Cleveland Orchestra

We had a fantastic time visiting some friends from the Cleveland Orchestra yesterday.  We got to hear them rehearse in the morning followed by a great lunch.  

From left: David Brockett, Rich King, Bob Rearden, Alan DeMattia, me, V

Wellington Horse Show

We got to visit Steven's first cousin, Jonathan, at the Wellington Horse Show.  It's about an hour drive north of Fort Lauderdale.  It was my first time at an event like this and it was super interesting.  Plus it was great to meet Jonathan.  Another first for me, I will begin putting the captions underneath the pictures.  Much better.

these sign were all over, so cute.

at the entrance

I believe we were watching the "hunters", but please don't quote me.

Steven, Jill, and Jonathan (please note: I'm the only fool staring into the bright sunlight without sunglasses)

Watching some jumping in the main arena.

and only because I'm totally star struck, here's Georgina Bloomberg (as in Mayor Bloomberg's daughter)

another photo of Ms. Bloomberg.

ALLIGATORS!

Les Mis waits on line for alligator tickets.

and then sees a bird.  The kids got to feed Albert some fish.

Then all 20 of us loaded into an airboat.

Josh aka Gavroche getting ready for some alligator excitement.

The wind doing some wonders on V's hair.

Gator #1.

Yes, he was that close.

Crocs, very appropriate footwear.

Gator #2.

No, I won't bite you as long as you leave me alone.  If I were a crocodile, I would eat all of you.

Steven and Gator #2

Picturesque Everglades.

Yes, I was way too cheap to actually buy this photo.  Go Les Mis.

More Florida

This is Greg, the sound technician, monitoring the sound board during sound check.  The percussion set up for the show has 24 mics.  Ridiculous.

We had a great lunch at a little outdoor cafe.  It was so nice to sit outside and watch the boats.

Sunshine

This photo was taken on our first beach walk in Florida.  It's so nice to see the sun everyday.  However, that jogging adventure we took at high noon today was maybe not the best idea.  It's been awhile since I've been sweating it out in 80 degree heat and full on humidity.  We must get up earlier tomorrow!

FLORIDA!!!

As soon as we get some sunny weather, this grocery store purchase will come in handy!

Final Philly Pics

We visited La Colombe, a Philadelphia based coffee brewing company.  It reminded me of being in a European cafe.  The cappuccino was fantastic as well as the chocolate croissant.  

The next stop was brunch at The Continental.  This was quite possibly the coolest restaurant we ate at.  I'm not saying the food was fantastic, it was solidly good but the atmosphere was amazing.  We got lucky and were seated in hanging wicker chairs.

Another picture of the cool vibe at The Continental.

After our waiter found out that we were engaged, he brought on desserts complete with sparklers.  It was the best!

And what Philadelphia trip would be complete without a trip up the art museum stairs.  Once we have internet fast enough to handle videos, you'll all get to see Steven make the trek.

and that was the end of Philadelphia.

Now we're in not so sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  It's rained all day and we haven't done much.  We're still recovering from our 5:30 am wake up call.  Surprisingly traveling with the entire cast was not too bad.  Thank goodness for rental cars, though!

Philadelphia History

The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ is the largest working organ in the United States.  It is located in Philadelphia at Macy's Department Store.  It is played twice daily Monday through Saturday.  Peter Richard Conte, the current organist, is only the 4th person to hold this job since the organ's beginning in 1911.  

We were listening from the first floor.  However, the organist is situated on the 2nd floor.  

 Our next stop was at the Liberty Bell.  The bell became widely famous after an 1847 short story claimed that an aged bell-ringer rang it on July 4, 1776, upon hearing of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence. While the bell could not have been rung on that Fourth of July, as no announcement of the Declaration was made that day, the tale was widely accepted as fact, even by some historians.

Continuing our historical tour, we stopped at Independence Hall.  As you can see they are doing renovations to the exterior of the hall.

Steven is standing in the room that would have been used by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

I am standing in the room where the Continental Congress met.  The chair just to my left would have been the one used by Benjamin Franklin.  The area behind my head was where George Washington sat  while the Constitution was drafted.

Because January is a slow tourist season in Philadelphia (I wonder why, only 9 inches of snow fell the night after we visited Independence Hall), we were allowed to visit the 2nd floor.  This is the room where the governor of Pennsylvania worked.

This is me walking through Chinatown in Philly.

We also visited one of the four mints in the United States.  The Philadelphia Mint along with Denver produce the circulating money.  That day we were able to watch pennies and nickels being made.