First of all, the movie! "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" was nothing but great, as I expected. I know this sounds corny, but we have gotten to know these characters so well in the books as well as the movies, so watching this was almost like getting together with old friends and catching up. The acting, effects, and story didn't disappoint. Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn was a great addition to the cast, and Michael Gambon as Dumbledore seems to get better with every movie. Also, this movie was 2 1/2 hours, but it went by really quickly. (Compared to Transformers 2, which was the same length, and just plodded along). David Yates' directing was great, and I am glad he is staying on to do the last two films. Finally, it was great to see a Quidditch match again! My only gripe, which Jaci brought to my attention, and I definitely agree with, is that the narrative didn't flow as well as it did in Part 5. Steve Kloves, who wrote the screenplay for movies 1-4 returns for this movie, but maybe they should have kept Michael Goldenberg, who wrote the screenplay for 5. This was the first time Jaci has been to the movie theater since Liam was born, and I am glad it was a worthwhile outing for her.
Then, with Liam in the car, it was on to lovely York, about a 25 minute drive due west. I wanted to go to Gloria Jean's Coffee, which sells K-cups for my Keurig coffee maker (best father's day present ever!) and since Lancaster doesn't have a Chick-Fil-A, we would stop there for dinner. I don't really understand this, because the Park City Center is a pretty big and busy mall. It even has an Apple store. Yet in the food court, there are three Chinese restaurants, and no Chick-Fil-A. We really like Chick-Fil-A, because their food is good, and it is pretty healthy by fast food standards. All of their sandwiches have fewer than 500 calories. As far as I am concerned, they are much better than Sub-par, I mean Subway, the other fast food chain that claims to be healthy. Unfortunately, they accomplish this with lunchmeat that contains 90 percent water and 10 percent unidentified, artificially flavored meat-like substance. Overall their sandwiches have as much flavor as a block of styrofoam.
Anyway, we went to the York Galleria, which was on the east side of York (closer to us), and hit Gloria Jean's and Walmart for office supplies for Jaci's new job. We went to the food court and found no Chick-Fil-A. After a call to 411, we found out that it was actually in the West Manchester Mall, on the other side of town. We figured that we were already out here, so what's another 15 minutes. So we get to this mall. It was getting late, so Jaci and Liam stayed in the car, and I went in. What an odd sight this mall was. First of all, there was a Walmart next to a Macy's. Also, more than half of the stores were vacant, so this was a semi-dead mall. Of course, the Chick-Fil-A was on the opposite side of the mall from where we parked, so it was a 10 minute walk to get there. Finally, I get there, and the line extends out of the store. Apparently, from conversations I overheard, it was crowded because a movie theater was down the hall, and people snuck the Chick-Fil-A food into the theater. Can't say I blame them. I finally get my food. It was getting dark, and there were some weirdos wandering about, so I walked pretty quickly to get out of there. Internet research has told me that the vacancies (many stores relocated to the newer, nicer Galleria) and young punks at the movie theater have given this mall a bad reputation. Locals call it the West Rapechester Mall. Because I value my life, and I want my son to grow up with a father, suffice it to say that the next time I have a craving for Chick-Fil-A, I will head the other direction to Downingtown. And I really hope they build a restaurant somewhere in the Lancaster area.
4 comments:
Love the Chick Fil A story! I would never go to such lengths to find one, but it gave me some laughs.
After much thinking, I believe HP6 was a disappointment. They changed too much, especially the ending. I know it was really just a bridge to the next two films, but I was still really let down. Jaci hit it right on the head with the choppy narrative. That was my biggest problem; it never felt complete. I still enjoyed it, but it is clearly, IMHO, the weakest of the series thus far.
You know I can live without Harry Potter, books and movies; however, your comment about Subway was dead on. In addition to mystery meat, they have the worst rolls I have ever tasted with the exception of Charleston SC. Something about proximity to lots of water. Hug and kiss my grandson.
I found your commentary on Chick-Fil-A and Subway to be a little weird but whatever, that's what blogs are for. The story about getting the Chick-Fil-A, however, was very entertaining.
I too was disappointed by Harry Potter and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing from the movie. I would still watch it again though, as I LOVE anything HP related. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the way they changed the critical climax at the end. The change in events was against character for Harry and didn't fit. Otherwise, you are right about the acting; it only gets better with each movie. I just hope that the final too movies live up to the books.
CJ, I commented about Subway because I was talking about where I go when I want healthy or semi-healthy fast food. Like you said, that's what blogs are for.
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