First day in Philly

After a whirlwind tour of the great state of Pennsylvania, we arrived safely in Philadelphia last night. Our hotel room is situated in a way that we have a great view of "dat building wif dat man on it" according to the little guy. He and I spent the morning exploring our surroundings, playing on the giant game pieces at the municipal building, and bumming around Trader Joe's. Yum. I picked up a few snacks for us to have around this week (string cheese, hummus, rice crackers, dark chocolate) and some breakfast options (bananas, steel-cut oats, gluten-free Puffins cereal) to have when the breakfast buffet gets wearying. We had lunch in our room before he went down for an early nap. Being pushed around in a stroller for a few hours is apparently very hard work for this almost-three-year-old.

Post-nap found us in search of the Bath & Body Works I found on Google Maps (I need more lotion! It's all on sale!) and killing time waiting for The H to get back from work. For dinner, we ended up at a teeny little non-chain place called Giorgio on Pine. And that is where we wish we could spend the rest of our week.

Service was friendly, attentive, helpful, and fun. Portions were massive. They were *great* with the little guy, who wasn't so sure about this "fancy" place. It's a BYOB restaurant, but we didn't have any B (or W, actually) so that didn't matter. The owner, Giorgio, who recognized us from the phone call The H had made asking about a kids' menu, included a complementary creme brulee for dessert, after making sure The H was aware of all their (delicious) gluten-free options. Once he knew The H was gluten free, Giorgio brought The H his own package of crispy GF breadsticks so he could enjoy the garlic-infused dipping oil, too. We plan to go back, even if it's just for a splurge dessert or cappuccino later in the week.

Tomorrow, the little guy and I are off to visit a friend, whom I haven't seen since roughly 1999, and meet her little boy! Wish us luck on the train. I'm a big fat chicken about handling my impossibly wiggly monkey child on public transportation.