Walking Those Streets

I lived in center city Philadelphia from 1969 to 1980. I loved walking to work during the day. Walking to the gay bars at night. Only problem was avoiding getting mugged. So I had a path. Thus I only got mugged once. Now I live in Delaware, near Rehoboth Beach. This is one street (Baltimore Avenue) where I can walk the street and not worry about getting mugged. Taxes are lower too. However, I still love Philly! Often visit. I think the streets are safer now too.

Philadelphia Skyline June 2026

 

Last week while Pat and I were visiting our longtime friend Don McK. in Philadelphia, I took this short video of Pat and Don on the roof of the building where he lives at 21st and Chestnut Streets in Center City Philadelphia. 

Checkout that skyline. I think Philly has the best skyline of any city in the United States.

I thought our visit to Don would be my last visit. He's eighty nine years old and I was under the assumption that my prostate cancer had spread and I would be long for this world. Now with the positive results of my PET-SCAN this week, I'm making plans to visit Don again. Pat will be down this fall and that's when we'll be up on Don's roof again with that fabulous view of Philadelphia's skyline. 

Philadelphia Visit

 

Pat, Don and me in Center City Philadelphia a couple days ago.

The last two days we visited our friend Don at his home in center city Philadelphia.

We had a wonderful visit.

The weather was perfect. Cool, sunny and breezy.

I had difficulty in walking around so this was definitely my last visit to Philadelphia. I just don't have the strength any more like I used to in my glory days when I was young, beautiful and charming. Those days are history. Now I'm just a bumbling old man struggling to walk and not fall.

Pat has been and continues to be a wonderful caregiver for me. 

He has accompanied me to all my doctors' visits for the past two weeks. Unfortunately my PET-SCAN has been rescheduled again (the third time) for next week. Pat leaves early this Saturday morning. I'll have to endure that stress solo. What a nightmare it's been preregistering but I don't bore you all with the details only to say, I wish the people you talk to on the phone had English as their first language.

Getting ready to go out to dinner tonight again. Perhaps non Mexican this time but I have been imbibing quite a bit on frozen Margaritas. 

Longtime Gay Friends

 

Me and Don at "More Than Just Ice Cream" restaurant in center city Philly October 20, 2015

Next month when Pat comes down for his quarterly visit to Casa Tipton-Kelly, we're taking a few (two) days to visit Philly and my longtime friend Don McK.

I've known Don for at least sixty-two years. We met through our mutual friend Ron Hampton, who was my best friend during my Army days.

Don and I worked at two Philadelphia banks during our long friendship. We were both job eliminated during the Great Banking Merger era in the Eighties. I got a new job at another Philly bank and hired Don. After I left that bank Don continued working there. I had a few more banks to work for before I changed careers and went to work for hotels.

Me and Don some years earlier at our friend Bob McCamley's single wide in the woods outside Georgetown, Delaware sometime in the Eighties

Over the years we have maintained our friendship. Don has been a steady and true friend. With the exception of Pat and my new friend Glenn M., Don is the only gay friend I have left.

I haven't seen Don in person since 2019, just when COVID hit. We've kept in touch via FaceTime though. These days we mostly talk about our failing health and have some laughs about how we're falling apart. Gone are the Glory Days of our misspent you. We also laugh about those adventures too.

Don is 89 years old now. I'm 84. We're on our way OUT and we know it. Question is, who goes first? 

When Pat comes down next month for his quarterly visit to me here at Casa Tipton-Kelly we're going to take a few days to visit Don in at his home in center city Philly. Don lives in a building of mostly old folks, a nice alternative to assisted living facilities. He still has his freedom although he says "everybody passes me by when I walk the streets." Me too Don.

Don and me on the rooftop garden of the building he lives in at 21st and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia October 20, 2015

Next month's visit will probably be the last time I see Don in person. He has been a good and faithful friend of mine for so many years. It will be interesting to see if he meet up again in the Afterlife. I know I will be with Bill again.

Trips to Philadelphia Over the Years

This video popped up this morning on my iPhone. Apple makes these delightful compilation videos. I thought I would share it with all of you. I may not be visiting Palm Springs with Pat in the near future but we will definitely be going back to Philly to visit our friend Don.

Have a great day everyone!

Mom Confronts Armed Biker Who Smashed Car Window

It took a mom protecting her children to finally wake up the Philadelphia police to enforce the law against dirt-bikes and ATV's riding on public streets in Philadelphia.

I'm from Philadelphia and lived and worked in Philadelphia many years. Before COVID and my caretaking responsibilities which began two and a half years ago, I used to visit Philly twice a year. I noticed the last time I visited that ATV's and dirt-bikes were riding down Chestnut Street, right in center city. WTF? I thought it was ILLEGAL to ride that type of vehicle on a city street or any public roads! Well, IT IS! But, the Philadelphia Police under the leadership (?) of Denise Outlaw obviously decided to look the other way. WTF? I lived in Philadelphia when Frank Rizzo was the police commissioner and then mayor. While Frank Rizzo had his many detractors one thing you could count on with Mayor Rizzo was such activity would never be tolerated. 

