- Ate a freshly-made soda from legit soda jerks at Franklin Fountain. Didn't know what to expect; it was quite good! But too pricey and the flavor gave way to mere seltzer too soon. Friendly service, though. Ice cream looked amazing but didn't get any (I wanted to eat a real lunch first).
- Discovered Philly has an underground city. Well, formally underground concourse...
but still never knew that was there. But unlike Montreal: it's less city and more urine. So much wasted space; would be perfect for arts or retail.
- Saw an 18th century rowhome just by Independence Hall that looked exquisite -- just like a home straight out of Georgetown. It was running for cheaper than places I'm looking at in DC.
- I love Philly's use of sidewalk space. DC needs to emulate this.
- Last time I was in Condom Kingdom was at their old location and I was with my grandmother.
- The lines for Jim's, Pat's, and Geno's are entirely too long. Especially Geno's. I mean, I'll forgive Pat's and Jim's, but really... PEOPLE: PAT'S IS ACROSS THE STREET FROM GENOS. It may only be marginally better, but at least it's legit.
- Italian Market is like DC's Chinatown: its eponymous ethnicity has left for the suburbs.
- I love working class cities. They may be intimidating at night, but by day everyone is so phenomenally friendly- people readily engage in conversation. In DC people just look confused or ignore you completely if you say "hi".
- I was taking photos of graffiti and was approached by a guy who used to be a graffiti artist way back in the day. Later on I met a few current artists and was introduced to the Philly scene; brought around to a few great spots. Lots of time deriding taggers. Philly's got some great talent; but not quite enough of it.
- A scofflaw bicyclists ran into me. He was about four years old. His bike helmet crashed into my rear-end at about 1 mph. He bounced away more than I did.
- Rittenhouse Square is pretty phenomenal. I can't recall EVER seeing a park so diverse and friendly, with so many people doing so many different things... together; across racial lines.
- As always, I completed my pilgrimage to my great-grandfather's plane in front of the Franklin Institute.
- Spent an evening with two Amy's (ha ha- like the pizza!) -- a pair of lovely ladies to spend an evening with taking photos!
- In the drizzling walk back to my hotel, went to go check out the underground concourse again- came upon a homeless camp at the closed entry. Initially rebuffed, within another minute I was invited to sit down and share dinner with them. I'd just eaten and I didn't eat much, but I couldn't turn down such generosity.
And that's pretty much everything up til now.
Thanks, Philly!
- Saw an 18th century rowhome just by Independence Hall that looked exquisite -- just like a home straight out of Georgetown. It was running for cheaper than places I'm looking at in DC.
- I love Philly's use of sidewalk space. DC needs to emulate this.
- Last time I was in Condom Kingdom was at their old location and I was with my grandmother.
- The lines for Jim's, Pat's, and Geno's are entirely too long. Especially Geno's. I mean, I'll forgive Pat's and Jim's, but really... PEOPLE: PAT'S IS ACROSS THE STREET FROM GENOS. It may only be marginally better, but at least it's legit.
- Italian Market is like DC's Chinatown: its eponymous ethnicity has left for the suburbs.
- I love working class cities. They may be intimidating at night, but by day everyone is so phenomenally friendly- people readily engage in conversation. In DC people just look confused or ignore you completely if you say "hi".
- I was taking photos of graffiti and was approached by a guy who used to be a graffiti artist way back in the day. Later on I met a few current artists and was introduced to the Philly scene; brought around to a few great spots. Lots of time deriding taggers. Philly's got some great talent; but not quite enough of it.
- A scofflaw bicyclists ran into me. He was about four years old. His bike helmet crashed into my rear-end at about 1 mph. He bounced away more than I did.
- Rittenhouse Square is pretty phenomenal. I can't recall EVER seeing a park so diverse and friendly, with so many people doing so many different things... together; across racial lines.
- As always, I completed my pilgrimage to my great-grandfather's plane in front of the Franklin Institute.
- Spent an evening with two Amy's (ha ha- like the pizza!) -- a pair of lovely ladies to spend an evening with taking photos!
- In the drizzling walk back to my hotel, went to go check out the underground concourse again- came upon a homeless camp at the closed entry. Initially rebuffed, within another minute I was invited to sit down and share dinner with them. I'd just eaten and I didn't eat much, but I couldn't turn down such generosity.
And that's pretty much everything up til now.
Thanks, Philly!
