USA

Philly March 21-24. 2007

3/21/07:
We decided on a little getaway to Philadelphia. We got a great hotel deal via Hotwire, packed the car and headed down. On the way, in Bridgewater, we spotted an enormous and ornate Hindu temple off the road. We pulled in to see what it was, but it was closed at the time. We decided to check it out on the way home.

We check in, change, get our bearings and head out to South Street. Everyone raved about South Street, so off we went. It’s compared to New York’s Greenwich Village, but it didn’t have the arty vibe of the village. Still, it was cool. There are legendary stores on South Street, like Condom Kingdom, for example. I also noticed a lot of mosaics around the area. So we hopped into a few shops, one new-“agey” one called Mineralistic caught our attention. We just people-watched and then headed into Copabanana for a bite to eat and margaritas (something our neighbor recommended).

After an evening of eating, drinking and people-watching, we headed back to our hotel. We meandered around Headhouse Square eying all the restaurants there and checked out some beautifully lit cobblestone neighborhoods, reminiscent of Boston’s exclusive Beacon Hill. En route, we came upon a beautiful Korean War Memorial all lit up at night.

3/22/07: In the morning, we decided to get up and head out early. We had a long day of sightseeing ahead of us. We first headed up to Franklin Square where we checked out the Academy of Natural Sciences - they had a “Scoop on Poop”exhibit and a special butterflies exhibit.

There were schoolchildren everywhere! Needless to say, it was a high-energy place!

We decided to go to Rittenhouse Square to have lunch. We decided on a little place named Alfa. It’s sort of the yuppie part of town: very nice, with expensive shops and “shee-shee” eateries. After lunch we went to the Mutter Museum, which is part of a medical school and exhibits all kinds of medical anomalies and oddities. I mean, there were pickled fetuses in jars. Steve thought it was cool. It was an eerie place! After that, we went to the Civil War and Underground Railroad museum. The small museum was in an innocuous brownstone, in fact, we almost walked right past it. The folks working there are all REALLY into the civil war and I don’t think they get too many visitors, as they seemed excited to see us. We were approached 3 times by staff asking us if we had any questions. They had some interesting things. Steve particularly liked the logs with the bullets lodged in them! On the long walk back we decided to take antique row back to Penn’s Landing.

We passed all kinds of small independently-owned shops. One stood out in particular. It’s owned by a local guy and he has all kinds of neat things done by artists he knows. We saw a whimsical cat clock in there and couldn’t resist the purchase. We shed layers as the temperatures slowly rose into the mid 70s. It was a beautiful day.

So we freshened up at the hotel and headed back to South Street for something to eat before the comedy show we were planning on going to. We came upon this Moroccan place called “Fez” and decided to check it out. We never had truly Moroccan food before (well, we had African food in Australia, so I don’t know if that counts).

So we wander in and there is Arab pop playing and the ceiling and walls are covered with ethnic fabrics. The tables are round and you can sit on the floor if you like. There was a group of college students on spring break in there celebrating a birthday. I knew it would be fun. We decided on a 7-course feast of traditional fare.

It was cool, you eat with your hands. Incidentally the other patrons on our side of the restaurant all ordered the 7 or 8-course meal and we were all on the same schedule. For those of us who didn’t know what was coming out next, we shared in everyone’s excitement. Then, a belly dancer came out and taught some of us how to belly dance. That was fun, and it looks a lot easier than it is!

So we roll out of there and head over to Laff House for some stand-up comedy. The place was pretty full and we were the only white couple in there. We thought we’d get singled out for sure! But we sat in the back in the dark, so we could just enjoy the show on the down low! That was an experience and we laughed, so it was all good!

3/23/07:

So we hit the road again, on foot. First, we went to Reading Terminal Market, a well known produce market. There we ordered fresh breakfasts that we watched Amish women prepare. We also bought pastries to go and some groceries that we stuffed in our backpack. Our next stop was the National Constitution Center. This place was cool. It was full of interactive exhibits. The place was filled with middle school students! First, they bring everyone into this round theater where there is a sound and lights show with an actor and film of dramatic moments in our history darting around the floor and walls. It was really cool. After the show let out everyone descended on the interactive exhibits.While it was a bit chaotic, it was also fun to be around all the kids. We sat outside the center and feasted on the pastries, seemingly burning a hole in the bag we carried them in!

It began drizzling and it was overcast. Our next stop would be Carpenter’s Hall and then the Liberty Bell and then Independence Hall.

A park ranger led a tour (of mostly school children again) to the rooms where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was deliberated on. It was exciting to be standing in the exact spot trying to imagine George Washington sitting in his chair with the half-sun on it. Ben Franklin decided the sun was rising. There was a cool energy in that place! Before the tour however, our guide talked tour group about the cast of characters and she really brought them to life! She was so animated! And the children were so excited!

After that, we checked out the frame of what was Ben Franklin’s home and went to an underground museum dedicated to Franklin where we watched a movie about him in the theater down there.

So we walked in the rain back to our hotel to freshen up for dinner. We decided on the City Tavern, an eatery that has been around for over 200 years! Steve tried a porter (beer) that George Washington himself crafted! The other menu items were the same things that our founding fathers ate. In fact, that tavern was the very site of Washington’s inaugural party. We had some little pecan scone-type things that Jefferson liked. So that was a hoot.

After a long, tiring, and rainy day, we decided to call it a night after dinner and headed back to the hotel, where we ordered an in-room movie. We chose “Bobby” a brilliant film!

In the morning, we took our time getting up and ate breakfast at a diner in the city. Afterward, we checked out and started our drive home. I was excited about checking out that Hindu temple! When we got there it was so packed there wasn’t ONE parking spot! There must have been a thousand people there! We decided it would be a better visit another time. So we ended up getting home a bit early, which was nice. We visited with Steve’s sister at the house, kissed our girls, did laundry and relaxed. It was a nice way to come down from our mini-adventure to Philly!