I consider myself a liberal in most respects but I am definitely against this kind of relaxation of the laws that permit this kind of terrorism to happen, jumping and breaking the back window of this mother's car when her two young children were in the back seat. Thank God no one was injured. This could have quickly have escalated into a real tragedy.

As a result of this incident the Philadelphia Police have finally taken action to remove ALL of the illegal dirt-bikes and ATV's from the Philadelphia City streets. It's about time.

Now to lock up those gangs of looters who are stealing and vandalizing those center city stores. 

Christmas Eve 2019

Just back this morning from a fabulous week in Philadelphia!  At work (hotel) now. I am exhausted. 

What a wonderful week we had in Philadelphia. Although it was colder than I had expected (I was warned), we still managed to traipse those historic Philadelphia streets to explore some new venues (which I will write about later in more detail).

For this year's winter holiday in Philadelphia Pat rented a car for our day trip to Hershey, PA.  Yep, we went to Chocolate Street.  

Pat wanted to visit the antique car museum. On the way from Philly to Hershey I made two pit stops. The first at the Brickside Grill in Eagleview, PA, nearby where I used to work at the Hampton Inn hotel. I love that restaurant. We weren't disappointed. 

I had hoped to meet my former boss and executor of estate but my notice was too short.  I'll try to give him more notice my next trip.   I also stopped at my brother's home for a short visit and to give him his old high school photos which got swept up in my taking of all of my Mother's old photos when we moved her to my other brother's home in South Carolina.

By the time we got to Hershey (4 PM) we only had an hour to visit the museum. But that was enough time before it closed at 5 PM. No crowds.

It was too late to return to Philadelphia, neither one of us likes to drive in the dark, so we checked into a nearby Hampton Inn.  A very nice place to relax.  We decided to drive into downtown Hershey to get something to eat. We drove by the famed Hershey Park, sparkling with multi-colored Christmas lights. Very inviting. But way too cold to imbibe.

After a relaxing night at our sumptuous and very comfortable room at the Hampton Inn, we departed early to get Pat's rental car back by 11:26 AM, lest he be charged an extra day's rental. Wouldn't you know it, just when you're in a hurry our GPS took us the wrong way back.  We were stuck on a country road in farm country behind TWO liquid fertilizer trucks.  Can you believe it?  We couldn't either. After many miles Pat was finally able to pass one truck, then another.  Looking in our rearview morrow we saw at least thirty cars behind us, stuck in the Cow Poop Caravan.

We got back in time to avoid an extra day's charge on the car.

The rest of our stay in Philly was me helping my friend Don buy his new iPhone X Pro.  I also spent time helping him with his iMac questions.

This trip in Philly I wanted to try some new restaurants. We really hit the ball out of the park by going to Ralph's Italian Restaurant in South Philly.  All the years I lived in Philly, I've never been to an authentic South Philly Italian restaurant. Well, I choose the best this time. Ralph's is the oldest Italian restaurant IN THE COUNTRY.  And the food and service is great!
Frank Sinatra and many others have frequented this restaurant over the years. Tony Bennett too!

All too soon our six day stay in Philly was over and I had to return to my hotel job her in Lewes, DE. I am at the hotel now, typing this blog. 

Sorry I didn't have a chance to write during my stay in Philly, just didn't have the time. Too many things going on. Restaurants, open houses (condos), visiting friends, computer instructions for Don, and just walking around downtown Philly. Both Pat and I LOVE Philly. Too expensive for me to live there just like it's too expensive to live in Palm Springs but at least I can go back for visits twice a year which isn't bad. 

Next up Palm Springs in February 2020!

Merry Christmas everyone on this Christmas Eve!

Philly Visit

Me and Pat at Little Pete's restaurant in Philadelphia, PA November 2016

On this day three years ago my Canadian Travel Buddy and I were ending our week long annual winter stay in Philadelphia. 

This photo was taken at Little Pete's restaurant very early in the morning when the streets were deserted.  I was up early to walk Pat to the bus station for his twenty-four hour journey back to his home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Pat and I stopped for a quick breakfast.  I also wanted him to experience Little Pete's restaurant, a 24 hour restaurant that I used to frequent during my bar hopping days back in the 70's.  

We hadn't planned to stop at Little Pete's, Pat usually just stops at a Starbucks, but walking down those rain soaked, darkened streets on that cold November morning I saw Little Pete's and memories came flooding back over me. I asked Pat if he had time to stop.  He did.

Our breakfast was as good as I remembered it as it was when I bopped into Little Pete's after the bars closed at 2 AM.  However, the waitress gave me the sad news, Little Pete's was closing after many years on 17th Street in Philadelphia. See here.

This is just one instance of the adventures Pat and I always have when we get together four times a year, twice in Philly, once at Pat's hometown of Hamilton, Ontario and two weeks in California. 

