The Rest of the Trip

New Years Resolution: Be more timely with my posting. OK, so much for that.

Continuing the Great Xmas Escapade

Christmas eve morning we drove from Brooklyn to Plains, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Wilkes-Barre, and the home of Jennifer's grandparents. For the Big Italian Family Christmas Eve Dinner, we made our second semi-annual trip to Betelli's Villa, in Wilkes-Barre. They offer a scaled down menu on Christmas Eve, but the Veal Saltimbocca was excellent, and Tristan couldn't resist the pasta again, of course.

(Have you ever seen the picture of that guy on The Smoking Gun who keeps getting arrested for huffing gold paint? Tristan could be a marinara sauce huffer.)

That night, Jonas, John, and Jordan gave up the opportunity to sleep in actual bed's at cousin Tahnee's house in order to be at Nona's when Tristan and Zoe woke up.

Christmas morning it was evident that Santa had gotten the memo about the kids' location, and he had delivered their prizes to the right place. We hung out and ate, and after lunch, Joe, Pam, Jared, and Julia arrived from their hotel.

That night it was off to Cousin Shannon's house for another family tradition. More food, games, and funny made-up stories about "postive attributes" of Democrats. We got to meet Briellia, Shannon and Brian's almost 2-year-old daughter, and see Brian's two-part homemade horror series "The House With Many Dolls."
We did get a decent photo of the immediate family though

My Big Fat Italian Christmas Hosted on Zooomr

The next day we headed back to Harmonyville, to slow down and relax. . . a little. Great Mom came over to start making tomato sauce for pasta. It's a two-day affair. That night we visited with Uncle Dave and Aunt Phyllis.

Chinese Dress Hosted on Zooomr

We even got to see a cool video of Aunt Phyllis's eye surgery. I wish I had a video of my eye surgery.

Wednesday, Great Mom came over for day two of the pasta sauce, and we enjoyed it on some spaghetti and some of Nona's famous homemade ravioli. Great Mom was very eager to try some of that.

Thursday we met up with the Lamberts (Matt, Anne, and Peter)and the Flickingers (Dan, Jean, Emma, and Grace) at Saint Peters Village. Of course we were there to play on the rocks, and of course, somebody ended up going swimming, and this time it was Zoe. The kids love the rocks, and Dan, Matt, and I do to, having spent many hours on them ourselves as kids. I think Jennifer and Jean (Dawn was back at the house with the two youngest Lamberts) may tend to be more cautious. No matter. Despite Zoe falling in, we got a few good pictures.

1 Lambert 2 Flickingers Hosted on Zooomr

4 Flickingers Hosted on Zooomr

When it got dark, we all went to the Lamberts' for what's becoming a tradition: meatball sandwiches and exhaustive playtime. Dawn, Jane, and Laura were already there. We had a great time, and the kids slept like rocks that night.

Friday, December 29th. Happy Birthday to me! It was pretty low key. We drove into Pottstown, and ended up having lunch at The Very Best Wiener Shop (their claim, not mine.) The restaurant is kind of a landmark in town, and has quite a history with the Roth family. My grandparents were regulars here for probably 60 or more years, and a picture of Grandad even hangs on the wall. Andy and I used to play for the restaurant's sponsored Little League baseball team in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The food pretty much sucks though, but it's cheap.

For dinner we went to Buick (Matt) and Christine Kozsuch's house in Eagleville. This is the first I'd seen them since their wedding in June, and the first time JR and the kids got to meet Christine. They have a great place and dinner was excellent. They're expecting their first child in July, and fortunately, Tristan and Zoe were well enough behaved to (hopefully) not make Buick and Christine resent their decision to become parents.

On Saturday, Jennifer went to see her friend Tricia from PSU. The kids and I went to Ambler to see Uncle Roger, Aunt Linda, and cousins Laura and Julia. We had giant hamburgers and a whole lot of fun.

4 Roth Cousins Hosted on Zooomr

We had to hurry back to Harmonyville because Jennifer and I had reservations at "The Inn at Saint Peters Village". As a little aside, Saint Peters Village was a granite and iron ore mining town from the Victorian era in the late 1880's. There are still many original period buildings, but the village has not really been able to make a commercial go of it since at least the late 1970s. I can't count how many businesses have come and gone from the two dozen or so buildings. The village is currently undergoing a major renovation that I would guess would give it its best shot at economic vitality. The showpiece of this is the Inn. The restaurant has been getting very serious reviews in Philadelphia magazines, and is starting to get the attention of the foodies (and the culinarily ignorant that just like spending a lot of money on meals) who don't mind the drive from the city and 'burbs out to our neck of the boonies.

Some have said that their dining experience at the Inn was the best meal they've ever had in their life. I would not be one of them. It would place strongly in my Top Ten though. Despite the admonitions of the sommelier, who said my photos would be "washed out," I took pictures of my food anyway. And maybe the snooty "I always have my Mercedes serviced at the dealer" table behind us were looking at us funny, but at least I knew what a pomegranate was.

