Sunday was the first day in Philly I woke up and I could see the sun in all its glory without a cloud. And the heavy heat was already on. I began walking east towards the eastern edge of Chinatown into Franklin Square, where plans were being made to set up the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival. The dragons, the pandas, they were all there. As I approached the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which takes people into Camden NJ, I passed by the Bolt of Lightning display, which was much higher than I thought it would be. The 101 feet tall, 58-ton sculpture refers to the famous experiment in which Franklin flew his kite in an electrical storm.
The bridge walk was a little tougher than the Brooklyn Bridge walk, the incline seemed a little bit more extreme. I did run certain parts, particularly the downhill parts. I was hoping for something good to photograph, maybe a sign welcoming me into New Jersey. Maybe a good view of the cities. Not quite. I got into Camden and I was surrounded by grafitti and barbed wire.
I figured it was time to turn around after a quick rest. Of course a cop saw me just kind of hanging around, standing in the shade created by a stop sign, and staring at my phone. All I was doing was checking my distance. He checked on me to make sure I wasn't lost. I assured him I wasn't lost, I just needed a minute.
The total walk must have taken about 90 minutes, and the heat really added to the challenge. I was ready for breakfast, I even gave it and made a waffle. I may be the only one who likes those round egg patties, but I had 4 of them.
After cleaning up and packing, I was ready to check out. The front desk held my bag since I still had five hours to wait until my train departed for Virginia.
The eight block walk to the Benjamin Franklin Museum was really hard, maybe an after effect of the walk I had just done. I really wanted to get off my feet. The pain in both my big toes was especially sharp, I wish I had ibuprofen in my bag. The museum was ok, it gave a pretty detailed glimpse into the mind of Franklin, as well as his humor, his resilience, and his creativity. But it was so quick that I was out of there in less than 20 minutes.
Onto lunch. And there was only one place to go, Angelo’s Pizza. They're well known for square shaped pizza as well as cheesesteak and hoagies. Unfortunately, you can't get a slice of pizza, so maybe I'll have to find some company to help me finish that off. So I went with hoagies, specifically the JYS, or junkyard special. Now this was a sandwich I had seen featured in the Food Network before. It was made at a deli in Philly called Sarcone's. They still have a bakery on the block, but the deli is now gone. I figured I'd never have it, so I've actually made it a couple of times at home to very good results. So Angelo's took that sandwich over and I was excited to try one in Philly. The sandwich is made of turkey, prosciutto, roasted peppers, sauteed spinach, fresh mozz, sharp provolone, fresh basil, and dry herbs on a crusty seeded Italian roll. I took a bite, and oh my goodness. The difference is the bread and the provolone. I can access the other components fine, but the crust on that bread and the unique taste of that provolone, you can't get those just anywhere.
Man that was the best Italian sandwich I've had in maybe 10 years. JP Graziano in Chicago is great, but this may have been a little bit better. Oh and I ordered an Italian sub for later in the day.
Needing a walk, I passed on the bus, and walked north. I made a stop in Mitchell & Ness. I never expected to buy anything, but I decided to check out their array of vintage sports wear. The cheapest thing I could find was a 1994 Rangers Stanley Cup t shirt for 40 bucks. For 20 or even 25, I'd have been in. Even basketball shorts were 85 bucks. Pass.
By now, I was desperate to sit down. But it would have taken as much time to take a train as it would have to walk. So I passed through City Hall and traveled east to a once again loaded Reading Terminal Market.
I picked up half a dozen cookies from 4th St Cookie Company for the trip home. I thought about having one right there, but they had no milk. So instead I decided to go next stall over to Old City Coffee for an iced chai tea latte. 6 bucks was a lot, even more than Starbucks, but it was fine.
After walking the two blocks back to the hotel to get my bag, I collapsed on the lobby couch for about 20 minutes. I knew I was going to get back to the station early, but I didn't care. I didn't want to spend more money and I wanted to just rest. So I grabbed my bag and took the MSL train one last time to 30th St Station.
I have to say I'm very surprised the train station didn't have a bar. So instead I did get an Arnold Palmer at Pret a Manger for 6 bucks, and it was only 16 pounces, which was absurd.
The train was scheduled to depart at 2:45 pm, but we left about 15 minutes late. I took the first seat I could because I knew it would be packed. And it was right next to the club car, I had a feeling I was going I have a cocktail.
And then we got delayed outside of Baltimore due to equipment inspection. Shouldn't inspection take place before the train leaves? Just asking for a friend.
Ultimately we arrived into Williamsburg an hour late.
Here's what I'd say about Philadelphia. The people were pretty cool, they were actually friendly, and I didn't expect it. I expected to get crap for wearing New York stuff, but it barely happened. Maybe with the Mets being such a disgrace, they don't care. Lot of yuppie types around too, in terms of fashion sense.
What I didn't like was the abundance of garbage. It reminded me of some of the old neighborhoods in Queens, with full black bags filled with trash sitting on the sidewalk, waiting to get collected.
A lot of people were smoking, both cigarettes and weed, which I did not need. Of course being that it is a certain month, that presented additional annoying propoganda.
Also I saw plenty of homelessness. People sleeping on the sidewalks, or shuffling around with torn clothes. It was sad. Quite a few times I was avoiding eye contact or walking away from them just to reduce the hassle.
I wish I could have met a few more people, aside from my fellow Mets fans on Saturday afternoon. I can't say I'm looking forward to going back soon, aside from the food! But it was a fun getaway for a weekend, which I sorely needed, and I'm glad I did go
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