More adventures await us but it's always nice to be reminded of our past adventures. 

Philadelphia Holiday

Tomorrow at 1 pm, Clarence, my neighbor will be by to pick me up and transport me to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is my annual spring visit (I also visit in the fall around my birthday) to my former home and workplace. 

Pat, my Canadian Travel Buddy, will arrive in Philly Monday after an overnight bus ride (seventeen hours or more!) from his home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  This year Pat will not be able to visit me and Bill here at our home in southern (Sussex County) Delaware.  Pat has a bit much on his plate this spring. Sunday he's attending his brother's 50th wedding recommitment ceremony. Thus why he's a day later reconnecting with me in Philly.  

Next Saturday Pat and I will travel to the Marriott hotel at Philadelphia International Airport to connect with my former high school classmate and friend Stuart M. Stuart is flying in from his home in Boca Raton, Florida.  We will all be attending my 60th (can you believe it?) high school class reunion in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately our former classmate Larry (he left Downingtown in ninth grade) won't be attending with us as previously planned. We'll miss him.  

I love my quarterly get togethers with Pat but I also realize that I have a regular vacation paradise right here in southern Delaware. Bill and I live in a fifty-seven home development right off of the Coastal Highway (Route One), four miles from Lewes, Delaware and ten miles from Rehoboth Beach.  During the summer I do not visit Rehoboth Beach, I give it up to the tourists which keep our economy alive here.  In fact the tourists is the reason I can afford my quarterly trips with Pat.  I work part-time at a hotel in Lewes, catering to tourists. What I earn at the hotel just about covers the costs of my annual trips to California (Los Angeles and Palm Springs), Philadelphia (twice a year) and Pat's home in Hamilton, Canada. Isn't it ironic that I go away to vacation whereas so many people drive quite a distance yo come here in southern Delaware for their vacation. Hey, I don't take our wonderful home here for granted at all, I realize that I'm living in a vacation paradise year round.  Now if I can just do something about the mosquitos. At least when I visit Philadelphia next week I won't have to contend with the mosquitoes, just the honking horns which Philadelphia motorists are so fond of using. 

When I'm in Philly next week I'll update all of you, my faithful blog followers, of the goings on. Always good to see my longtime friend Don McK. again.  We stay at the guest suite at his co-op in downtown Philly.  

Always nice to go away and always nice to come home. Best time of my life right now.

Philly, Here We Come!

Ben Franklin and friend awaits us across from Philadelphia City Hall in the rain

This time next week I'll be in Philadelphia for my annual spring rendezvous with Pat and my longtime friend Don McK. Pat and I stay in the guest suite at Don's co-op at 21st and Chestnut Street in center city Philly.  

Pat and I stay there twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall around my birthday in November.  

This year Pat will be arriving a day late, Monday June 3rd.  I'll be arriving Sunday, June 2nd.  Our stay is only a week.  On June 8th I will be attending my 60th high school class reunion with Pat in attendance. I hope I can get him to take some pictures with my camera. I take most of the pictures at these reunions but I can't take a picture of myself. I have to ask someone else to take the picture like I did at my 50th class reunion.

My old high school friend Stuart M. will be flying in from his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We'll meet him at the airport and drive out to Downingtown with him. That will be fun.

We're having the reunion at St. Anthony's Lodge in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, the same location where I attended my graduation party sixty years ago.  I have pictures from that occasion but they are black and white and from a distance. I was shy about taking pictures back then. Still shy but more bold now. I often get "You should ask someone if they want their picture taken before you take their picture" now.  One extreme to another I say.  I wish I was bolder and had taken more closeups back then.  

This will probably be my last class reunion. We're all dying off at a faster rate now. That Memory Table is getting crowded.

What will Pat and I do in Philly? Go to our favorite restaurants and check out new ones.  Pat likes to visit old city and the modern furniture stores. We have a favorite cafe in old city we like to visit. And of course I'll be taking a lot of pictures and videos.

The forecast is rain so I'll be packing rain jackets for me and Pat.  For several years running now our visits have been rained on but we still have a good time. And it's always enjoyable to visit out friend Don McK. We always end our day at his place have a glass (or two) of wine and reminiscing about old times (war stories) and our current health woes.  Don is good company as is Pat. 

Good friends make good times. Doesn't get much better than that does it?

Philadelphia December 2018

Twice a year Pat (my Canadian Travel Buddy) and I meet in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  We stay for a week at the guest suite at our friend Don McK's co-op which is located in center city Philly. We meet once in the spring and the other time in the fall after Thanksgiving but before Christmas.

Pat and I never have specific plans a la "If this is Tuesday this must Belgium" but we always have a great time. This visit was no exception.  

Usually we eat at the same restaurants but this time we took a gamble and ventured out to try something new.  One fabulous place for breakfast or brunch is called Green Eggs; good food, great service and not expensive. They even had scrapple, a southeastern Pennsylvania "delicacy" (scrapple is made up of pork leavings and cornmeal, yes, the snout and ears and whatever else of the pig that doesn't end up in the meat section of the supermarket). They did the scrapple right too, crispy on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside. Green Eggs could even accommodate Pat and his vegan requirements.  We're finding more and more restaurants are vegan friendly. Of course we returned to our favorite restaurants like Hip Veg City and Marathon Grill and even Mama's Place.