I won't make this a food review, but let the pictures, which were not washed out, but the way (so there!) speak for themselves.

Amuse Bouche (Happy Mouth /my translation)

Amuse Bouche Hosted on Zooomr

Jennifer's Appetizer

Appetizer: Rillets of Duck Hosted on Zooomr

My appetizer

Appetizer: Serrano Ham Hosted on Zooomr

Jennifer's Entree

Venison Chop Hosted on Zooomr

My Entree

Scallop and Shrimp Hosted on Zooomr

(okay, that one's a little washed out)

Jennifer's Dessert

Dessert: Bread Pudding Hosted on Zooomr

My Dessert

Dessert: Warm Bosc Pears Hosted on Zooomr

That pear-shaped pear sorbet was amazing! The pattissier could make a mint if he could package that and pimp it out next to the Ben & Jerry's.

Sunday we loaded up and drove home, making the trip in an incredible sub 8-hour time. The trip was nicely busy (in my opinion) and over-scheduled (in Jennifer's opinion). We're now on the every-other-year PA/NY Christmas trip, so we'll be back to do it again in 2008. Next year: a whole lot of sitting around home.

The Nuptials of Buick

6:10 AM, RDU Airport, Gate A23

I'm traveling to Pennsylvania for a long weekend to attend the wedding of an old Penn State Blue Band Drumline buddy, Buick, AKA Matt Kozsuch. He's marrying Christine Barbush, whom I've never met, this evening in Mechanicsburg, PA, a suburb of Harrisburg. I've been waiting for this for a long time. Buick was one of three friends from the Blue Band who attended my wedding in Georgia way back in 1995, the others being Truck and Jerry. Jerry got married in stealth some years ago, and Truck is getting married in August in Cambridge, Massachusettes. Look for that blog entry in about two months. I'm happy to finally be able to return the favor. I'm going solo, as the other Traveling Roths will be in PA (and/or Vermont) for all of July, so there was no need for them to run up and back just for the weekend. Plus they're at the beach right now anyway, so it's not like they're not having fun, and traveling, too.

I just got a Canon SD450 digital camera, mainly because it's very small and totally portable, and also so that Jennifer and I will both have cameras with us when we're in different places. So far, I totally dig it. It's super convenient to just whip it out and fire off a couple of shots, plus it fits in my pocket. I still love my Minolta Dimage 7Hi, but that's significantly bigger, and less convenient. All the pictures in this blog post will have been taken by the Canon.




The flight usually takes about an hour, and the weather looks perfect. Mom and/or Dad will be picking me up at PHL, and I'm debating if it's too early in the morning to stop by South Philly for a Cheese Steak. I'm not sure I'll get back to the city on this trip, so this may be my only shot at it. We'll see. The plane appears to have been here all night. I don't know the tail number, nor what type of aircraft it is, but I'll enter that later, because that's the kind of geeky thing I do. I may even record the flight time, as well as the maximum cabin altitude (simulated altitude of the aircraft cabin based on the interior air pressure).

I need to wrap their gift (an Oxo Salad Spinner) that I shipped up to the folks' house a few days ago, write in their card, and iron out my dress-up clothes that are currently rolled up in the backpack on the seat next to me.
Other than that, I don't have an agenda for the day.

The airplane was a 737-300. We took off at 7:16, reached a cabin altitude of 4900', flew for 1 hour 3 minutes, and landed at 8:20. It was unremarkable, and that's just fine.

Mom and Dad picked me up, and we drove back to their house. 8:30 AM was not the right time for a cheese steak, although Pat's King of Steaks is open 24 hours, so I know they're always ready when I am.

The folks told me about a Whole Foods-type market over in Kimberton, plus they'd read about a new Gelateria over there, so we decided to check them both out.

On the way we stopped at Mom and Dad's graves.This was, perhaps, a little creepy. Mom and Dad bought their headstone a few months ago, and although it's not finished nor installed, the cement peer block (or whatever it's called) that will sit under the stone is in. It had "ROTH" scratched into it while it was still wet.

Continuing on to Kimberton. The market was pretty cool, and had a lot of the same kind of crunchy granola stuff that you'd see at a Whole Foods/Wellspring/Fresh Market/Weaver Street Market kind of place. Plenty of organic this and hemp that and witch doctor herbs and supplements. We did get some good looking produce though.

The Gelateria was just up the street, so we walked. The guy who owns it, Fabrizzio, was born in Italy, but grew up here in the states. He's probably roughly my age or a little younger, and his store was just like what you'd find in Italy. On the patio side, there was a wide sliding window that you could open and look in on all the flavors. He had about 16 gelato flavors, as well as sorbetto, granitas, and Italian pastries. He had a fast hand with the samples, and it was damn hard to choose. He had many of my favorites, like pistachio, nocciola (hazlenut) limoncello, stracciatella, etc. If you've never been to Italy, here's how you plan your budget: 25% on lodging, 25% on food, 25% on transportation, and 25% on gelato. This gelato was right on the mark. I went with a large, splitting it between pistachio and stracciatella.
He asked if I'd like a little fresh crema on top, and I responded with a hearty per favore. Dad and Mom got pretty into it too.
I hope Fabrizzio can make a go of it. The location isn't great, but the product and customer service are top notch. I'm looking forward to bringing the other Traveling Roths back here on our next trip up.

