sunday night, and it was pretty much the end of our adventures in Philly. We were going back to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, and Monday was reserved for a trip Erin has wanted to take for a very long time...
PART 3: Atlantic City.
Erin lived in Atlantic City when she was in college, and for years she's talked about taking me there. As AC is only about 45 minutes away from Pittsburgh, we thought it would be foolish to be so close and not visit. Monday morning, the four of us loaded up and made the drive down to the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
The Boardwalk, if you don't know, is a long stretch of public beach with a wooden walkway nearby. On one side of the walkway is beach. On the other is a stretch of restaurants, gift shops, casinos and knick-knack stands the likes of which you have never seen. It was beautiful.
There were a ton of sights in Atlantic City. The Ripley's Believe it or Not museum...
Steel Pier -- an amusement park built over the ocean...
James' Salt Water Taffy (Which was delicious)...
And, of course, this statue, which was so easy to take out of context that Erin simply had to take a picture.
We also managed to snap pictures of the happy couples with the beach at our backs.
After walking for a while, we stopped in at the Mardi Gras casino just to see how authentic it was. In a word: it wasn't. But Erin did, at least, get a great Cosmopolitan.
None of these, of course, were among the three real reasons Erin wanted to come to Atlantic City. Here the are, in the order we did them:
Reason #1:
Those of you who remember the story of Erin's visit from last September will recall that one of her main goals was to visit the Lush Store in New Orleans. Lush is a company that makes gourmet soaps, body washes, lip balms and other assorted bath products. Erin is an addict. So when she did an internet search and found out that there was, in fact, a Lush store at the mall at the Boardwalk, there was no chance we wouldn't visit it.
For Erin, it was like saying hello to an old friend. (And yes, for those of you keeping score, she IS wearing the same shirt here that she did when she visited Lush in New Orleans. I think that's her Thing now.) For Kim, who had never visited a Lush store before, it was like the mothership was calling her home. Sadly, poor Mike's sensitive sinuses prevent him from going into such a heavily-perfumed environment, so while the ladies happily sampled the smells of Lush, Mike waited outside with a bag of jelly beans from the candy store.
Reason #2:
Like I said, Erin lived in AC during her college career, and she hadn't seen her old roommate, Christine, in nearly eight years. In that time, Christine had a baby that Erin had never gotten a chance to meet. So for lunch, we met up with Christine and her daughter, Kiera, at the most authentically Irish Pub you'll ever want to see.
After a nice lunch, Christine and Kiera joined us on the Boardwalk for a while, allowing me to snap a few pictures of three beautiful girls:
After the girls left us, we walked the rest of the way back down the Boardwalk and got into the car, because it was time for one more Atlantic City stop.
Reason #3.
In college, Erin didn't exactly live in Atlantic City proper. She had an apartment on the tiny island of Brigantine, just off the Jersey coast. Unlike AC, Brigantine is a nature preserve, which means no cutting the vegetation on the sand dunes and no commercializing of the beach. It's really quite peaceful, quite beautiful there. Erin brought us to her old apartment building and we found the trail down to a lovely, pristine beach.
On the beach, all of us (except Mike) kicked off our shoes, rolled up our pants and waded into the surf. It was cold, very cold, but it was wonderful. I don't know if I've ever seen Erin as blissfully happy as she was that afternoon, before we finally, sadly had to leave. But before we left, we took lots of pictures:
And we had a visitor on the trail back to the car. He actually sat there and allowed Erin to take his picture three times before she put her camera away and said, "Thank you, Mr. Bunny!" At which point, he scampered away.
We drove back to the hotel in Gloucester City and crashed. I was so tired, I barely remember this:
PART 4: Pittsburgh.
Our adventures in the east over, it was back to Erin's home town of Pittsburgh for the last few days of our trip. I've been there several times now, but it was a first for Mike and Kim. Tuesday was mostly a day for driving, but after resting up, we went out for dinner at a wonderful seafood place, the name of which escapes me at the moment. I'd hoped to do a little nighttime sight-seeing after dinner, but the rain was coming down hard by then, and we wound up returning to the hotel instead.
Wednesday was the big day in Pittsburgh. We started off by taking Mike to Phantom of the Attic and Eides', two of the comic shops Erin had introduced me to on my previous visits. Like myself, he was sort of put off by Eides' staff but impressed by the fact that it was a comic book/CD/vinyl album/VHS/DVD AND used bookstore all in one. After the comic shops, Erin brought them to the best view of the city at the top of Mount Washington, via the Duquesne Incline.
We observed for a while and snapped a lot of pictures, and one woman there was nice enough to offer to take a picture of the four of us all together, the only one of the entire trip.
