We were negligent in blogging about Staycation 2017, so this is a much belated post! Our 2017 Staycation was in Philadelphia, PA from October 19, 2017 through October 29, 2017. As has been our tradition for the past few years, our Staycation was concurrent with the Philadelphia Film Festival (PFF26), so we combined movies with dining out and other exploring in our city.
Day 0: We got off to an unofficial kickoff after work on Thursday, with cocktails at Friday Saturday Sunday and Rosario’s pizza delivery at home.
Day 1: I still had to work on Friday, but Tom had the day off and went to 3 movies (A Ciambra, Radiance, and Jane)! Afterwards we met at a South Philly classic Italian-American place, Dante & Luigi’s. We shared appetizers of roasted peppers and broccoli rabe. I got the perciatelli bolognese, their specialty, which was a veal ragu with bucatini noodles.
Day 2: We started the day with a trip to the farmers’ market, followed by brunch at Cuba Libre. We enjoyed the chips & dips and some brunchy cocktails. I had the brunch paella for my entree, Tom had the Crepa de Puerco, and we shared some churros for dessert. It was OK but I wouldn’t be in a big hurry to return. After that, Tom went to a movie (Bloody Milk), and we had dinner at home.
Day 3: This was a pretty special day, in which we were joined by Tom’s brother Dennis. We started with brunch at Walnut Street Cafe, which was delicious. Afterwards, we visited Cira Green, then went down to the Walnut Street dock to catch a boat tour to Bartram’s Garden. As with our last Schuylkill River boat tour, we really enjoyed the trip and the very informative guide. We had 2 hours at Bartram’s Garden before we had to catch the boat back, which included a 1 hour guided tour and 1 hour on our own to explore. None of us had been to Bartram’s Garden before, and we all loved it. After the boat tour, we were able to grab a beer at 24 Cafe before Dennis headed home, and we went home and cooked up some scallops. We finished the evening with a movie at the film festival, Lady Bird.
Day 4: This was another fun day. We started the day with breakfast at Sam’s Morning Glory Diner, where I got the Neighborhood frittata (provalone, spinach, red peppers) and Tom got the Gardenkeeper frittata (wild greens, potatoes, smoked ham). Afterwards, we visited the new Museum of the American Revolution, followed by a beer at Twisted Tail. Tom went to the movies (Holy Air and Most Beautiful Island), and then later we met up for dinner at Barcelona Wine Bar. We shared cheese, charred tomatoes, shishito peppers, octopus, and meatballs, along with some lovely glasses of wine. Afterwards we checked out ITV for a cocktail.
Day 5: This was a bit of a lazy day. We had originally set this day aside, without any movies, thinking we would go on more of a day trip outside the city. However, we both got a little sick, and it turned out to be raining most of the day, so instead it was just a nice peaceful day at home to relax. We went out for lunch at Dan Dan to get some spicy noodle soup, and then for dinner we went to a new place in the neighborhood, Trattoria Carina, for some Italian comfort food. Both outings were wonderful.
Day 6: This was another fun day. We had breakfast at On Point Bistro, where I got a proper huevos rancheros and Tom got fresh corn pancakes. We went to a movie together, the Norwegian movie Thelma. Afterwards we headed up to Fishtown for dinner at Root wine bar. It was happy hour, so we enjoyed some of their innovative gin & tonics, as well as a bunch of appetizers and wines by the glass. The fennel zeppoli and mushroom croquetas were real standouts, as were the mushroom toast, tomato toast, and cheese plate.
Day 7: This day was a little hit or miss. We had wanted to go to Porto, a Portuguese restaurant, for breakfast, but found out it was permanently closed. We went to Hawthorne’s instead, which was OK; the breakfast was nothing special, but overall we did like the vibe. Tom went to the movies (The Workshop and Montparnasse Bienvenue), then we met up for drinks at Bar One and then dinner at Monsu. We both got the menu turista at Monsu, which is a total steal for $40. In fact it was far too much food and we both stuffed ourselves and felt super bloated afterwards. I would definitely go back, though, just pace it differently and try to mix in more vegetables.
Day 8: The day got off to a special start with lunch at El Compadre. As with the previous year’s visit to South Philly Barbacoa, we were treated to outstanding food and hospitality. The cafe de olla alone is worth the visit, but we also really enjoyed the chicken mole tortas. Chef Cristina treated us to some complimentary apple bread as well as some pumpkin atole. We definitely need to make it back here more often. After lunch, Tom went to the movies (Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts and Souvenir), and then we met up for dinner at Melograno, an Italian BYOB not far from where we live that we had been meaning to get to for 6 years. The food and service were excellent, and we look forward to going back there as well.
Day 9: We started the day with our weekly trip to the farmers’ markets, this time having to stock up on more food since staycation was almost over. After that we went to brunch at Blue Duck on Broad, which might have been the biggest disappointment of staycation. The food was actually OK (I got the duck benedict, which was most memorable due to the use of potato rolls and not so much for the duck; Tom got a short rib quesadilla), but the vibe sucked – no draft beer, too many TVs, too many bros. We went to a movie together, 11/8/16, which turned out to be our last movie of the film festival. Afterwards we got a drink and some calamari at Whetstone, then went home and cooked dinner.
Day 10: Last day of staycation! A big rainstorm came in so we didn’t go to any movies, though we had originally planned to see at least the animated shorts and possibly also the live action shorts. Our original brunch plans didn’t work out, either, but we made up for it by visiting Sweet Lou at Rex 1516 and had a delightful brunch there. I got the chipped brisket, which was excellent, and Tom got the fried chicken & waffles. We went home and relaxed the rest of the afternoon, then finished staycation at Pumpkin. Our courses included butternut squash soup, purple sweet potato, sunflower seed risotto, sausage for Tom and salmon for me, chocolate cake for Tom and panna cotta for me.
As usual, staycation was over far too quickly!
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