Weekend with the Payne Family

So I just finished hosting my family in Philly for the weekend and I'm thankful that I'm unemployed right now so I can sleep in and watch movies all day to try and recover. My sister Kelly and her boyfriend Tim flew in from Chicago early Friday morning and the weekend was non-stop until I dropped them off at the airport this morning a little before 5 am. I have to hand it to Kelly and Tim though - they were real troopers and hung out all weekend.

We started off on Friday doing a tour of most of Old City (Liberty Bell, Christ Church, etc.), parts of South Philly (Italian Market) and a little of the Art Museum, walking most of the way... My older sister Susan arrived a bit later - in time for dinner at the World Cafe and seeing a performance by Cas Halley - which by the way I highly recommend.

On Saturday we got a pretty early start so that we could get tickets for the tour of Independence Hall which we missed out on, on Friday. After spending most of the morning walking around Old City and Center City, it was back to the apartment to prepare for the big event - the arrival of my grandparents, my parents and my brother Adam with his wife and baby for dinner. Again - my hat goes off to Tim, seeing that this was his first encounter with the rest of the Payne family, and he took it all in stride. With the help of a few drinks, there was only a small amount of tension and drama that goes along with any family gathering. After dinner, everyone went back to their respective homes except Kelly, Tim and Adam. Saturday night was a good time with a few drinks at my place, going to a few bars in Center City, a stop at Geno's for a cheese steak, a few stops in University City and capping the night off on the balcony of my apartment with a few more drinks - a few "caucasians" Lebowski style.

Needless to say, we were all feeling pretty good on Sunday morning, but managed to rally in time for the Philly's game that started at 1:30 in the afternoon. My parents came back down along with Adam's wife and baby for the game. Unfortunately the Philly's finished up their series with the Angels by getting swept, but it was still a good afternoon for a game. Luckily, after dinner, Kelly, Tim and I went to a bar down the street from my apartment and watched the Cubs finish a sweep of the White Sox, so it all seemed to balance out somehow.

In the end, the weekend had good food, good drinks and good company. I'm happy that everyone was able to get together one last time before I take off next week.