West Chester Dish

Photo by Patrick Haney, used under creative commons license

Okay… so, “Mary’s Daily Dish” hasn’t been so “daily” after all. Well, I’ve been a very busy girl and sometimes it’s hard to keep up. I’m working on some really good articles for you all, but I wanted to share with you that my favorite visitor came to town this weekend. My niece, Emma!

My 8-year-old Emma is growing to be one of my greatest friends. We have so much in common. We both have a great family, we both love to be silly and we both love to try delicious foods!

My mom, sister and Emma decided to visit this weekend to attend the Renoir Exhibit in the city. Our tickets weren’t until 4:30 pm, so we had some time to grab some treats in WC before driving downtown.

We lunched (and desserted…two words: Brown! ies!) at Carlino’s, tasted at Eclat, chatted at KatieMac Florist (my new favorite florist around…FABULOUS!) and relaxed for a bit at my apartment. The plan was to see the exhibit in Philly and then stop by Chinatown for dinner.

I drove everyone a la mini van into the city (and learned that my mother will eternally use an imaginary brake when driving shotgun with me). When we got there, Emma and I “tricked” our moms by pretending to be statues outside of the museum and then we raced to the top of the “Rocky” steps.

Inside we checked our coats, geared up with headphones for the audio tour and enjoyed the “delicious” artwork (as quoted from the audio tour intro). Emma and my sister raced through the maze of paintings with the family audio tour, leaving my mother and I behind. We found them in the gift shop much later where she yelled “Aunt Mary, what took you so long?” and proudly held up her key chain with an impressionist landscape that she purchased with her own money.

Then we were off to Chinatown for roast pork buns and dinner. I will let Emma describe it from here:

When I went to Chinatown, by Emma

When I went to Chinatown I saw lots of restaurants and they all looked good. I wanted to taste all of the food! I saw lots of Chinese writing, but I didn’t know what they meant. I went to a bakery. I got some pork buns. They were so good! Yum! Then I went to a restaurant for a meal. On the way I saw a tank in a window with shrimp, crabs and lobster and fish. At the restaurant I ordered shrimp and rice. I like Chinatown and the their food!

The Final Dish: We finished the trip with a breakfast at the Classic Diner for French toast, bacon and laughs. I told her she’s welcome to move in with me anytime!