DAY TWO, Thursday April 7
2:30 p.m.
We drop Danny and Daniel off at their school and head back onto the road, with Jewlia once again behind the wheel. We proceed to get completely lost in the Mall area, enjoying the cartoon pink of the peak bloom cherry blossoms. (Totally stunning and worth a visit, by the way.) We circle D.C. for an hour and a half. I swear, you miss one turn in this town and you have to find a g-d tesseract to get out.
4:00ish p.m.
Finally, we reach the end of the 395 at the edge of town. As we're getting off the off-ramp to find the entrance to the 295, we here a "krick-kerCHUNK!" I look to my left and see a silver mid-size car between us and the ramp barrier, the beyotch driver having tried to pass us illegally, sideswiping us and saving TWO WHOLE SECONDS of time. As we reach the end of the off-ramp, shaken, the silver car slips into the stream of exiting cars and we lose sight of her. And thusly our Impala is impaled. Becoming an Impale-a.
4:15 p.m.
But we got a gig to get to in Philly, so Jewlia drives on until we get back on the 95 North, where we take the first exit so Marika can drive while the understandably shaken Jewlia can get in the back. Except--
JEWLIA: Uh-oh.
MARIKA: (Standing next to the driver's side door) Wait a minute.
JEWLIA: The door won't open.
MARIKA: This part got smashed in. Don't try to open it anymore. I'll get in from the other side.
We all break into hysterical laughter. Jewlia eats her half po' boy in the back. I eat mine in shotgun. We peel out and back onto the 95.
5:30 p.m.
Somewhere in Maryland, we stop for a pee break at a Citgo. We pull into the Citgo parking lot when a green Jeep with flashing blue lights pulls up next to us.
MARIKA: Is he pulling us over?
GANDA: He can't be pulling us over.
MARYLAND STATE TROOPER: Stay where you are!
JEWLIA: What did we do?
(I roll the window down.)
MARYLAND STATE TROOPER: (voice straining with anger) Did you know you almost hit me back there?! This is property of the state! Do you know how much it would have cost you if you hit me?!!
MARIKA: I'm sorry, sir, we didn't see you.
Somewhat mollified after punishing us for NOT hitting his state property jeep, he lets us go. And we are left wondering, What is UP with the mid-Atlantic, yo?
8:00 p.m.
We make it to Philly and do the gig in a bar on Philly's South St. It's part of a Jewish festival, though it feels closer to a J-Date meet and greet rather than a rebbe conference. The gig goes pretty well, though Jewlia must convince the crowd to shut up a couple of times with entreatments like, "Okay guys, the next song is pretty quiet, and it's about genocide, so we'd really appreciate it if you could just keep it down over on that side, that'd be great."
9:30 p.m.
I get the keys to the rental because I've left my cell phone in there. I go around to the shotgun door because I know I can't get the driver's side open. But when I get to the door, I can't find the keyhole. I look under the handle, no keyhole. But how did we get the doors open at the Citgo? Marika's window was rolled down. Shit. I try to get my arm through the three inch opening on the driver's side. Damn these short arms. I try to use my yogic power to reach around to the back door lock. I am still a yoga grasshopper and cannot reach. Shit. Shit shit shit.
9:45 p.m.
I come back to the car with a wooden cooking spoon, one of the instruments we use for a song called "Spoonful." I hit the electronic unlock. Success! I am now Holder of the Wooden Spoon, Keeper of the Car Key.
10:15 p.m. Short Stack -- Pico de Gallo
With its bright Christmas light decorations and roomy wooden tables, Pico de Gallo has the comfortable feel of a college town joint. One slim Japanese girl with big perm curls had to wait on all the tables at this kitschy cozy eatery. We had to wait for 30 minutes for a table, but it was the best option we could find close to the club. The spicy table salsa and colored chips held us over as we browsed the gringo friendly menu. Nachos came with proper white Mexican cheese and little dollops of guac. My fish tacos came with somewhat overcooked steamed white chunks of fish, maybe tilapia or snapper -- not deep fried as I had hoped. Large, incongruous chunks of ripe papaya were strewn over the plate. The shrimp rancheros Jewlia ordered had some butane-like flavor which couldn't be masked by the salsa it was cooked in. The chicken fajitas were white meat -- Marika preferred the peppers to the pollo. Now that I found the Sunset Park taquerias, I can say that we have better Mexican food in New York. Can you believe it?
Grade: B-
Total: $17 per person for one app shared between three, one entree each, and a soda.
Will I return? Probably not. We should have held out for Pat's and Gino's. But we were tired and needed a place to park it while waiting for our hosts to take us to our resting place for the evening.
| Pico de Gallo |
1501 South St.
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Phone: (215) 772-1119
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