A family friend was in the hospital and we decided to take the 40 minute drive to get there...I pack up the diaper bag, toss in a bag of goldfish for a snack for Ethan, since it is close to dinner time. We get on the road, and drive for a bit and hit the first highway... and traffic stopsdead. Traffic with a toddler is it's own circle of hell, you know! Then we hit the next highway. trafficstopsdead, Sigh. Forty minute drive? Not so much. We finally get to the local roads, and although driving through mainline Philadelphia, especially near St Joes and Villanova is generally a nice trip with really lovely scenery.... but remember that part of traffic with a toddler? Yeah. We did determine that Michelle O.bama was in town and that might account for some of the traffic..(and oddly enough, I was not informed of this trip.. I generally get emails!) but eventually we got to the hospital. It was nearly 7. (Our kid hadn't eaten since lunch at 2)
Ethan was happy to see Uncle Irv, and Uncle Irv looked fairly well, for a guy who just had someone messing around inside his chest, popping in a pacemaker... We visited for a bit, and Ethan's Bubbie and Zaydie were there, and they both walked the halls with Ethan leading them by the hand, countless times. E would not say Uncle Irv, although he said it in the car, but I think Uncle Irv was still happy to see him. Ethan asked for a snack, so T got him a snack cup full of goldfish and he wandered around the room chattering with his fish.... Eventually, T and I remember that the care of a child does require some actual feeding of non junk food, and opted to leave. It was close to 8:30.
We get in the car, seeking a diner. I mean, we are on City Line Avenue, in Philadelphia, there has got to be a diner, right? So we drive down the road, with E still chattering... and no diner. We do see a Wendy's and a MacDonald's, then a KFC, but no diner. Then we saw and IHop. Pancakes?? You can't go wrong with pancakes. But when we pulled up to the IHop, there was 1 lone car in the lots, and it seemed there was NO ONE in the building, although the sign said open. I said, "um, no, that is weird!" and we pressed on... Just before we got to the highway ramp, we spied a sign for a chiptotle, Pei Wei and something else. A California Pizza Kitchen. It is 9 pm, but the way. Our 19 month old hasn't eaten dinner and it is 9 pm.
We go into the CPK, and there is a wait. less than 10 minutes she says... ok 10 minutes for you and I is 10 minutes. 10 minutes for E is 2x the length of Elmo's World! that is ETERNITY! So we decide to try Pei Wei. Having never been there before, we didn't know it was cafeteria style. But they could get us right in, so we ordered, and sat down. Food was excellent, we got crab rangoon, spring rolls, pad thai with Shrimp (me) and caramel chicken (T). Service was also excellent... Ethan loved the pad thai, he ate an entire spring roll and liked Daddy's chicken, too! and his fortune cookie was superb!
So it occurs to me that had I noticed a couple with a toddler eating dinner at Pei Wei at nearly 10 pm, I would have gone all Judgy McJudgerson on them... so I hang my head in shame... We were THOSE parents.
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