I have my Earl Grey tea, I'm watching a show about Emmitt Smith on ESPN Classic, and I'm ready to think back to the Philadelphia weekend which was 5 days ago. I'll talk about my interview and dinner in a separate blog.

Thursday

So things really didn't get started until Thursday evening. I got back to the Adam's Mark Hotel in Philly around 1:30 after my interview. The hotel was eerily quiet for a major hotel and leads me to wonder how long they will remain in business. There literally were 10 cars in the parking lot. I really couldn't explain it. Kayla was a trooper and read a book all morning while I was interviewing. I got home around 2 or so and proceeded to try and take a nap which really didn’t work out too well. I figured I would take a quick nap and we would have a night out on the town. I was still really tired from a long night and long interview day. However, none of my lofty big night on the town plans panned out, so we stayed in, ordered pizza, and watched movies. It was actually a nice opportunity for us to talk and bond or whatever.

Friday

Friday was pretty sweet. We slept in and checked out at 11:00. Since I didn’t know how to get anywhere in Philly, we decided to drive around aimlessly. We drove past the hospital and through several little towns. Villanova was in the middle of one of them which was kind of cool to see. Finally we stopped at a Starbucks for a coffee break and got some directions. The drink makers were very nice and gave good directions. One of them was calling me Tex by the time we left. So we drove a bit and finally found the historic district of downtown Philadelphia.

We decided to tour the area on our own which worked out wonderfully. We started at the Visitor’s Center, got a map, and walked the area. The tour:

1. liberty bell
2. independence hall
3. old buildings
4. ben franklin house/museum
5. penn’s landing
6. elfreth’s alley
7. betsy ross’s house
8. ben franklin’s grave
9. us mint
10. constitution center

And that was our tour of Philadelphia. Pictures are provided at the end of the blog. At the end of the day, the sunset was remarkably beautiful. This was especially cool, because I had seen nothing but fog the first few days there. Every color possible was present including all the brilliant shades of red, purple, orange, and yellow. Then we headed to our new hotel room and got ready for the big meeting with Richelle and John Cilio.

I know I’ve spoken about Richelle before. She’s a girl I met over the internet playing online backgammon my senior year of college. Her screen name was something about the Philadelphia Flyers and my screen name was something about the Dallas Stars. The rest is history. She’s a nurse in Philly, married, and has a son who plays ice hockey. I’ve know Richelle for almost 6 years now, and she has watched me sort of grow up on my journey to become a doctor. I can’t believe that day is almost here. So we’ve stayed in touch over the years and finally arranged a meeting while I was in Philly. We met at a fantastic blues restaurant called Warm Daddy’s on Penn’s Landing. It was a fantastic place! The live music was wonderful, and it truly enjoyed meeting Richelle and John in person. There weren’t any big surprises of course, as we’ve known each other for so long. Richelle sort of cracks the whip and John is the easy going husband. They very much remind me of my aunt and uncle Lorrie and Sandy in San Diego. So we had some good food, drank a ton, and listened to a lot of live music. And that was that.

Kayla and I went home and flew home the next morning. It was an absolutely wonderful trip. I don’t recall having such a great long weekend in a long, long time. The interview was awesome, it was great to finally meet Richelle in person, and Kayla and I had a great time. Kayla is by far the coolest girl I’ve ever met. However, I’m not going to get all wishy washy on this here blog. Just know that I love her to death (already).

>>View the PICTURES<<