Philla, Connecticut, a great 2 nights, and two weeks to go
All signs leading to Philadelphia say Philla, it confused me.
Anyway... On my last day off, I went to Philly with a friend from camp. We had big plans of all the things we were going to see and do while we were there ranging from hitting an art gallery, some historic sites and of course the Liberty Bell (who could miss a big broken bell?) So, we got lost once on the way there. The problem with getting lost on roads in Pennsylvania is that the distance between exits is so large that by missing one exit, it sets you back almost an hour - which meant that instead of getting there at noon, we didn't get there until 1pm. We had directions to a parking lot that would put us right across the road from the liberty bell and figured we would make it our first stop. However, I guess the bell is the place to be at 1:30 and the line was so long tthatwe decided to try to come back later. We did a bit of walking about, Amy shopped, we ate Thai, and then headed back to the bell at 5:30. walking over we were so excited that there was no line but we quickly realized that there was no line because it was closed. We managed to get close enough to kind of see the bell through a window, so I have a picture of the window that I saw the bell through, and if I really want to see it (although as a Canadian I don't have much draw to see it) I will just have to look at pictures in history books. Other than that Philly was pretty uneventful, good company, lots of laughs, a very pretty place, and that was about it.
We also had our second out of camp trip with our girls this week. Our trip took us to Mystic, Connecticut. Our first day we went on a tour of Yale. I thought it was interesting and it was a beautiful place, but there wasn't much of a draw for the 12 year olds who haven't entered high school yet to tour a university. They did enjoy shopping at the bookstore though and bought just about everything that they could find that said Yale on it. I think on average they spent over $100 on Yale stuff each. I spent $15 on a T-Shirt. I like it, it is bright green with pink letters. That night we went to see "Bad News Bears." That movie was altogether bad news. The girls hated it and every other word in it was shit. Probably not the best movie selection. First night at the hotel was a bit of an ordeal. So much screaming and so many complaints from the other hotel guests. I got to sit on hallway duty making sure the girls weren't running up and down the halls and slamming doors. That was a fun night. The next day was great. Mystic Aquarium (they have sea lions) and an afternoon on a huge sailboat. Perfect weather, lots of sun. Then on to a mall where the girls were happy because they got to shop again. I was happy because we got to eat dinner in a real restaurant. The last day of the trip was interesting. Checking out of hotels is always fun because after the girls "remember to take everything from their rooms" I get to go through and pick up everything that is forgotten. One girl managed to leave behind a juicy sweatshirt, a pair of bBirkenstocks and an envelope containing $120. Lucky for her I am honest :) Then we went to the Pallasades mall to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on IMAX. A very exciting day! Only problem with the PPalisadesmall is that half of our campers live within 30 minutes and somehow the word got out to parents that we would be there. We had 4 parents show up to the mall (against camp policy) and ended up with a bunch of upset campers because their parents didn't show up. Overall, it was a great trip. Most of the girls enjoyed themselves and everyone came back healthy (a much better end than our last trip.)
We get back to camp and post trip things seem to be pretty good. People seem to be happy. Campers are happy. And with 2 weeks left, the feeling among the staff is that it is time to have some serious fun before there is no time left. So fun is what we have been having. A great night a couple of nights ago at the "Wayne Hotel" - it's the local dive bar that we go to for dancing and cheap drinks. A huge group of people came out and we took over the place. I love not having a curfew at camp this year. I felt really bad for the few general staff that had to leave early while all us "senior" staff took full advantage of staying until last call. And now as I write this I just got back from an intercamp staff volleyball game (we kicked ass!)
So overall, life is good! I am looking forward to seeing you all soon. Look for details for the upcoming "Jodi is back in Toronto party" which will probably be in the form of a BBQ at my place.
Anyway... On my last day off, I went to Philly with a friend from camp. We had big plans of all the things we were going to see and do while we were there ranging from hitting an art gallery, some historic sites and of course the Liberty Bell (who could miss a big broken bell?) So, we got lost once on the way there. The problem with getting lost on roads in Pennsylvania is that the distance between exits is so large that by missing one exit, it sets you back almost an hour - which meant that instead of getting there at noon, we didn't get there until 1pm. We had directions to a parking lot that would put us right across the road from the liberty bell and figured we would make it our first stop. However, I guess the bell is the place to be at 1:30 and the line was so long tthatwe decided to try to come back later. We did a bit of walking about, Amy shopped, we ate Thai, and then headed back to the bell at 5:30. walking over we were so excited that there was no line but we quickly realized that there was no line because it was closed. We managed to get close enough to kind of see the bell through a window, so I have a picture of the window that I saw the bell through, and if I really want to see it (although as a Canadian I don't have much draw to see it) I will just have to look at pictures in history books. Other than that Philly was pretty uneventful, good company, lots of laughs, a very pretty place, and that was about it.
We also had our second out of camp trip with our girls this week. Our trip took us to Mystic, Connecticut. Our first day we went on a tour of Yale. I thought it was interesting and it was a beautiful place, but there wasn't much of a draw for the 12 year olds who haven't entered high school yet to tour a university. They did enjoy shopping at the bookstore though and bought just about everything that they could find that said Yale on it. I think on average they spent over $100 on Yale stuff each. I spent $15 on a T-Shirt. I like it, it is bright green with pink letters. That night we went to see "Bad News Bears." That movie was altogether bad news. The girls hated it and every other word in it was shit. Probably not the best movie selection. First night at the hotel was a bit of an ordeal. So much screaming and so many complaints from the other hotel guests. I got to sit on hallway duty making sure the girls weren't running up and down the halls and slamming doors. That was a fun night. The next day was great. Mystic Aquarium (they have sea lions) and an afternoon on a huge sailboat. Perfect weather, lots of sun. Then on to a mall where the girls were happy because they got to shop again. I was happy because we got to eat dinner in a real restaurant. The last day of the trip was interesting. Checking out of hotels is always fun because after the girls "remember to take everything from their rooms" I get to go through and pick up everything that is forgotten. One girl managed to leave behind a juicy sweatshirt, a pair of bBirkenstocks and an envelope containing $120. Lucky for her I am honest :) Then we went to the Pallasades mall to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on IMAX. A very exciting day! Only problem with the PPalisadesmall is that half of our campers live within 30 minutes and somehow the word got out to parents that we would be there. We had 4 parents show up to the mall (against camp policy) and ended up with a bunch of upset campers because their parents didn't show up. Overall, it was a great trip. Most of the girls enjoyed themselves and everyone came back healthy (a much better end than our last trip.)
We get back to camp and post trip things seem to be pretty good. People seem to be happy. Campers are happy. And with 2 weeks left, the feeling among the staff is that it is time to have some serious fun before there is no time left. So fun is what we have been having. A great night a couple of nights ago at the "Wayne Hotel" - it's the local dive bar that we go to for dancing and cheap drinks. A huge group of people came out and we took over the place. I love not having a curfew at camp this year. I felt really bad for the few general staff that had to leave early while all us "senior" staff took full advantage of staying until last call. And now as I write this I just got back from an intercamp staff volleyball game (we kicked ass!)
So overall, life is good! I am looking forward to seeing you all soon. Look for details for the upcoming "Jodi is back in Toronto party" which will probably be in the form of a BBQ at my place.
posted by Jodi at
11:30 p.m.
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