It's Kermit the Frog hot today, like in the swamp hot, I thought yesterday was bad, but it was definitely worst today that's why we did what we did yesterday so today there was just one thing, a bus ride of 30 miles out to the King of Prussia Shopping Mall. This place is vast and holds the record for the largest indoor retail shopping floor space in the USA, the only other place that is bigger, has a theme park inside and I think that is in Florida! The irony is it's probably cooler in Florida at the moment.
It was a bit of a dash to get up to City Hall bus stop to catch the #124 as we had planned on catching a bus from just outside the hotel for the 3 stops, but sod all was showing on the map so its quicker to walk rather than miss it as the next #124 was about 50 minutes. One of the shops we wanted to look at was Dicks Sporting Goods that has so many rifles for sale you could start a war, the ammunition is on the shelves like tins of beans but unfortunately, they no longer sell handguns, shame. After having ice cream and doing my 10,000 steps walking the shops it time for a beer, but before that I just had to go the Microsoft Store and play with all the really cool stuff you can't afford unless you look at the Surface Go stuff.
Unless you go to the high-end restaurants the mall is alcohol-free, but if you cut through Primark go up one floor, out the door, cross the parking lot, cross a road, then into another parking lot you come across The Fox & Hounds, it's not as far as it sounds, but these places are not designed for walking or wheeling so you do need to scamper quickly through parking lots and across roads to avoid getting squished. The pub is a bit like Spoons but with only 1 bar staff on duty who can still serve people faster, they also start a tab for everyone so you pay when you leave and lets face its just too damn hot to do a runner, 2 drinks each came to $13 total I was drinking stuff that's 7%. Now there was a tough choice, it's 4:10 and there is a bus at 4:40 or the next one is about 5:30pm, it's time to go, now, shame.
We backtracked through Primark to the Lego shop (I would have gone in but it's always full of kids) then down a narrow corridor to where we left the bus stop parked, got to remember stuff now I am 50. It was a pretty packed bus ride back, but it is a scenic journey along the Schuylkill River where we got to see some more of the 2-mile long freight trains going past.
When we got off the bus it was like somebody had put a hair dryer on you, a red hot wind was blowing so it was time to grab a quick sandwich from Wawa to eat later in the cool of the hotel room .
About 7:30 I went on a beer run and tried to get some more pictures before the sun went down and the crazy people come out, it was a bit hit and miss with the photos, but look what I found in the booze shop, I didn't bother buying one to try because it tastes like crap even at home now.
Boddies does not travel well, even from Wales to Manchester and given the price I wasn't tempted so stuck with the Bud in cans or IPA in pubs.
Boddies does not travel well, even from Wales to Manchester and given the price I wasn't tempted so stuck with the Bud in cans or IPA in pubs.
Most of the beer in pubs is an IPA and served ice cold, which I like in a glass that has been on ice, how will I cope with the warm beer at home?
So tomorrow is our last full day here and we have got through most things, we also ditched some stuff like the zoo and a couple of other things due to the heat but I always tend to over plan anyway. One thing I must say it that THREE Mobile have been true to their word about supplying me with data, calls and text at no extra charge. Ok, you don't get the full 4G speed, it's more of a supercharged 3G, but it was invaluable in this heat when they run a crap bus service and massive gaps between vehicles. I don't rely just on the web I also download all my maps offline and carry a power pack that will charge my phone about twice, but there is nothing like the power of the web to aid you in a trip when it works of course.
So tomorrow is our last full day here and we have got through most things, we also ditched some stuff like the zoo and a couple of other things due to the heat but I always tend to over plan anyway. One thing I must say it that THREE Mobile have been true to their word about supplying me with data, calls and text at no extra charge. Ok, you don't get the full 4G speed, it's more of a supercharged 3G, but it was invaluable in this heat when they run a crap bus service and massive gaps between vehicles. I don't rely just on the web I also download all my maps offline and carry a power pack that will charge my phone about twice, but there is nothing like the power of the web to aid you in a trip when it works of course.
