Day 364: 12/31/13- Bad Movie Night and Yesterday's Tree Climb

Day 364: 12/31/13- Bad Movie Night and Yesterday's Tree Climb 
New Thing: Bad Movie Night and Yesterday's Tree Climb
Inspiration: A cool tree in Valley Forge Park, Fireproof, Travis, Trish, Ken
Time: Several hours 
Bottom Line: Good times will be had by all. 

Reflection: I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I found a really great climbing tree yesterday on my run in Valley Forge Park. I climbed pretty far and had an excellent view. Noteworthy enough to get a mention.

For today's new thing, we are having a New Year's Even celebration with our friend's Travis and Trish. We will be viewing (and riffing on) Fireproof for a revival of our "bad movie night." This delightful tradition (which was started before Ken and I were married) is where we watch bad movies and, well, make fun of them. I have never actually seen Fireproof, but it has the most important quality for a bad movie candidate: it takes itself really seriously and thus becomes unintentionally funny.  Perfect way to spend New Year's Eve!

Day 270: 9/28/13- Philly Grim Tour

Day 270: 9/28/13- Philly Grim Tour        
New Thing: Philly Grim Tour
Inspiration: Ken's Birthday      
Time: Several Hours
Bottom Line: Not your average history tour. 

The Cemetery at Christ Church

Reflection: To continue the Ken's birthday week celebration, I surprised him with tickets to a historical walking tour in Philly. But this wasn't just any walking tour, this was a Grim Philly tour. Here are the details:

Cemetery, Serial Killers; Blood & Beer! 
From the burial ground to the bar! Eat, drink, & be merry! From grave robbers like Dutch Pillet and Levi Chew to psychopathic killers like the “Corpse Collector,” “Frankfort Slasher,” “Hednik’s House of Horrors,” and H.H. Holmes; America’s first- this is not your typical Liberty Bell tour! And…after a fact-packed late afternoon Grim Philly® walk we’ll rest our weary bones at Mexican Post Tavern for beer and snacks just in time for dinner before leaving on our (optional) "Bootleggers Ball Historic & Haunted Pub Crawl!" Sparsely sprinkled with national icons, tales of yellow fever death, & up close visits to the graves of Ben Franklin, & other founding fathers- this tour tells more of the modern; gritty…some would say “twisted” side of our history.

Our tour guide was a PhD in history from Temple and the whole thing was a fascinating look at the urban history of Philadelphia. It's the stuff that the don't put in history books. Totally recommend it!

Day 234: 8/22/13- Blueberry Soda, Turn into a Blueberry, & Acadia National Park

Day 234: 8/22/13-  Blueberry Soda, Turn into a Blueberry, & Acadia National Park   
New Thing-  Blueberry Soda, Acadia      
Inspiration: Maine   
Time: All Day      
Bottom Line: Breathtaking 

Me over looking Acadia

Reflection: To round out my blueberry experience, I tried the delicious Maine Root (organic and fair trade) blueberry soda. It was superb, and I don't even really like soda. However, I think I am going to have to take a break from blueberries for a bit, lest I go the way of Violet Beauregarde.

On our way out, we stopped at one of my favorite places on the face of the planet, Acadia National Park. We didn't get to do any hiking, but we did get to see some of the most beautiful sights in the natural world. 

Ali!

Goodbye, Maine! We will miss you!! 

Our crazy awesome house overlooking the ocean. They were lucky to get us out of there.