Pre-Philly

Julie and I are gearing up for Philadelphia by playing bridge Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week . . . with a plan to quiz each other on 2 over 1 in the car on Thursday. We're playing with other partners on two of those days (just the way things worked out), and are stuffing our heads with things like you have to have 3-3-3-4 distribution to respond with a Jacoby 3NT (thanks, Ben) and when to sacrifice, a tough one for me (thanks, Bob and Mike).

A pre-Philly phone conversation, after talking about clothes, went something like this:

Julie: Should we bring anything else with us?

Me: I'm bringing a bottle of wine.

Julie: I meant for the drive, in the car. But wine for the hotel room is a good idea. I'll bring white, but I don't know if there's a refrigerator.

Me: There's always ice.

Julie: True. But I was going to say that I'll bring trail mix for the drive.

So yes, we are planning to enjoy ourselves in ways other than bridge. However, I do have two major concerns.

First: What will Amadeus do without me for so long?? My brother will be stopping in every day and (hopefully) spending the night sometimes, but Amadeus will be lonely. For example, one thing I've been doing this summer is playing the piano for him. He has very specific preferences, and while Ed also plays the piano he doesn't know any Mendelsohn (Amadeus's favorite). Ed might even end up playing Mozart, which to my chagrin Amadeus hates.

Second: Julie and I drove to Louisville last year, and by the time we got there my voice was hoarse from all the talking. Philadelphia is twice as far!! There is little chance that we will drive along in silence, and I am worried that I won't have any voice left at all by the time we arrive. I guess I should just be thankful for bidding boxes.

Other than these two concerns, I am so looking forward to this trip. Stay tuned for regular updates on our adventures!