So after my last “sneak peak” picture post, I knew I should follow up with a story as to how I found myself in Philadelphia with Camp Friends! The story begins on Friday night, as I sat on my couch, texting back and forth with Karen Sharir. She asked if I could come into the city and meet her for lunch the next afternoon, and of course I said yes! So the next day I found myself on the train headed to the Reading Terminal Market, where Karen requested we meet. It seemed odd that Karen had so carefully planned out such an impromptu lunch, but since I love hanging out with Karen, I was just excited to see her. So we walked around the market, trying to decide what to eat for lunch, when all of a sudden I was face to face with Levi Smathers. For those of you who don’t know, Levi lives in Louisiana, so it was VERY unusual to see him in Philly! For a minute I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but as soon as I turned around to see Karen laughing hysterically, I knew that they had planned this! Levi flew in to spend the three day weekend visiting with Karen in the city, and they thought they’d surprise me at lunch. So we decided on some salads and sandwiches and found a table in the corner where we sat and talked about life since post-camp. It was so nice to get to catch up with them both, and I couldn’t believe that Levi’s bangs are longer than mine.
As we were walking around the terminal after our lunch, we got the next surprise of the day. There, at a table in the center of the market, was Tim Penrod!!! Tim was in town for a soccer coaches convention, and the look on his face when he saw the three of us was absolutely priceless! We exchanged hugs, and decided that we needed to meet up later that evening.
I hopped on the train back home after we walked around the city for a bit, and promised to call Karen and Levi so we could all hang out later. I had already made plans to hang out with one of my favorite friends, Mr. Adam Scharfberg, and since we were ALL Canadensis people, it worked out perfectly for Adam and I to drive into the city to see our friends. We picked up Karen and Levi, and searched for a parking spot for what seemed like forever. Finally, we decided to just valet the car so we could get to a restaurant already! We called Tim Penrod, who brought a few of his soccer friends along, and took over a huge booth in the back of the restaurant. Here are a few selected photos:
Karen and Adam
It took a while to get a normal picture out of Levi...
Karen was so surprised to see Tim!
We stayed out very late, catching up and laughing about camp times (they are the greatest, after all!). Finally we decided to call it a night and head back to the car. Little did we know that the valet was off duty, so when we got back to the spot where we had left my car, it was parked on the street with a note in the dashboard. The note had the address and phone number of the location where we could pick up my keys. It was like our own little version of National Treasure!
Karen and I wonder: "Dude, Where's my Keys?"
We finally got my keys back and everyone got home safe and sound. It’s always fun to plan a weekend with camp friends, but it’s the unexpected events that make for the funniest of memories!
Finally, here’s your Eric Forti clip of the week:
