Crusty Memories

Though she resides 1100 miles to the south, Sophia is still very much a child of her father's hometown. Sophia is coming to Philadelphia with PinF. It was time, the fares were cheap and there's a winter chill in the air that allows us to wear items we wouldn't normally get to wear (scarves, gloves, hats, coats), and it is of course--Christmastime.

This visit will be an abbreviated version of our normal sojourn north. Our itinerary will of course include a visits to our favorite museums, eateries, and neighborhoods all unique to Philadelphia and beloved by Sophie. Oddly enough our first and most prized stop along the culture train will be Sophia's favorite pizzeria, Apollo's pizza in Media. This stop is scheduled to occur Friday night immediately upon arrival into Media; this has been the subject of several conversations while going over our "game plan", and we'll arrive with game faces on for sure.

In our visits to various local pizza establishments here in Florida, Sophia and me are always looking for that "one pizza", the one that both satisfies and qualifies as the "best". High on our list would be Pizza Bella, and Palm Beach Pizza Department; and though they're each close, as of yet we haven't yet found what Apollo's has -- the perfect crust. When PinF was a child-student of pizza starting out in Drexel Hill in the 70's, Friday night was always pizza night. For the five Paynter boys there was only one pizza-- California Style on Garrett Road, next door to O'Donnell's Irish pub.

This was the quintessential pizza. Whatever the hell "California" style was I'm still not sure, but there was many different styles then, "Drexel Hill" style was another. The point was, we Paynter boys devoured it - and fast. There was a hierarchy as anyone with siblings can attest---the older ones ate more, and invariably, faster. One of the classic "tricks" of doing so was to leave the "bones". By bones, I mean the crust. This way the eater was free to pounce on the next slice as the others was paralyzed by the unspoken rule of not taking another slice before completing the one you had.

Incredibly, much like my own parenting experience, Sophia's preferences are in direct contrast with my tactics back in the day. She loves the crust. She leaves no "soldier" behind when it comes to her pizza crust. Her preference has altered my style as well, as she now asks for my crust as well. She still eats the "body" of the pizza, but prefers the crust. I put this down to the lack of predators in her environment. In my day you had to be quick, crust was a time waster and of little taste value on Lasher Road. So as life is the greatest equalizer, I have a daughter and not a son, she loves the crust not the cheese.

Ironically maybe Sophia might have been the missing link at the table of pizza predators. She would've ruled the crust. Not that she doesn't already-- being the only child. So the countdown has begun. We have Apollo's Pizza, The Franklin Institute, the Reading Terminal, Chinatown, and hopefully the Christmas light show at Macy's. Ambitious I know, but we're used to squeezing all we can into what little time we have. We pack light, have a plan, and keep moving.