This year we were able to see two good movies.  "Green Book" (notice a green theme here?) and "Bohemian Rhapsody".  Both excellent movies!  We give "Green Book" at ten. That movie is going to produce some Oscars for sure.

Pat bought a large painting which he took back on the bus with him.  Yes, Pat takes the bus from Toronto to Philly, a twelve hour trip.  You won't catch me taking a bus.  I'm spoiled.  I take the plane and he meets me in Buffalo.  I have bathroom needs.

At the end of the video you'll see I'm locked out of our suite. Another fun challenge, our lock only worked half the time. Always an adventure when we venture from our comfy nests. At least Pat wasn't locked out this time.  He was comfortably ensconced on his bus headed back to Toronto, Canada. 

By the way, I'm having trouble responding to comments on this blog. If I don't respond to your comment, it's not because I don't want to.  Blogger has done something and I haven't figured it out yet. All comments are still welcomed!

More videos of our trip to Philly in future blogs. I am so glad the mice are out of our house!

Week In Philly Coming To An End

As usual, when Pat and I get together for one of our quarterly holidays, the time goes by too fast. This particular holiday in Philadelhia will end this Sunday. Pat will catch his overnight Greyhound bus to Toronto early Sunday morning. At noon my ride will pick me up here at the guest suite where we always stay during our semi-annual visits to Philadelphia. Then this fall/winter holiday will be over, all too soon. Next time we get together will be next February in California.

My visit to Philly this year was severely curtailed because of my injured toe. Each day it's a little better but still not good enough to give me free range of walking that I've been used to all my life. That is one thing I've always had, I had the freedom to walk and walk, and walk.  Not so this time folks. Very frustrating. However, I have learned the bus route which I am taking plenty advantage of. I have a senior citizen pass which enables me to ride for free.  

I managed to go out for breakfast again this morning at a newly discovered restaurant called "Green Eggs."  Our past several visits to Philly Pat and I tended to patronize the same two restaurants.  While they were fine, Philly has so many restaurants so we decided to branch out and explore. The Green Eggs Cafe was fabulous!  Not only good food at a reasonable price, they service scrapple!  Where else can you get scrapple in a restaurant?  And it was prepared properly too, not greasy and soggy.  Which reminds me, it's time for dinner. Nearby where we're staying  is a Guatemalan restaurant which serves Guatemalan "street food."  Sounds gritty and it is but delicious.

Last night we went to another movie at a small nearby theater. That's what is nice about living in center city Philly, everything is nearby.  The movie we say last night was "Bohemian Rhapsody", the story of Freddy Mercury and the rock group Queen. Interesting movie. We liked it but I was thrown/annoyed with Freddy's overbite. Little too much emphasis on it in the move I thought. The previous even we say the "Green Book."  An excellent movie! I predict this movie will win the Academy award for not only best movie but best actor and supporting actor.  Now the question is which actor gets the nod for best actor and supporting actor.

I've rambled on enough here folks.  In spite of my injured foot/big toe, this past has been fabulous.  Always a great time when my Canadian Travel Buddy is with me. Maybe not as many photos and videos as I usually take, limited somewhat because of the necessity of me using a cane but still some interesting photographic and video memories of this great city, Philadelhia PA, my former home and workplace for many years. 

Ah, I remember the times in the past when I used to weave my way down Philly's narrow streets with ease.  Now I am stooped over with arthritis and a slower gait because of my injured foot. I am no longer that young man of the 70's and 80's during my heyday. Now I am one of those old, enfeebled persons struggling to get on and off the bus.   I have a new appreciation for those people folks because I am now one of them.

I hope I have many years left to visit this wondrous, historic and beautiful city that to now so diverse. Much more diverse than when I lived and worked here. I'm glad I've lived long enough to see our society become more inclusive. 

Pat should be walking in the door soon. We'll be spending the evening "home" watching a old film on Turner Classic Movies, the only channel on our suite TV that isn't buried in commercials.

Hope to post one more time before I leave Sunday. Have a great day and evening folks!

Big Toe Stub in Philly!

Yesterday, on a beautiful Sunday, I arrived in Philly.  I was to meet up with Pat who arrived, exhausted, by an overnight Greyhound bus from Toronto. 

I texted Pat when my ride dropped me off at my friend Don's co-op building where we are renting a suite for a week. We come here twice a year, once in the spring and now, late fall.

Pat texted me back that he was attending a service at St. Patrick's Cathedral. He wouldn't be able to meet me for about a half an hour.  I took that opportunity to visit my old home on Naudain Street. I always like to visit our row house on Naudain Street.  Brings back many pleasant memories.

