This past Saturday, I spent it
with my dear friend Tom D. I had a
wonderful time that day which began with Tom picking me up early in the morning
and driving all the way to New Hope, Pennsylvania. We had a nice time during the drive catching
up and looking for a place to eat because I hadn’t had breakfast. The drive would take a few hours and because
I’m hypoglycemic, I couldn’t wait until we reached Pennsylvania to eat.
By this point we’re in New
Jersey. It was too early for a
restaurant and there weren’t any diners nearby. Every place that Tom suggested wasn’t suitable
because it was a fast food place. I’m
careful about what I eat because my digestive system hasn’t been able to
tolerate McDonald’s, Burger King or any place such as that for quite some time. Poor Tom was trying his best to accommodate
me but after a while was referring to me as high maintenance. I disagreed and this went on for a bit until
I spotted an IHOP and he pulled into the parking lot immediately.
Thankfully, there wasn’t a
long wait before we were seated, but here is where it really impacted on me
that Tom is such a darling friend. You
see, Tom is a pseudo vegan. He’s a
vegetarian that has also given up fish and eggs and at sometime plans to give
up dairy. The dilemma arose when I
instantly knew what I was ordering and Tom was having difficulty because the
majority of the food served at IHOP contains eggs. He ended up ordering a salad. Tom is a large 6’3 man sitting next to me at
the table with a salad in front of him and I’m 4’10 ½ and I had a breakfast
sampler which consisted of two eggs, two sausages, two bacon, two pancakes and hash
browns. We had a bit of a chuckle at
that.
But it gets better – Tom is
Dutch with blue eyes and a full white beard.
On Saturday, he wore a Santa hat all day. Everywhere we went he was greeted by people
saying “Hi Santa!” and of course, he greeted them back always having witty
things to say. When he asked the server
for the check, one of the other servers approached him and handed him her
Christmas Wish list which he read in front of her and promptly put in his
pocket. Children waved at him and he
waved back. All I could say while looking
so small next to him was that all the other Elves are going to talk because he
took me out for the day. He said “Let
them”. Yes, he was in full character.
After breakfast we quickly
resumed our trip to New Hope without any further demands from me. New Hope was very nice with its quaint shops
and artsy feel. When we left New Hope we
drove to Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, PA.
I loved Peddler’s Village which at the moment is lit up for
Christmas. The mall is set up like a
small village and it’s so beautiful especially when it got dark and all the
lights from the trees illuminated the whole place. We enjoyed hot apple cider and soft pretzels
while sitting at a bench. Passersby
greeted Santa and a woman approached him and told him what she wanted for
Christmas. But remembering that sitting next to him I look like a little Elf,
I made sure to ask her if she had been good because Santa Will check the list.
As we walked through the shops
we could hear people who had children with them murmuring “Is that Santa?” and
the children trying to get a closer look.
At one point and I don’t remember when, there was a woman who had a headband
with reindeer antlers. Tom walked up to
her and said “Meet me in the roof in ten minutes!” We all laughed.
We had a lot of fun on Saturday. I wonder if he'll do it again next year. If he does, I might join in the fun and wear an Elf's hat.
Happy Holidays!
No comments:
Post a Comment