I love to have stories to tell: That time the boat sank, that time I got lost in the wilderness, that time I fell on a newly waxed floor and moved like I never knew my body could…you get the idea. The only caveat with having great stories to tell is that you first have to live through it happening.
This past Saturday my friend Tina and I decided to run some errands together, one of which required we go to Tiffany & Co. Now, the closest Tiffany’s to TCNJ is in Philly so we got breakfast early and started on our way. After a quick and easy stop at the bank we got on to the highway and jammed out to 101.1 FM which is kind of the best station ever. We made it successfully to downtown Philly when the problems began.
I drive a beautiful old car that my grandfather gave to me when I turned 16 and I love it with all of my heart. That being said, it is not the most reliable of vehicles. As we were searching for parking we felt a lurch and warning lights came on. Quite calmly I pulled over, went to get the manual out of the trunk, and assessed the situation. We identified the warning light and checked to see what it meant. In bold letters it said: The vehicle is not safe to drive. Call a dealership.
Naturally, I whipped out my phone and called my father. Who didn’t answer. Then I called my mother who said, “Well, I don’t know what to tell you. There’s nothing I can do.” Well, thanks a lot lady. Back to my father and alleluia he answered. We determined that the best thing to do would be to get it to a garage, go about our business and my father, being the saint he is, would drive down to Philly to pick us up and make a plan.
With fingers crossed I pulled onto the street and parked in the first garage I saw. Tina and I went shopping on Walnut Street and I tried not to think of my poor car. Once we got into Tiffany’s all of my troubles melted away and all that mattered were the beauty of diamonds. After all, “what I found does the most good is just to get in a taxi and go to Tiffany’s. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there” (Breakfast at Tiffany’s reference. If you don’t get it then I feel very sad for you and I think you should go and watch the movie right now!).
I needed to go to Tiffany’s to get a bracelet repaired but as it turns out they would have needed to send it to a different location to get the missing piece and couldn’t give me an estimate of how much that would cost. I decided not to get it repaired, so for my purposes the trip did not solve what I needed it to. Luckily Tina was able to get a birthday gift for her mother so it was not a complete waste!
After that we went in search of food and figured the best place to go would be Reading Terminal Market. Oh my goodness, it’s food heaven in there!
They have soooo many options in the crowded space. We decided to walk down each and every aisle so we could look at all of our choices.
As we neared the end we began to despair because there were just too many good options. Luck was in our favor however when the last place we saw was The Rib Stand. Decision made.
Tina got a sandwich, I got ribs, and we both got potato wedges and macaroni and cheese. The ribs were so delicious! It was the best meal I’d had in a while and that made the day a bit better.
And ice cream. That made the day better too 😉 .
We walked around the city and enjoyed the architecture as well as visited the largest organ in the world which is in a Macy’s.
Also, I wore a cute outfit.
My father came to the rescue and we exchanged cars. My car will get repaired but it seems as though it’s time to sell my baby 🙁 . At least we all got back safely and now I have another story to tell.
-Alyssa J Freitas
Great pictures! I'll definitely have to check out The Rib Stand at Reading Terminal Market. There are so many interesting things there and even though I'm there nearly every week, I still haven't discovered it all!
Sarah
aroseinthecity0.blogspot.com
Thank you Sarah! You're so lucky that you get to go every week; that sounds like heaven. To me the best part are the prices! I am not used to only paying $10 for a full meal that is as good as The Rib Stand.
So sorry to hear about your car. It was a pretty good story though for sure. Also, have you read Breakfast at Tiffany's? It's Truman Capote at his best.
I've read excerpts but not the full story. I'll have to add it to my Goodreads list!
OMG! You totally should've called me up for a Philly date…this is my city! Glad you still managed to have a great day (:
lovelovelove,
Erica
cominguprosestheblog.com
Aww, now I know for next time 🙂 I love being in Ben Franklin's city; I think about how he must have felt walking those streets (of course they look much different now haha)
Sorry to hear about your car! That's my favorite Breakfast at Tiffany's quote. It's so true, isn't it?