Pat texted me after his church service to meet him on 18th Street.  I left my former home at 24th and Naudain Streets to meet Pat. I'm a little unsteady on my feet these days folks. I don't want to fall.  This is one of my major fears these days folks, falling. A couple of years ago I did a face plant at 21st and Chestnut Streets just as I was returning to our suite her at Don's co-op.  Since that accident I'm very careful not to fall again, face-plant style. So what do I do this time? Just as I was approaching Pat, me taking a video of him, I stub my big toe on the curb. And I mean I stubbed it.  Big time.  It only took a few minutes to realize I did major damage. I was in excruciating pain.

I tried to ignore it but the more I walked to our way to the Marathon restaurant for our lunch, I frequently had to yelp in pain. Yep, like a little baby.  Wow.  

After lunch I told Pat I couldn't wear my shoes because of the pressure on my toe. I had to get another pair of shoes. Just think of it, I'm beginning a week of holiday in Philadelphia which is a major walking city and I can't walk.  

After stopping in a few pricey shoes store, I settled on getting a pair of slip on shoes at Macy's. that provided some relief but I was still in a great deal of pain.

After we checked in to our suite, my friend Don suggested I go to the walk in clinic.  I took his advice. I was quite impressed with the walk in clinic, a much better alternative to a visit to the emergency room, Their diagnosis was a foot contusion.  They tied my big toe together with my second toe with paper tape.  They advised me to do little walking and keep my foot elevated.  Also to put a cold compress on my foot and take an ibuprofen for the pain.  

I hobbled back to our suite and rested and elevated my foot. 

When I awoke this morning my foot was much better. Still tender and painful if I hit it the wrong way.  I borrowed Don's cane this morning to walk to breakfast at the Marathon Grill at 16th and Sansom Streets.  

I'm hoping tomorrow when I awake my foot is back to normal, or not as painful to walk.  And I can dispatch with Don's cane. Old man here.

Man oh man, I can remember those days when I used to live and work in Philly and I walk everywhere. Those days are long gone folks. Old man here.

Well, I'm here in Philly now and I hope I don't have any more accidents. 

I love Philly and intend to get walking again pain free. 

Off To Philly!

Pat took this selfie on his overnight bus trip last year of his seat mate (who he didn't know) falling asleep on his shoulder. The risks you encounter when you embark on an overnight bus trip!

Tomorrow I leave for my autumn visit to Philadelphia. I began this tradition five years ago to celebrate my birthday in early November. 

My Canadian Travel Buddy Pat F. takes an overnight bus from Hamilton, Ontario to meet me in Philly.  In Philly we stay in the guest suite at my friend Don McK.'s co-op for a week. We stay there twice a year, once in the spring and now in the fall. 

Both Pat and I love Philadelphia, my former home and workplace of many years.  I always enjoy getting together with my old friend Don and rehashing war stories from our times at Mellon Bank and Fidelity Bank. Oh those were the days.

During our time in Philly this year Pat and I will catch a couple of the current movies playing.  Usually when we're in Philly the movies playing aren't the ones we want to see.  This time we're in luck though, "The Green Room" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" is playing at the Roxy movie theater only a few short blocks from where we're staying. The Roxy is a very small theater (really small) but comfortable. I was surprised when I returned to Philly after many years of living and working there to find that all the big movie theaters were gone.  Center city Philly with NO movie theaters? The Boyd, the Goldman, the Midtown?  All empty shells or discount drugstores. What a shame! They were such magnificent and opulent movie theaters. 

Pat and I will also venture out to explore some new restaurants. We tend to stay with the same two restaurants, Hip Veg City and the Marathon Grill. We're going to be brave this visit and try some new restaurant, as long as they're not too pricey, which most restaurants are now days. At least for our fixed income retirement budgets. 

I don't know how often I can update my blog but I'll try to keep you all updated. If not in real time then when I get back next week.  Plenty of photos and videos for sure, you know me.

Now to face that hard decision I always have when I take a trip, what do I wear? I always leave that to the last minute. 

A few days ago the weather was unusually cold.  Tonight the temperature is milder (55 degrees) but pouring rain. Dodged a bullet on this one, that could have been snow!  

My ride comes by to pick me up at 10 am tomorrow morning.  That's when I'll make the decision what to wear.  

Happy Wedding Anniversary!

Five years ago today folks I married Bill, on the 49th anniversary of our meeting.

On that rainy, summer night in Philadelphia I was standing alone by the bartender Jerry Hawes at the Westbury Bar in Philly.  Jerry pushed a gin and tonic in front of me.  I looked up and he turned his head and nodded in the direction of a man standing on the other side of the bar, in front of the juke box and skeet ball game machine.  

The Westbury Bar was my regular hangout on Saturday night when I went trolling the gay bars looking for my Prince Charming. I usually went with my friends Ed Cage and Ron Hampton but this night, for some reason I was alone.  I don't remember why.

