A Rehearsal, A Wedding, A Communion: Philadelphia

After a lovely week in the Washington, Annapolis, Baltimore area we travelled to my hometown of Philadelphia, PA for some family affairs. We actually stayed across the river in New Jersey. Timberlane RV Park in Clarksburo, NJ is a lovely campground. A very nice pond, good spots, convenient to South Jersey and Philadelphia. My only complaint was an almost useless WiFi. It was frequently unavailable and when available it was dreadfully slow. I had to use my own most of the time.

This sign at the Timberlake Campground forbids dogs to dump here.
Fortunately, Rosie does not understand symbology and dumped not far from here.

Friday night we went to the rehearsal diner at the Philadelphia Country Club. It was so nice to catch up with family and friends. The food was scrumptious.

On Saturday we attended my nephew, Fred's and his fiance, Teresa's wedding in downtown Philadelphia on 4th Street between Race and Vine. St Augustine's Roman Catholic Church was originally built in the late 1700's. It was destroyed in 1844 by rioting Protestants reacting to the growing immigration of Catholics, mostly from Ireland at that time.

Inside of the church.

Cobblestone street outside the church.

A view of the church

Sylvia, mother of the groom, being lead to her seat by Brian, her son-in-law.

Christine, sister of the groom

Isabelle, the flower girl

Isabelle, the flower gir

Teresa, the beautiful bride, about to be given away by her father.

After the ceremony and before the reception we had several hours to kill.
We  did this at Race, a bar near the church. "Race" refers to the street it is located on.

My brother-in-law, Lou

Debbie sits by the window

The reception was at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts on Broad Street.
This beautiful ice sculpture adorned a bowl of shrimp and crab claws.

The grand stairway

Sisters, Lynn and Emily with nieces Rita and Liz

Liz

This painting, "The Gross Clinic," shows Dr Gross conducting surgery on a man's leg.
The artist, Thomas Eakins, was from Philadelphia. He was considered a "realist".
The painting was originally owned by Jefferson Medical College. It last sold five years ago for $68 million.

Dr. DiBona spoofing Dr. Gross

There was a great band and lots of special dances, YMCA, Harlem Shuffle, Marimba

Then on Sunday we went to a celebration for Elena who had her First Holy Communion on Saturday.

My cousin, Yvonne and my Aunt Linda.
They were both my favorites growing up.
My cousin, Yvonne, and I were close in age and spent much of our childhood together.

Happy cousins

Hola Hoop Dance is much like Musical Chairs. The kids have to pass the hoop to the next person without letting go of hands. If the music stops while the hoop is on you, you are out of the dance.

My Aunt Linda, my mother's younger sister, was eight when I was born so she got to take care of me as an infant and the later to babysit me as we both grew.

Susan and Jack

Emilia

Three nights, three parties. Whew! We needed a rest!

Ciao, Frank