I woke up in the middle of the night at a below par Philadelphia Airport La Quinta to the sound of raindrops. During a post-round meal with Frank the night before, the TV forecast did not look promising. And unfortunately, the meteorologists got it right; the sync with Aronimink was not going to happen. And although the Sendell boys weren’t going to get smashed by 470 yard uphill par 4’s on this day, we were not about to let a little weather dampen our mood. A backup plan was hatched quickly because the three of us are very resourceful and very stubborn. We were in the land of Independence, Brotherly Love, and Rocky Balboa. And as Rocky once said, “it’s not about the punches you land, it’s about how many punches you can take and keep moving forward.”
We pointed the minivan to Independence Hall but took a stiff jab to the face because we didn’t have advanced tickets. After a world-class bagel, we regrouped and toured Washington Park, the Liberty Bell Museum, and Reading Terminal Market. The Market was a great find for three hungry men as we sampled a bagel dog, a cheesesteak from Uncle Gus, a half dozen specialty donuts, and way too much candy by the pound. We walked around the city and took in the sites, including some colorful building murals. Philly is a sports-centric town and the street lamps were adorned with photos of Eagles players, and you could feel the anticipation of the 2027 NBA season where the 76ers will have an all-star lineup led by Lebron James. One of the most famous plays in Philadelphia Eagles history (besides the Brotherly Shove) is the Philly Special, which they ran to perfection on 4th and Goal to defeat the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl in 2018. We were about to run our own Philly special.
When the boys were young and bored, I used to ask them if they wanted to go “roll a ball,” which was code for bowling. This was always a fun outing even though we are not expert bowlers. We had the Phillies-Brewers at 6:40 at Citizen Bank Park, but we had a couple hours to kill. After a Google Search, we found Round1 in the city, which has every possible arcade game ever created, billiards, pickleball, and about 15 lanes.
I am not accurate with a bowling ball, but I actually have some speed. I have chronicled my lack of speed many times when it comes to my paddy cake drives, but I get some pin music on the lanes. I punched way above my weight class in the first game, where I posted a 194 and won the Round1 strike contest. This earned me a paper crown, which I wore proudly for the rest of the afternoon. My boys improved and I regressed as the day went on, but we had a fun hour of activity that transported us back to our younger years.
Citizens Bank Park was our next stop for an MLB game with playoff implications. Jeff, who was going to be our host at Aromimink, joined us in the Phillies Phamily Section, where we sat behind the wife and kids of Kyle Schwarber. And in typical Frank fashion, he probably coordinated our seats with the forecast because we were underneath the awning in the lower bowl. While everyone else was dodging early raindrops, we were seated comfortably pre-game enjoying more cheesesteaks.
The home team won 6-4 and we got treated to some offense, which we rarely get when we watch our hometown Giants. The Phillies magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now two, and our magic number of New Jersey world-class golf courses is also down to two. Plainfield Country Club today and Baltusrol Upper tomorrow. Then we migrate south to Pinehurst.