This wasn't the first night that man had sent a drink over my way. In fact he had done it many times before over the past three months. I always acknowledge the gesture with a nod of my head but I never went over to actually talk to him.  You see, he wasn't my "type."  He was very popular in the bar, usually playing skeet ball with his many friends. While I considered him attractive, he really wasn't my type physically and besides, I wasn't about to be another notch on his gun of conquest. During my brief year or so of coming out to gay bars, I had been approached more than  few times by over confident older gay men who were just out for a one night stand. I was looking for more.  I was looking to fall in love and spend my life with the Man of My Dreams.  My Prince Charming. Mr. Right.  And that man wasn't it.  Besides, he was SOO old (35 years to my 22 years).  

But on this muggy, quiet night in the Westbury, attendance probably down because of the intermittent rain outside, I decided the least I could do was go over and thank him for all the drinks. At that time I was just beginning my adult working career and living on limited funds. I usually only took three dollars with me to the bar to buy a seventy-five cent gin and tonic. Of course I would tell the bartender to "keep the change".  Once I spent my three dollars I was out of the bar. My search for my prince done for the night. But being the nice guy that I am (tongue in cheek folks, don't take me seriously and leave a nasty comment) I decided to walk around the bar and thank this man.

As I rounded the bar and approached him, he looked up in bemusement and surprise. After all those drinks he had sent to me over the last three months, he probably never expected to reel me in.  

I said to him "Thank you for the drink."  He replied "You're welcome."  

I was pleasantly surprised by the tone of his voice. It was deep and masculine. Unlike my voice which has a higher, adolescent tone and definitely not "gay sounding" (please don't take offense my "gay sounding" friends but you know what I'm talking about).  What my friend (who eventually was a witness at our wedding) called "talking gay."  She asked me once, "Why don't you and Bill talk gay?"  I assured her that not all men "talk gay."  She was somewhat surprised by this revelation but I digress.

When I decided to go over and thank Bill for the drinks, I didn't intend to stay but I found his personality so appealing, that I stayed.  He was (and is) nice. He wasn't an ogre like some of the older gay men I had the misfortune to meet in the past. He wasn't out to just "notch another one up." He was different.  Thus began our friendship.

Over the next six months Bill saw each other every weekend. He lived in Pennsuaken, New Jersey and I lives in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, fifty-one miles away or about an hour's drive one-way.  After his workday on Friday Bill would drive the one hour drive to pick me up at my furnished, efficiency apartment in Coatesville and drive me back to his garden apartment in Pennsauken, New Jersey. He did this almost every weekend from July to February.  I think he only missed three weekends and that was because he had to work. Now who else would do that for me?

Bill and me at his apartment in Pennsauken, New Jersey - 1964

  
Then came a time when Bill wanted me to move in with him.  I was reluctant because, even though I liked Bill, he still wasn't "my type" physically. Oh yes, the Folly of Youth being sho shallow-minded. I didn't want to be restricted. But Bill didn't give up.  He said "I would never restrict you. You can have all the freedom you want, all I ask is that you be discreet."  And that folks is the secret of our relationship over the past fifty-four years. 

I got a job with a major bank in Philly and moved in with Bill at the end of February 1965.  

Bill and I on the rooftop at our townhouse in center city Philadelphia 1976

Over the next fifteen years we settled down into the normal routine of a gay couple, or as "normal" as a gay couple could be in those pre-Stonewall days. Then came a time in 1980 I met Somebody.  I thought I finally met my Prince Charming.  Handsome, talented, kind, and sexy.  Oh yes.  I was going to leave Bill.  I told Bill I had finally met Mr. Right.  As I prepared to leave, and I remember clearly where I told Bill, it was outside near the row of day lilies that lined our driveway to our dream house in the Pennsylvania countryside.

Bill turned away from me after I gave him the news but then turned back and said "Please don't leave me."  I was prepared for this but much to my surprise I realized I couldn't leave him.  I mean, I COULDN'T LEAVE HIM.  Why, because I loved him.  Yes, I had grown to love him over the years and could not imagine my life without him in it.  I tried to picture me with Prince Charming (who, by the way turned out not to be the Prince Charming after all but that's another whole story), and I couldn't fathom the thought of thinking about where Bill would be.  I just could not imagine my life without Bill in it.  

Bill gets emotional on our wedding day in July 3, 2013 - aren't I the one who is supposed to get emotional?

And now we are here today, fifty-four years after I met Bill.  Bill will be ninety years old this year.  I'll be seventy-seven.  I would never have imagined that back on that rainy July night in Philly fifty-four years ago that I would love this man all these years later. But I do.

Now that we both are in our declining years, health issues sometimes that threaten to overtake us at times, I still would never leave Bill.  He needs me and I live him.  

I met my Prince Charming all those years ago, I just didn't know it.

Happy anniversary Bill!

Me and Bill outside the courthouse in Georgetown, Delaware where we got married.  Now we start a whole new chapter in our lives.

Me and Bill together today - together forever

Note: Portulaca, Bill's favorite flower of all time!

