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Teresa & Jess' Travelogue
Delaware-Philadelphia

After much deliberation and waffling, we decided to head north to the Brandywine valley for four (much needed) days of rest and relaxation. The first night, we stopped in Delaware, near Wilmington, planning on spending some time at the Wilmington Riverfront.

Wasn't overly impressed by the riverfront, I have to say. It was pretty and all, but it wasn't anything hugely exciting. We wandered around a bit, shopped at the outlets there, and headed back to check into the hotel, the Newark Delaware Hawthorn Suites.

We'd stayed at the Hawthorn in Lancaster once, a few years ago, and I have to say, it's a wonderful hotel. The suites are pleasant, the staff is great, and the continental breakfast includes things like pancakes, eggs, sausage, as well as the more traditional pastries. Also, (obviously) High speed internet access for free!

After settling in, we had a choice between the Longwood Gardens fabulous lighted fountains and classical music concerto and the Delaware Park Slots. Do you really need to ask where we went?

Walking into any casino is like having a seizure, I think. DP is no exception. Thousands of machines clacking at you blinking lights, chinking coins, beeping, and thousands of tinny little songs blaring from each machine. We played the $.50, the $.25, and the $.05 slots. We sucked at all but the nickel slots, sadly. Jess seemed to have quite the touch on some of the machines, though.

Came out of it happy as hell, and having lost the $20 we allotted to ourselves to lose. Afterwards, we headed for dinner, and decided to stop at this little dive we'd seen on the way in. The sign out front simply read "EAT" in bright blue and red neon.

Now, in the dark, you could see inside, and see flickering gaslights, strings of Christmas lights, and beyond it all, Spanish mission style walls. Getting out of our car, we noticed another bit of neon, this one proclaiming it to be the Border Café.

Got seated and began to peruse the menu. Were somewhat surprised to find entrees like Blackened Chicken Fajitas, and Chicken Creole sharing the menu with burritos and tacos. Yes, in our bumbling way, we'd stumbled across a Tex-Mex/Cajun clusterfuck of a restaurant.

Food was amazing, décor was so tacky that we immediately fell in love. Also, our server was a kick. At one point he looked at us (with Jess trying to feed T a bit of jambalaya) and asked if we wanted the lights dimmed in our section so we could get more comfy. Everybody loves a wiseass.

Then we returned to the hotel. T looked into the directions to Philly and the museums we wanted to visit, while Jess watched a bit of Zoolander. ("Chinese prime minister, bad. Martial arts, good!" About halfway through, Jess dragged T to bed and convinced her to watch the Backstreet Boy video we got for very, very cheap at the outlets.

That video? Dude. The crack. One: we will never mock Justin or C for wandering out of tune. Two: when Jess asked Nicky if he wanted to get a pole for his hip-thrusting dance, she was kidding. (Mostly.) Instead, we got the unexpected hilarity of boybanders on a stiiiiick. Three: Nicky was a hormonal little bitch monster as a teenager, which just makes him all the more endearing. Four: Jess inched closer to her evil plan of making Teesa write Kevin Richardson porn. Muhahahaha! (T: Nuh-uh!)

Then, we curled up and crashed. This was at roughly 2 in the morning. One can see why neither of us were thrilled to have sunlight come pouring in at 6. Closed curtains, grumbled, slept until the alarm began playing country at us at 9. Then we stumbled up and out to the dining room, groggy and coffee-starved. Got coffee and wonderful food, while the utterly bizarre soundtrack from the Fugitive played in the background. (For the record, 9 am? Too damn early for bagpipes!)

And now, we travel on. We'll be at the Doubletree in Philly if anyone is wondering. Hopefully, they will also have access. *nod* More later!