Later in the day, I made the drive out to the Harrisburg West exit of the sorry Pennsylvania Turnpike, and found St. Joe's Catholic Church in Mechanicsburg without any difficulty. As soon as I got out of the car, I started recognizing people whose names I never knew, and whose nicknames I couldn't remember.

Buick was in a fraternity back in our college days, and even though I was not, the frat house was a couple blocks up the street from my house, and a lot of the guys in it were Blue Band Drumline guys, so I knew pretty much everyone there, and got to hang out there a lot. Everyone had a nickname, and usually, that was the only name I ever knew them by.

One of the Groomsmen was Gopher, a roomate of Buick's and an awesome bass player. Another was Jabba, I guy who used to give me excellent haircuts for $5 plus a beer or two tip. Yet another was Murtaugh, a guy who was just entering shool as I was leaving. And here I was anxious that I wouldn't know anyone.

The wedding was pretty straightforward. It was in a Catholic church, or cathedral or whatever you call it, and it moved along quite nicely, as there was no communion. I don't believe Buick is Catholic, so that may have played a factor.

The reception was at a country club in Camp Hill, mabye 15 minutes away. This place was really nice. I signed the guestbook and was photographed, and headed in to the big room. There were a couple of open bars, complete with wine, good beer, and all the mixed drinks you could imagine. Also ready to go were the appetizer tables. There were cheese trays, complete with fresh figs, dried fruit and cool cheeses, bruschetta, sushi "wraps", and tuna salad lettuce boats. I filled a plate and found a seat at a nearby table, when my friend Zippy (Matt Homsher) came over and sat down. Zippy was also in the drumline. He's now an attorney and has three kids. I haven't seen him in probably a dozen years or so, but we picked up where we left off like no time had passed. It was cool. Joining us at the table were a bunch of other frat guys, like Little John, Gunner, Slider, Sleepy, Goombah. They looked amazingly like their early 1990's selves, and we had a great time.

Dinner was excellent. Pasta, prime rib, fruit salad (yummy yummy) and more, and plenty of desserts. There was dancing and toasting and champagne, and cake cutting. The works. Finally Buick and Christine got around to us, and I finally got to meet her. No surprise here, but she seemed really cool. They were having a great time, and were very appreciative of our presence. They're headed to Spain for 10 days for their honeymoon.

I left there a little before midnight, and thanks to Pennsylvania's inability to mark roads, spent half an hour finding my way back to the sorry Pennsylvania Turnpike. Arriving back at the folks' close to 2 am. What a long day, and a great night.



The Rest of the Weekend
Saturday we had lunch with Grandmother Roth at her retirement community. My brothers and I have been busting on the food there for many years, and with good cause. I'm sure the food is perfectly safe, and very adequate for the nice old people that live there. Here's my lunch; Turkey Divan.It was a slice of lunchmeat turkey wrapped around a chunk of gray-greenish brocooli, topped with cheese, and baked, and baked, and baked, in the oven. Accompanying the Turkey Divan was some cauliflower, cooked in some manner. The iced tea had some very odd side taste that I couldn't put my finger on. Overall, it was food. On the way home we bought some groceries at Clemmons. Dinner was hot dogs on the grill. Later on, Uncle Dave and Aunt Phyllis (Prizer) came over to visit. After that, Mom, Dad, and I watched "At the End of the Spear" or something like that.

Sunday, we attended Coventryville United Methodist Church, where for the first time in their 232 year history, they're going to be installing air conditioning. Believe it or not, some in the church opposed this. The A/C wasn't in yet, so Sunday school and church were pretty uncomfortable, as they have been for many summers since 1774.

Sunday was also Fathers Day (tm). As my gift to Dad, I made some insalata caprese, and cooked some Omaha Steaks with carmelized onions and mushrooms. It all turned out very medium-rare. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.

Monday I got up at 3:30 am, and we all left for the airport at 4:00, arriving a little after 5:00. US Airways flight 3939 was scheduled to leave from Gate F25 at 6:32. It was oversold, so I had the opportunity to "volunteer" to get bumped. I didn't jump at the chance since I had to be at work that day. The plane, a Canadair CL-65 was small and packed. I was in the last row. We pushed back from the gate late, since we had to wait on a fuel truck. After taxiing from the gate, we parked and sat their with the engines running at half-throttle for about 20 minutes becuase the plane had been loaded with too much fuel, and was therefore too heavy to land (yes, a plane has differing take-off and landing weight restrictions). So we had to burn off the extra weight.

We took off about an hour late, at 7:26, flying for 52 minutes at a cabin altitude of 3950 feet and landing at 8:18. The rest of the normal day was otherwise uneventful, but I can't remember having been this tired in a long, long time. Maybe travel takes a lot out of you.