Trip to Philadelphia 2016

Hey folks, more video compilations!  I finally figured out  to put these memory video and photo compilations together.  I am so relieved to now be able to put some of my 91,000 plus photos and videos together for access long after I'm gone.  I know I kid about it all the time, but I actually don't have that many days left here on earth.  One thing that has bothered me was that all my videos and photos will be lost once I'm gone. Now I don't feel that way.

Now, this video compilation is from my annual spring trip to Philadelphia. I don't remember exactly what happened that Pat wasn't with me on the trip up, after all it was two years ago.  Last year and this year Pat takes a bus from Canada to Philly then rents a car and drives down here where I live in southern Delaware. He spends a few days here then we drive up to Philly for a week's stay at a suite I rent at my friend Don McKenzie's co-op in Philly.  At the end of the week Pat leaves by bus back to his home in Hamilton, Ontario.  My neighbor Bill B. picks me up in Philly and drives me back to home here in Sussex County, Delaware.

On this video I drove up Rt. 896 to one of our favorite restaurants in Kelton, PA called "Daddy's Kitchen".  They make the best wraps. 

Then I visited Downingtown, my hometown. I visited the cemetery where my parents are buried. Also friends who have passed. 

Then I took a train from Downingtown to center city Philly where I met a former co-worker Tom J.

We had lunch at one of me and Pat's favorite restaurant, the Marathon Grill.  I kept in touch with Pat via FaceTime. Pat came down a few days later. That visit will be in another video.

My friend Larry M. picked me up at Don's.  

Nothing earth shattering about this blog post folks other than an excuse to post another one of these video compilations, which I LOVE doing.  

Pat Leaves Philadelphia

Last Sunday my good pal Pat left Philadelphia to return to his home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Today I continue with my Memories, a compilation of photos and videos that I have taken of my recent travels with Pat. This video was taken last Sunday, June 3, 2018 as Pat left our rented suite at the 2101 Chestnut Street Co-Operative of our good friend Don McK.

I walked with Pat down the almost deserted center city Philadelphia streets to the Greyhound bus terminal at 10th and Race Streets. Pat had a 7:00 AM bus to catch for his almost 24-hour journey back to his hometown in Canada. Coincidentally I encountered one of my cousins at the bus station. He was leaving his home in Coatesville, Pennsylvania to begin a new life in North Carolina. Which is ironic since my father (and his family) left North Carolina to live in southeastern Pennsylvania in 1930 to begin a new life. 

After I saw Pat off I walked back to our suite. On the way I took several pictures of the new center city buildings.  I also stopped by one of our favorite Philadelphia restaurants, the Marathon Grill at 16th and Chestnut Street, to have a breakfast of veggie quiche, a breakfast alone without Pat. 

Returning to our suite I completed my packing in time to catch my ride back to home here in Delaware. A neighbor picks up at the door (door to door service) returning me home here in Delaware. 

This morning we have another doctor's appointment for Bill. Hopefully this is the last one for a while. Then I hope we can enjoy the rest of the summer without doctor visits. This fall I go on a trip again, this time to visit Pat in Hamilton. Rest assured there will be more photo and video complications. 

Have a great day everyone!

Pat Arrives In Philly

This is the first video of our annual spring visit to Philly.

Every year, Pat and I get together four times a year. Springtime is Philly.

In the Fall I visit Pat in Canada. 

My birthday in November we revisit Philly. Both Pat and I love Philadelphia, especially the exciting and diverse city that is Philadelphia now, unlike the Philadelphia that rolled up it streets at 6 PM when all the office workers left Center City. 

Me and Pat in Olde City, Philadelphia (don't worry, my beard is coming back)

 I lived and worked in Center City Philadelphia from 1965 to 1994 when I moved back to Downingtown, Pennsylvania, my hometown from which I was anxious to leave when I graduated from high school in 1959.  After a three year stint in the Army, I lived in Pittsburgh, PA for a few months then Coatesville, PA for a couple of years before I met Bill and moved in with him at his apartment in Pennsauken, New Jersey.  And there you have my life story in a capsule.

Winter is two weeks in California, one week in West Hollywood and one week in Palm Springs. 

I recently discovered that my Photo app on my iMac has this wonderful feature that takes my photos and videos and compiles a short video.  This is the first of them. 

I've produced some short videos in the past but they are very laborious and take up a lot of hard drive space on my computer, thus I haven't done too many although I like doing them.  

This video shows Pat dropping off his rental car in Narberth, Pennsylvania. We took the train from Narberth last Sunday to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Then we walked to our rental suite at our friend Don McKenzie's co-op at 2101 Chestnut Street in center city Philly.  

Pat taking a rest in Olde City, Philadelphia

What do we do when in Philly?  Probably nothing exciting to the casual observer but for me and Pat, we always have a good time. Pat loves to visit Olde City and the design row of furniture stores. I like to check out some of my favorite restaurants. Pat and I both like to just walk around the busy streets of center city checking out the architecture and all the new building and tear downs. 