Finally, we went down to Shadyside. Kim had been so good about putting up with our geek tendencies on this trip, we wanted to make sure she got to visit at least one more place to her liking, and Erin knew just the spot -- the Sephora cosmetics store near the spot where I got my new iPod back in February.
Although, as you can probably tell, she took a bit longer than Mike wanted.
Because it was Wednesday, that meant we had to go to Erin's usual haunt, Buffalo Wild Wings, for Trivia Night. We met up with several of her friends, most of whom I've met before, and tried our hand at the trivia game. We lost. But it was a fun evening nonetheless. Observe:
Erin and I doing a shot with our friend AJ, who we met on the same website where Erin and I found each other.
Kim with Erin's friends Janelle and Kelly.
Kim sharing her pie with AJ.
Erin and I grossing out everyone and not giving a damn.
AJ and I.
Erin after her third beer.
AJ just seconds before squirting mayonnaise all over his roommate, Matt. (Yeah, I don't know either.)
And finally, proof positive that even a bitter pill can have a good time, the debut performance of Michael Bellamy as Eric Cartman! (Watch his eyes.)
Yeah. It was a good night.
Thursday was the last day of the trip, really, since we were leaving early Friday morning. The last day of one of Erin and my visits is like a Sunday afternoon, when you know you should be enjoying it, but you can't because you know you've got to go back to school then next day. We all slept late (we were out REALLY late the night before), and then made our way down to the waterfront. We hung out with AJ for a while, went to a few bookstores, and wound up taking in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at the Loews Theater, the greatest movie theater I've ever been to. We all pretty much agreed that the movie was much better than we expected, better than the first one, and quite enjoyable. I'd see it again. After the movie we went out for the biggest, greasiest pizza I've ever eaten (and it was damn good too), and then to bed.
Friday morning sucked.
We packed up the car and went for one last breakfast together at Eat 'n Park. Then stopped for sodas for the road at Sheetz. Then I had to kiss Erin and say good-bye until next time, which probably won't be until December. It was a long, sad drive, and I've still got the cold I started developing on the road that time.
It's hard. Like I said back at the beginning.
But she makes it worth it.
I love you, Erin. December can't come soon enough.
After the final day of the con, we went back to the hotel and cleaned ourselves up for a special dinner -- we were meeting Erin's best friend, Joanna, who lives in Philly. I've heard about Joanna since Erin and I first got together, but I never got a chance to meet her before. We met her at a little sports bar, Tony Luke's, and spent the evening talking, telling stories and getting to know each other. It was a lot of fun, and I really liked Joanna. I just hope I made as good an impression.
This was Sunday night, and it was pretty much the end of our adventures in Philly. We were going back to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, and Monday was reserved for a trip Erin has wanted to take for a very long time...
PART 3: Atlantic City.
Erin lived in Atlantic City when she was in college, and for years she's talked about taking me there. As AC is only about 45 minutes away from Pittsburgh, we thought it would be foolish to be so close and not visit. Monday morning, the four of us loaded up and made the drive down to the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
The Boardwalk, if you don't know, is a long stretch of public beach with a wooden walkway nearby. On one side of the walkway is beach. On the other is a stretch of restaurants, gift shops, casinos and knick-knack stands the likes of which you have never seen. It was beautiful.
There were a ton of sights in Atlantic City. The Ripley's Believe it or Not museum...
Steel Pier -- an amusement park built over the ocean...
James' Salt Water Taffy (Which was delicious)...
And, of course, this statue, which was so easy to take out of context that Erin simply had to take a picture.
We also managed to snap pictures of the happy couples with the beach at our backs.
After walking for a while, we stopped in at the Mardi Gras casino just to see how authentic it was. In a word: it wasn't. But Erin did, at least, get a great Cosmopolitan.
None of these, of course, were among the three real reasons Erin wanted to come to Atlantic City. Here the are, in the order we did them:
Reason #1:
Those of you who remember the story of Erin's visit from last September will recall that one of her main goals was to visit the Lush Store in New Orleans. Lush is a company that makes gourmet soaps, body washes, lip balms and other assorted bath products. Erin is an addict. So when she did an internet search and found out that there was, in fact, a Lush store at the mall at the Boardwalk, there was no chance we wouldn't visit it.
For Erin, it was like saying hello to an old friend. (And yes, for those of you keeping score, she IS wearing the same shirt here that she did when she visited Lush in New Orleans. I think that's her Thing now.) For Kim, who had never visited a Lush store before, it was like the mothership was calling her home. Sadly, poor Mike's sensitive sinuses prevent him from going into such a heavily-perfumed environment, so while the ladies happily sampled the smells of Lush, Mike waited outside with a bag of jelly beans from the candy store.
