Oct. 24, 2011

Sorry for the delay on the second half of our trip, I got a little distracted with the Cal vs. Stanford video! After two games on the road we were able to enjoy and off day to roam around Philly a little. Just a few blocks from our hotel was this cool train station that was converted to a huge market with a ton of really unique, delicious foods. Some of the girls did a little homework in the morning and then we all headed over to the market for lunch. When we walked in, there were isles and isles of all sorts of food. It was pretty overwhelming until we asked a local man the hot spots we needed to hit up, which made everything a lot easier. Some people went for some famous brisket and pulled pork sandwiches, which I heard were absolutely amazing. My dad and I decided to split a turkey sandwich that had the option of adding stuffing and cranberry. I definitely regret splitting it; it was so good and I could have had a few more of those. We then made our way to the talked about ice cream shop and finished the meal off with some great coffee. I walked around a little more in search of a fun souvenir to bring home. My dad and I found a chocolate shop that shaped just about anything you can think of into chocolate. I had a choice of chocolate rats, brains, bears, hearts, a hand, but decided to go with the good old chocolate sculpted Philly cheese steak! After getting my fair share of goodies, we headed back to the hotel for film before departing for Jordan’s house.

We had our usual film session filled with some comical slow motion moments. Then we loaded on the bus and got to see a little Philly history on our way out to the suburbs. We walked around where the declaration was signed; saw the liberty bell, a lot of really cool history. We also stopped at the famous “Rocky” steps and of course we all sprinted up them and did our best Rocky impression at the top, don’t worry we got it all on camera.

Then it was FINALLY time to head to Jordan’s for a home cooked meal! The house was BEAUTIFUL. I cannot even begin to put into words how gorgeous the O’Reilly residence is. Unlike in California, the house is surrounded by land and trees, very serene. We walked in and it smelled amazing. We got a little tour of the house; it was so cute and so well decorated. Part of the house was from a really long time ago and they had preserved it. They also had a picture of the original house, which was really interesting to see. Jordan’s mom was busy cooking and keeping us all very happy with some delicious appetizers. A lot of family members had come on the trip, so it was nice to be in a casual setting where we could all walk around and mingle with each other. 

The dinner was delicious, makes me hungry just thinking about it! We had a great chicken with a peanut sauce, steak, shrimp, a beautiful colorful salad, pasta, and bread… now I am making you jealous aren’t I? I am surprised Jordan moved so far away from home cooking like that. It was one of the best nights on the road we had ever had. It is a lot different when you are in a home and able to walk around talk with everyone and also be able to eat at a table where you can hear everyone. It was also fun to hang with Jord’s little sister Sloan, talk about a wonderful family. With the incredible house, great setting, and an amazing meal, I cannot thank the whole O’Reilly family enough for having us all over. We were all so sad to leave the house but loaded on the bus again and headed back to the hotel in time to rest up for our game against Drexel the following day.

It was a foggy day in Philly as we packed up and headed to Drexel. The game was a little slow to start; we didn’t have our usual high energy pace. They scored first, putting us on our heals early. In our typical Cal Field Hockey fashion we fought back and made it an interesting game. We felt in control the whole time but they capitalized on some key moments. As time wound down, we found ourselves in another overtime. Overtime may make some of our parents on edge and nervous but we are confident in our abilities to get it done. I actually think it’s pretty fun to play in, less people to worry about on the field. It didn’t take too long for Rachelle to score and finish out the game. A great way to close out our 3-0-road trip!

Before going to the airport we got the chance to indulge in Philly’s famous cheese steaks! No way were we going to come all the way to Philly and not get a cheese steak. We were all pretty nervous though, rumor had it that the locals were pretty strict in the way you were supposed to order your sandwich. There were three basic rules: figure out your cheese (provolone, American, or cheese wiz), decide if you want onions, and if your getting it with cheese wiz you better not say “with.” So for me it was a cheese steak  WIT onions. It was pretty funny seeing everyone go up and order, was a nerve racking experience. We were slightly concerned for our foreigners, but they worked their charm, wish I had an accent. OHHH were those cheese steaks good! A ton of good food on this trip, which is just the icing on our three wins.

The ride home was uneventful which is a good thing when you are flying for 6 hours. It was filled with movies, homework, and naptime. It was so nice to get back home; we had a long few weeks before our next real game, no offense alumni.

The next few weeks we got to look forward to moving into the new locker room, a long awaited process. I remember last year touring the construction sight with Erin rolling our eyes at what we would be missing out on, so makes it all the sweeter now that we actually get to be apart of it.  Everything in the new building was beautiful and is going to be amazing once everything is moved in. Our locker is awesome to have to, the lockers are GIANT, and we even have a couch!  It was incredible to move in and to actually get to start using it all; I am still in awe of the whole project. Going from no locker room to that one makes it all that much more incredible to have.

That weekend a ton of alumni came up to take us on. There was a great turnout and it was fun to hear what everyone was doing post Cal and field hockey life. We had a great scrimmage with them; I was surprised at how good they all still were. A lot of great people were there, just wish my other classmate Lisa Lohre would have been able to come but she is all the was in Germany so it’s understandable that she couldn’t make it out. It was a weekend of reflecting on past times and I couldn’t help thinking about how soon Erin, Shimo, Kreck, and I will too be alumni soon. After a great, fun weekend it was back to work Monday. Coming up was our last home game, senior weekend, and our last regular season game, time for the bears to do work.