Pat checking out some of the Philadelphia architecture on his last day early in the morning on the way to the bus station to catch his bus back to Hamilton, Canada

I personally like revisiting many of my old haunts from when I lived and worked in center city Philly. And of course we visit my old friend and co-worker Don. 

Visiting with our friend Don in his apartment in Philly

In the evening Pat and I watch TV, "Family Feud" and "Shark Tank" are some of our two favorite programs. We also like Turner Classic Movies but all too often TCM is on a Memorial Day Marathon or some other series that we're not interested in.  Our favorite movies are the film noir movies of the Thirties and Forties.  This time we saw some old Flash Gordon serials, which was fun. Who doesn't like Ming the Merciless?

This visit I discovered that my endurance isn't the same as it was on previous visits. The heat and humidity during our week long stay sometimes because too much for me and I had to retreat to our air conditioned suite on the 14th floor ("Penthouse") of the 2101 Chestnut Street Co-operative.  I left Pat to continue roaming around Olde City and the tourists (who were out in full force) while I did my Old Man Recover routine in time to go out to dinner at the Marathon Grill or Hip Veg City in the evening when Pat returned from his explorations. 

Having the best time of my life folks!

The Intrepid Duo in Center City Philly, contributing to the local economy

Eye Exam and Other Rants

Waiting room at the Delaware Eye Institute this morning - my surreptitious photo

Another day, another doctor's appointment. This one my annual eye examination.  

Good news!  I have no significant changes in my prescription. My eyes are basically good, for an old geezer of 76 years old.  My cataracts are "mild" according to my eye doctor. He said I don't need to take action now but that gradually my cataracts will grow and there is nothing I can do about it.  He told me that seeing colors will gradually become dimmer and dimmer and glare will continue to be a greater problem.

Selfie taken of me by me i the holding room of my eye doctor - my eyes were real little this morning as they  that early in the morning - Possum Eyes

Already I don't drive at night except when I return from work at the hotel two nights a week.  And then it's late at night and there is little traffic on the road. My days of driving the ten miles down Route One to Rehoboth Beach for a get together with my gay friends at the Purple Parrot are long gone. Just a fond memory.

Bill waiting for me as I checked out this morning after my eye examination

It's been raining almost nonstop here for the past three days. The forecast is for two more days of rain then the sun will break out.  Just in time for Pat's visit to Deal-where? next Wednesday and our week long visit in Philly.  At least we're not going to have a repeat of a few years ago when two consecutive visits to Philly were rain every day.  

Pat and "Patrick" on one of our many rainy days in Philly

Hopefully sunny days will prevail during our semi-annual visit to the City of Brotherly Love. You know what they always say, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia!"  Oh wait, thats a TV program isn't it?  Of course it isn't filmed in Philadelphia which is why I never watched it. Just for your information it is taped primarily in Los Angeles with a few exterior scenes in Philly. What a pity, Philly is such an interesting city with many interesting venues.  But you know how those lazy TV producers are.  Why go on location when you can tape your show in LA and go home at night?  Of course.  Not that I don't like Los Angeles  but come on folks. Get off your ass and go to Philly if you're going to have a show about Philly. 

That said, have a great day everyone!

Pat and me on one of those rare "Sunny Days In Philadelphia" (Rittenhouse Square area)  (I don't know how these TV producers think they can capture the unique character of Philadelphia on an LA soundstage when Philadelphia has so much to offer)(

Eagles Win The Super Bowl!

What a game! 

Nerve wracking!

Final score:

Philadelphia Eagles:      41
New England Patriots:   33

The Philadelphia Eagles football team won their first Super Bowl.

Folks, I was living and working in Philly when Philadelphia won their first major sports trophy, the Stanley Cup for hockey in 1973.  I was working at Girard Bank with was located right next to City Hall. Perfect location to celebrate. Over a million Philadelphians spilled out in the streets to congratulate the Broad Street Bullies, aka Philadelphia Flyers.

The next major sports win was the 1980 World Series. I was in my fourth floor apartment at 2124 Spruce Street, center city when Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson of the Kansas City Athletics. I could feel the city erupt after that final whiff.

Now for this Philadelphia center city celebration when the Eagles return to their home city from their outstanding victory in Minneapolis.  I have to tell you folks, I'm glad I'm not living in center city Philly now because for me, and my aged arthritic body this celebration would be too much.

But I will also tell you, this win means so much for Philly. For so many years Philly has always been treated like the red-headed country cousin of major American cities, not even good enough to be included in the general weather reports on national TV when reporting weather across the United States. They always would say Boston and Baltimore but never Philadelphia, which always annoyed me.







I watched the whole game yesterday on my TV. First time in years that I watched a football game beginning to end on my TV. I have to tell you folks, at times it was very nerve wracking and I was tempted to turn it off. New England Patriots Golden Boy Tom Brady was throwing long bombs. His team was barreling down the field to touchdown after touchdown. But the Eagles won out in the end after a couple of gutsy calls. 

Enjoy your day in the sun Philadelphia, You deserve it.