(re)visiting Philadelphia last week
Sep. 26th, 2004 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
angledgeI got home on Monday last week, & on Tuesday I headed into Center City Philadelphia to wander around some of my favorite parts of my hometown.
Here are some of the things I love in this city.
One of the things I love about the city wasn't really in the city. Brayden, Stacy's Giant Schnauzer, was overwhelmed with joy when she realized that one of her Favorite Humans EVAR was back in town. Clearly, I had returned for the sole purpose of playing with her. She was on my heels or in my lap (oof!) the whole time I was at Stacy's house.
Doreen, a good friend of mine & Stacy's new tenant, drove me into the city on Tuesday. We parked in the gay neighborhood (Washington Square West) & went wandering towards Old City. The default building material in this portion of the city is red brick, which makes the streets feel very warm & colorful (especially when mentally contrasted with the chilly grey stone of Edinburgh). Many of the little streets are too narrow for car traffic, so they are remarkably quiet & clean-smelling. This is one of my favorite neighborhoods in any city, anywhere.
Many of Philadelphia's buildings are adorned with enormous murals. Occasionally, they are advertisements (in particular I remember an eight-story high Michael Jordan that used to terrorize Market Street), but usually, they are simply pieces of public art.
Moving East towards the Delaware River, we came to the eponymous neighborhood park, Washington Square. During the American Revolution, the British occupied Philadelphia for much of the conflict & kept American soliders in jails all around this park. Those that died were buried in unmarked graves here.
Cutting across to the Northeast corner of the square, we entered Independence Mall.
Doreen & I had a quick wrestling match, both trying to stand where Lincoln stood when addressing a gathering in 1861.
We also stopped by the Liberty Bell briefly. It looks really good in its new building. I want to visit the Constitution Center as well, but we didn't have time on Tuesday. Put it on the list!
All this walking around had made us hungry, so we traipsed along Market Street to the Reading Terminal Market. Ohhhh, just walking through those doors & smelling all that good food ... I smiled greeting at the Amish women at Godshall's Butcher Shop & the pretzel stand, nodded to the bakers at Termini's, ran a quick eye through the titles at the secondhand bookshop, & dropped a quarter in the jar for the piano player. Doreen & I ended up eating at the Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar, which has the most amazing vegan offerings to be found anywhere in the city. Eating a slice of sweet potato pie & washing it down with fresh-squeezed lemonade, I was well-content with my day.
Here are some of the things I love in this city.
One of the things I love about the city wasn't really in the city. Brayden, Stacy's Giant Schnauzer, was overwhelmed with joy when she realized that one of her Favorite Humans EVAR was back in town. Clearly, I had returned for the sole purpose of playing with her. She was on my heels or in my lap (oof!) the whole time I was at Stacy's house.
Doreen, a good friend of mine & Stacy's new tenant, drove me into the city on Tuesday. We parked in the gay neighborhood (Washington Square West) & went wandering towards Old City. The default building material in this portion of the city is red brick, which makes the streets feel very warm & colorful (especially when mentally contrasted with the chilly grey stone of Edinburgh). Many of the little streets are too narrow for car traffic, so they are remarkably quiet & clean-smelling. This is one of my favorite neighborhoods in any city, anywhere.
Many of Philadelphia's buildings are adorned with enormous murals. Occasionally, they are advertisements (in particular I remember an eight-story high Michael Jordan that used to terrorize Market Street), but usually, they are simply pieces of public art.
Moving East towards the Delaware River, we came to the eponymous neighborhood park, Washington Square. During the American Revolution, the British occupied Philadelphia for much of the conflict & kept American soliders in jails all around this park. Those that died were buried in unmarked graves here.
Cutting across to the Northeast corner of the square, we entered Independence Mall.
Doreen & I had a quick wrestling match, both trying to stand where Lincoln stood when addressing a gathering in 1861.
We also stopped by the Liberty Bell briefly. It looks really good in its new building. I want to visit the Constitution Center as well, but we didn't have time on Tuesday. Put it on the list!
All this walking around had made us hungry, so we traipsed along Market Street to the Reading Terminal Market. Ohhhh, just walking through those doors & smelling all that good food ... I smiled greeting at the Amish women at Godshall's Butcher Shop & the pretzel stand, nodded to the bakers at Termini's, ran a quick eye through the titles at the secondhand bookshop, & dropped a quarter in the jar for the piano player. Doreen & I ended up eating at the Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar, which has the most amazing vegan offerings to be found anywhere in the city. Eating a slice of sweet potato pie & washing it down with fresh-squeezed lemonade, I was well-content with my day.
