Posted by Mark:
Kelly and I made a day trip to Philadelphia yesterday. I've been before, but she hadn't... of course we'd been through Philly many of times, but this time... we went in. At 8:30 am we left and by 10:30 we were in the heart of Chinatown. This was the main reason we wanted to go. Bella and Liam are learning Chinese in school and are very much interested in the language and culture of China. We figured instead of just taking them up and (often as children do after about 1 hour, them not having good time), we'd scope it out first and then make our decision to return afterward. The agenda of the day consisted of Chinatown, Rittenhouse Square shopping, Reading Terminal Market, Comcast Center and the Italian Market on 9th.
When you enter a city and you have no idea what to do, where to go, where to park, what streets you can turn on... it makes for a mind blowing first 10 minutes. After finding a place to park on 9th and Arch, we walked up to 10th to see the glorious Friendship Arch... carved by Chinese Artisans, a beautiful archway that depicts China and it's architecture. And... under construction. Scaffolding covered the entire arch... sure you could see a little of the arch, but the bulk of it, could not be seen... a dissapointment. So we strolled a neighborhood of about 4 city blocks, just looking and walking... ducks hanging in windows, bakeries and restaurants are at every two buildings, clothing shops, bazzars... and funny thing is, we came to Chinatown to bargain... and get goods for a great price, jade jewerly, costumes, silk things... and let me tell you: there are no deals in Chinatown! The only deal to be had was if you brought an item to the front to pay for it and they tried to charge you more... if you said "I don't want it" then they would give it to you for the price that was originally marked. The streets are "oooh" the smells are "aaaaah" we quickly left Chinatown after about an hour.
And made our way to Rittenhouse... not a bad walk, but still a walk. The streets and culture in these 20 or so blocks... completely different. And to our surprise, the Philly Fall festival was going on... streets were filled with vendors, people partying... a good time. And it was during these festivals that I noticed the Vote Ranglers were out. Obama and Biden troops on every corner, they had stickers on the clipboard, and they weren't asking for your support to vote for them... but rather asking people if they were "registered" to vote. And had forms to fill out if the people did not. They were everywhere... I mean everywhere... and oddly enough, no McCain & Palin people. On a grassroots "troop" level... Obama and Biden have their ground forces swimming the inner cities, and making sure people are registered to vote. Smart move.
We left Rittenhouse and went to the Reading Terminal market... which was absolute chaos. I have never seen that many people in a terminal market at one time... ever. And vendors had anything you could ever want... cookies (which were nothing like Bella's Cookies), pastries, meats, cheeses, veggies, bread, plants, herbs, meat, cheese, bakeries, etc. After a quick stroll through we left and walked to the Comcast Center on JFK Boulevard. In the lobby is a spectacular 23 Million HDTV set... which passersby would stop and see an amazing display. After enough of downtown, we decided to travel to the Italian market on 9th.
Coming down 10th street by car, we got into a slight traffic jam, and in this were able to see the lines of people waiting for Philly Cheese Steaks and Geno's and Pat's. I've seen shows on the Food Network on these two Philly establishments and of course have heard much about the dispute on which is better... and I really wanted to try one... just to experience it. I tried Pat's... and am glad I did. But ordering is like the Seinfeld episode with the "Soup Nazi." Once you step to the counter you have to be prepared to say exactly what you want, pay, and step to the side. There is a special "How to order" sign posted on the wall near the window... 1st is to say either "Wit" or "Wit-out" for Onions, 2nd is to say what type of cheese... Philly style is Cheeze Whiz... 3rd is to quickly pay and get out of the way. "Wit, Whiz" is what I shouted and moved to the side. After trying an authentic Philly Cheese Steak, it's easy to make your own... and perhaps I will share with you the secrets later... but on the the Italian Market. Think Chinatown of Italy... markets filled with meats, cheeses, produce, the streets are very close together, the smells can be overwhelming... wow! We didn't stay long at the Italian Market either... and on our way out of town passed by the Historic area which houses the Liberty Bell and the Continental Congress building... I remember these as a kid and are always nice to see.
We decided that we'd return to Philly with the kids, but to only take them to the Franklin Institute, the Aquarium and the Historic Area... and the 2nd Street Shopping district... nice! Ahhh... a day in Philly!
