Review - Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse

As we traveled to Philadelphia, I worked on and finished the latest book, Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse by Lee Goldberg.

This was the first book in the Monk series. It is not quite as good as the other, later books in the series, but good nevertheless.

The story is that since Monk's house is being fumigated, he moves in with his assistant, Natalie. When a local firehouse dog is killed, Monk investigates. He discovers there was also a fatal house fire on the same night and feels they are all tied together somehow. If only he could figure out how. So it takes digging through garbage to find out, plus making some powerful enemies along the way.

Again, I enjoyed the book. It's a fast and easy read, told from Natalie's perspective. Now it's on to Stone Cold by David Baldacci.

Review - Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu

Before we left for Philadelphia, I finished reading Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu by Lee Goldberg. This was a funny book. Monk was asked to take over the detective squad as commander after the regular officers staged a blue flu in a plan for the officers to get a better contract with the city. The bad news is that makes Monk a scab, and he doesn't like the sound of that. But he has his badge back. So does "Mad Jack" a violent sociopath, paranoid schizophrenic, and a senile old man, all former offers who had also been asked to come back. So they pull together to catch an astrologers killer, clear a series of mysterious fatal assaults, and clean the squad room.

It was another funny and clever book.Goldberg is getting better as he writes more books in this series. Again, the story is told from Natalie's perspective and is well done.

Philadelphia Redux

Here's a 11 second video shot in Independence Hall. Shown is one of the upper committee rooms. Who knows what kinds of decisions were made here? It was used as the meeting room for the Pennsylvania Assembly, plus a storage room and library for the Second Congress.

Philadelphia, Day 2 and 3

We started out our second day in Philadelphia with a bus tour of the city. We saw a number of historic and famous sites, including Wannamakers, one of the first department stores in the country, the Rodin Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and City Zoo. We got off the bus in the historic district and, upon the advice of DeeAnn's cousin, and visited the National Constitution Center (and incredible museum--highly recommended).

After the museum, our hungry button stated to kick in, so we walked down to Jim's Steaks in South Philadelphia to enjoy a wonderful cheesesteak sandwich, DeeAnn'e first. Very good!

It was fun to wander the streets, and make note of some of the plaques here and there commemorating some historic event, place or person. There is a certain charm to the various neighborhoods around the city.

After some more walking around we made a quick trip through some of the American Library Association exhibits, and ended back at the hotel followed by a delicious dinner at the Melting Pot. We highly recommend the spinach artichoke cheese fondue.

Mondays was mostly spent seeing the exhibits at the American Library Association conference.


We walked over to Chinatown and found a nice little restaurant to enjoy a very authentic Chinese meal. After that, we went back to the motel, gathered up our luggage and departed for the airport. For the most part, the flight was uneventful.

It was fun to spend time in this city, to appreciate the history and food of the area. We look forward to returning someday.

Philadelphia, Our Journey and Day 1

We made it to Philadelphia!

We left on a Friday from Salt Lake City and flew to JFK airport in New York. Expecting an hour layover, it ended up being about four hours. And there were lots of people that made people watching lots of fun. Listening to the public address system and where different flights were headed was enlightening, flights leaving for nearly anywhere in the world. We didn't see much, but were able to catch a nice sunset.

Well, we finally made it to Philadelphia, got checked into the hotel (very nice), and grabbed a late night dinner. We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott, which was very conveniently located near the convention center, Reading Terminal Market, and not too far from the historic district.

Our first day: We started off our adventure with an Amish breakfast in the Reading Terminal Market. The fresh sausage was wonderful! It was interesting to note some of the architecture in the city, such as the beautiful City Hall.

After breakfast, we ventured off to visit the Mutters Museum. This museum includes all sorts of medical oddities and strangeness. It was very informative but a little disturbing at times. It was located next to a very intriguingly church.

Speaking of architecture, there are a number of very tall buildings in the downtown area. This picture captures the feel of the streets.

Next, we went to the Franklin Institute. Ben Franlin's inventions and other science-related exhibits are showcased here, in a very-hands on museum geared toward children (of all ages).

There was a very cool Lego model of the city! Gee, gives me some ideas.

Not to forget the historic element of the city, we next turned to visit some historic buildings such as Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell.

The tour was not exactly wheelchair accessible, so these pictures were from the rooms upstairs.

And the historic Liberty Bell is displayed in a new building adjacent to the new visitors center. It's free to get into see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, but tickets are required. Fortunately, tickets were not required during January and February.

As we wandered the city, we ran across the Free Library of Philadelphia, the oldest public library in the country, lots of fountains and sculptures, and the site of Benjamin Franklin's home.

We also stumbled across the cemetery where Benjamin Franklin and his wife were buried. His headstone is recognizable, but unfortunately, most of the headstones in the cemetery can no longer be read due to the raves of time and weather. Oh, and we also stumbled on the home of Betsy Ross.
We finished our evening off with DeeAnn's cousin and his family. He found us a little German restaurant that met our criteria--they had room, and food.

How to Drive a Dog Insane

Lexie is insane! One of her favorite activities is to come in to the house when the sun is out in the afternoons and let us know. That is so that we can open the back door for her and watch her chase the reflection. This is a "trick" DeeAnn's mother taught her.

And the Result is...

Todays video shows the result of yesterdays snow. It was snowing when taking this video, little pellet sized flakes.

Snowy Day

The weather forecasters predicted it, and it came. A nice snow that dumped about 4 inched on our front yard. Gee, I'm sure glad I took down the Christmas lights when I had the chance!

Review - The Chase

It didn't take as long as I though, but I just finished The Chase by Clive Cussler.

This book was unlike his others in that it didn't involve the typical characters he uses and is considered historical fiction rather than adventure. I liked it.

The story is set in the early 1900's, 1906 to be precise. Isaac Bell, the legendary detective with the Van Dorn agency (think Pinkerton) has been assigned to capture the "Butcher Bandit," a bank robber who kills all the witnesses to his crimes. Bell tracks and follows the bandit across Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. When he discovers the true identity of the man, he also discovers that the man's sister is nearly as ruthless as her brother. It is in San Francisco earthquake of 1906 that the bandit and his sister escape from Bell, only to discover the chase is on, ending outside of Kalispell, Montana.

The book was slow in the beginning. As is the custom of Cussler, he sets the scene only he sets it in the future, 44 years in the future. He then tells the story. There is some violence though it is not graphic. The book is 404 pages long and is a good read for anyone interested railroad history, bank robberies, and historical fiction set in the early 1900's.

Now it's on to Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu by Lee Goldberg.