Reason #2:
Like I said, Erin lived in AC during her college career, and she hadn't seen her old roommate, Christine, in nearly eight years. In that time, Christine had a baby that Erin had never gotten a chance to meet. So for lunch, we met up with Christine and her daughter, Kiera, at the most authentically Irish Pub you'll ever want to see.
After a nice lunch, Christine and Kiera joined us on the Boardwalk for a while, allowing me to snap a few pictures of three beautiful girls:
After the girls left us, we walked the rest of the way back down the Boardwalk and got into the car, because it was time for one more Atlantic City stop.
Reason #3.
In college, Erin didn't exactly live in Atlantic City proper. She had an apartment on the tiny island of Brigantine, just off the Jersey coast. Unlike AC, Brigantine is a nature preserve, which means no cutting the vegetation on the sand dunes and no commercializing of the beach. It's really quite peaceful, quite beautiful there. Erin brought us to her old apartment building and we found the trail down to a lovely, pristine beach.
On the beach, all of us (except Mike) kicked off our shoes, rolled up our pants and waded into the surf. It was cold, very cold, but it was wonderful. I don't know if I've ever seen Erin as blissfully happy as she was that afternoon, before we finally, sadly had to leave. But before we left, we took lots of pictures:
And we had a visitor on the trail back to the car. He actually sat there and allowed Erin to take his picture three times before she put her camera away and said, "Thank you, Mr. Bunny!" At which point, he scampered away.
We drove back to the hotel in Gloucester City and crashed. I was so tired, I barely remember this:
PART 4: Pittsburgh.
Our adventures in the east over, it was back to Erin's home town of Pittsburgh for the last few days of our trip. I've been there several times now, but it was a first for Mike and Kim. Tuesday was mostly a day for driving, but after resting up, we went out for dinner at a wonderful seafood place, the name of which escapes me at the moment. I'd hoped to do a little nighttime sight-seeing after dinner, but the rain was coming down hard by then, and we wound up returning to the hotel instead.
Wednesday was the big day in Pittsburgh. We started off by taking Mike to Phantom of the Attic and Eides', two of the comic shops Erin had introduced me to on my previous visits. Like myself, he was sort of put off by Eides' staff but impressed by the fact that it was a comic book/CD/vinyl album/VHS/DVD AND used bookstore all in one. After the comic shops, Erin brought them to the best view of the city at the top of Mount Washington, via the Duquesne Incline.
We observed for a while and snapped a lot of pictures, and one woman there was nice enough to offer to take a picture of the four of us all together, the only one of the entire trip.
Finally, we went down to Shadyside. Kim had been so good about putting up with our geek tendencies on this trip, we wanted to make sure she got to visit at least one more place to her liking, and Erin knew just the spot -- the Sephora cosmetics store near the spot where I got my new iPod back in February.
Although, as you can probably tell, she took a bit longer than Mike wanted.
Because it was Wednesday, that meant we had to go to Erin's usual haunt, Buffalo Wild Wings, for Trivia Night. We met up with several of her friends, most of whom I've met before, and tried our hand at the trivia game. We lost. But it was a fun evening nonetheless. Observe:
Erin and I doing a shot with our friend AJ, who we met on the same website where Erin and I found each other.
Kim with Erin's friends Janelle and Kelly.
Kim sharing her pie with AJ.
Erin and I grossing out everyone and not giving a damn.
AJ and I.
Erin after her third beer.
AJ just seconds before squirting mayonnaise all over his roommate, Matt. (Yeah, I don't know either.)
And finally, proof positive that even a bitter pill can have a good time, the debut performance of Michael Bellamy as Eric Cartman! (Watch his eyes.)
Click to viewYeah. It was a good night.
Thursday was the last day of the trip, really, since we were leaving early Friday morning. The last day of one of Erin and my visits is like a Sunday afternoon, when you know you should be enjoying it, but you can't because you know you've got to go back to school then next day. We all slept late (we were out REALLY late the night before), and then made our way down to the waterfront. We hung out with AJ for a while, went to a few bookstores, and wound up taking in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at the Loews Theater, the greatest movie theater I've ever been to. We all pretty much agreed that the movie was much better than we expected, better than the first one, and quite enjoyable. I'd see it again. After the movie we went out for the biggest, greasiest pizza I've ever eaten (and it was damn good too), and then to bed.
Friday morning sucked.
We packed up the car and went for one last breakfast together at Eat 'n Park. Then stopped for sodas for the road at Sheetz. Then I had to kiss Erin and say good-bye until next time, which probably won't be until December. It was a long, sad drive, and I've still got the cold I started developing on the road that time.
It's hard. Like I said back at the beginning.
But she makes it worth it.
I love you, Erin. December can't come soon enough.