Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
May 9, 2006 - Dinner with Dad
I actually took this photo of Dad on Sunday
On Saturday, Dad had meetings at his medical conference most of the day, so The Gryphon and I did our own thing at home. I picked up some extra work and did some cleaning around the house. We met him at his hotel at about 5 p.m. to go out to dinner and a movie.
The original idea had been to go to the Collegeville Inn, which Dad remembered from his undergrad days at Ursinus College. But as it turned out, we did some checking ahead of time, and while the Collegeville Inn still exists, it no longer has a restaurant. The Gryphon's search for another restaurant in the Collegeville area proved fruitless, as there was little but pizza and sub shops.
So we went for Plan B, to find something near the Valley Forge Convention Center, where Dad was staying. We asked Dad what he was interested in, and he said he'd like to get some fish. We decided on Maggiano's at the King of Prussia Mall.
Maggiano's was a popular place. They have plenty of tables, on two different floors, so it didn't take them long to seat us. They put us on the second floor balcony, which was cool because we could look down on everyone below. The only frustrating part was that, once again, we were in a room full of people talking, and it was hard to have a conversation with my Dad over the din.
Although the food is served family style, we decided we'd each get our own entrees and box what we didn't want, although we would share some sides. Dad ordered a half order of salmon, which amounted to about one serving. I ordered the crab cakes, and the Gryphon had chicken. We shared sides of garlic mashed potatoes and of broccoli.
The crab cakes were delicious, although strangely enough, they were served with onion rings. I sampled a few but decided not to eat most of them. I offered them to The Gryphon and Dad, who each tried some.
We would have had time for dessert, but we were all pretty full and wanted to get to the movie on time. The movie was at the United Artists/IMAX theater at the King of Prussia Mall. We saw Inside Man, a Spike Lee joint.
That was a really interesting movie: a heist movie combined with a police procedural. The film keeps you guessing until the very end, and it touches on some interesting issues, too, which should be no surprise to Spike fans.
Afterwards, I suggested finding a place to get dessert. I was just thinking of getting some ice cream or something, but I had no idea where we could go. We drove around randomly, following 202 all the way into Norristown before deciding that was pointless and turning around.
Instead, we looked for a place near the mall. We ended up at Benigan's, which actually has a pretty large dessert menu, all of which are really rich. There was no way I would eat any of them by myself, so I shared a Death by Chocolate with The Gryphon. It's a chocolate ice cream cake with chocolate and marshmallow topping. Completely sinful, but I'd been very good the rest of the day and have been careful this week in general to balance out the extra calories from my dad's visit.
We dropped
Dad back at his hotel, but not before making arrangements to spend time
together on Sunday.
More from
Dad's visit:
May 8, 2006 - Physician Frivolity
Moral:
Maggiano's is great for eating, not for talking.
Copyright
2006 by Alyce Wilson
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