Anyway, last weekend we went to Philadelphia and to Dover, Del., for the NASCAR race. What a fun weekend!
I love Philly more and more each time I go. It's a fun city. People are cool, not stuck up at all. Food and drinks are pretty cheap, but maybe I'm used to New York City prices. Igor and I went to this fabulous place for dinner -- The Continental -- where we indulged in wonderful lobster mashed potatoes, an array of Asian appetizers, and many beers, martinis (including one called the Buzz Aldrin which is made with TANG and peach vodka) and glasses of wine, all for about $80, with tip. What a bargain! And of course, we also hit up Jim's Steaks for some real deal Philly cheesesteaks and Yeungling beer. We waited 45 minutes in line outside the place, but as always, it was well worth it. We also walked around South Street (Igor got a nice haircut for $15!) and the Old City. Our hotel was in Society Hill, which is right by the Delaware River, so we even spent dusk on the boardwalk, which was really pretty. We were only in Philly for about 16 hours, which wasn't nearly enough time to enjoy the City of Brotherly Love. I can't wait to go back!
So on Sunday we drove down to Delaware for the race. To start the day off right, we indulged in some more fattening goodness during breakfast at Bob Evans. Igor had never been to the Southern-style family restaurant chain. I think he was thinking I was taking him to an IHOP-type place, but he was pleasantly surprised at the copious amounts of sausage, gravy and grits on the menu -- yum! Anyway, we finally got to Dover about 45 minutes before the start of the race. The parking lot at the track closed at 9 a.m. that morning and the town was crawling with RVs. We realized we were late when we found $25 parking in a Lowe's lot and the attendant joked that we needed "emergency parking" fast. (Hey, I thought $25 parking that's a five minute walk from the track, which is holding 150,000 spectators, was a bargain!)
The NASCAR race experience was even more fun and fantastic than I ever expected. The people-watching was top-notch at the MBNA RacePoints 400. I've never seen so many beer cozies full of Budweiser products in my life. (We were obviously the newbies since we didn't have a cooler full of beer, nor a seat cusion, nor race headphones.) Before the race we walked around outside the track for a few minutes, checking out the driver merchandise trucks and displays. Once we walked in, we promptly got giant, 24-ounce Bud Light cans for a measly $6 each. Walking into the stadium for the first time was a holy experience for me. (Don't laugh!) Dover's "Monster Mile" track was so much bigger and more colorful than I imagined. I felt a rush just taking it all in for the first time. We found our seats up in the main grandstand. We had to squeeze into the middle of a row of bleachers (told you we were late!), but the race fans were all so nice and accomodating, saying hello as we walked to our spots. The seats were tight, and it was hot out. Considering the circumstances, the fans were just very respectful to each other. A prayer was said before the race -- first time I've seen that at a sporting event. Then four F-16 fighter jets flew over, which was pretty intense. Hearing "Gentlemen, start your engines!" for the first time was another holy experience. But boy, once those racecars started up and really began zooming around the track at 155-plus mph, that's when the fun started. Watching a race on TV doesn't do it justice. In person, it's just all so much louder, faster and more incredible. We sat across from pit row, so watching the cars in the pits was pretty cool. Man they're fast! Overall, there weren't too many wrecks and not much drama, unlike the previous week's race. Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience and I'm hooked -- I'll definitely go to another NASCAR race. (I think Igor even liked it more than he expected.) But as for the 5 1/2 hours worth of traffic on the way home, that's another story!
Here is the album of Philly and Dover.
And here are some photos from the race and from Philly (the bottom two):
