A Wedding, Rocky, Neumann, Drexel, and the Amish

So I promised to blog about the trip. Collectively, it went well. Santa Barbara to Philadelphia to Indiana and back. Friday, I left Santa Barbara for Philadelphia with an hour layover in Denver so that I could be in Philly with enough time to take the train into downtown and be at the wedding rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, followed by some fun time. On the way to Denver, the pilot reported that we were to make a precautionary landing in Grand Junction. Uh oh. The pilot significantly reduced altitude, and as we approached the runway, we were surprised to find airport emergency vehicles waiting for us. After having sat on the runway for about 20 minutes, we were allowed to exit. Turns out the pilot's left windshield had cracked into a million pieces, without breaking. No visibility. Thanks be to God we landed! However, instead of getting into Philly at 4pm, I made it just after 11pm, missing everything. Oh well.

After I had some sleep, I felt pretty refreshed. On Saturday, we visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art, including the infamous Rocky Steps, and on Sunday my friend, a friend whom I have known since 4th grade, got married. The wedding was very nice, and the reception featured a live band that was surprisingly pretty good. The wedding took place at the beautiful Church of St. John the Evangelist -- the very place where in 1860 St. John Neumann was consecrated bishop of Philadelphia, later going on to become the first American bishop to be canonized a saint -- also the very parish church where St. Katharine Drexel discerned her religious vocation. The History of Catholic Philadelphia was dripping all over this place.

Early Monday morning, I was back on the train for the airport, and after a trip that was blessedly free of delays, I arrived at my grandmother's house in the small Mayberry-esque town of Mitchell, Indiana -- home of the late astronaut pioneer Virgil "Gus" Grissom. The town is situated near a handful of Amish and Mennonite settlements, and so naturally I took advantage of my time there to venture deep into Amish country in search of some fresh strawberries. I found some at the home of one Amish family, and upon learning that I was from California, Anne, the Amish woman from whom I purchased the berries, promptly inquired, So your berries have probably come in already! Sure they have - in fact, they're in season at Albertson's all year long! (I didn't actually say that)