Philadelphia Trip - 09/11/24

 

We set our alarms to wake us up around 8 am, so that we'd be checked out of our room by 11 am.  Our plans were to first explore the Reading Terminal Market, then visit the US Mint. and finally visit the Fragments at Franklin Court before going back to our hotel for our bags, then to the 30th Street Station for our train home.

Unlike the past 2 days, RQS and I used Ubers go get around Philly.  It didn't cost that much more than it would have if we took the bus, and we were much more comfortable doing so.  Our first stop was the Reading Terminal Market, where it felt as it were NYC's Chelsea Market done right.  (I've yet to visit Seattle's Pike Place Market, so I can't use this market as a reference.)  The food there was overwhelming, and I wish this place was near my suburban New York residence to visit on a regular basis.  Both RQS and I had breakfast crepes, and then walked over to our next stop, the US Mint.

Photography is needlessly prohibited inside the US Mint building, and I wanted to ONLY get a picture of the mosaics on the entry wall.  But I was told I couldn't even get that.  So I had to take a snapshot of one of the artifacts inside their theater as my act of peaceful defiance.  With this being said, it was a boring self guided tour, as none of the equipment was in use today.  Yes, there were things of mild interest.  But not enough to make the long walk inside the mint building worthwhile.

Next, it was off to the Fragments at Franklin Court, where could see the nation's first post office, and other historical buildings.  However, we took our time walking over there, as the path we walked had little shade and the sun was beating down on us.  Arriving at Franklin Court, we went into the post office (not much to see there) and then found that the rest of the buildings were closed for the day.

Now, it was time to go back to our hotel and rest before taking our train home.  After retrieving our bags from the storage locker, we rested for a couple of hours at the hotel before going to the 30th Street Station.  And then, we killed 45 minutes before boarding our train.  By 7 pm, we were in NYC, and we parted for the night.

It was a nice trip and one I want to do again - as long as we don't have to deal with s shut down city.  The loss of Center City due to the presidential debate cost us a chance to visit Independence Hall and to visit the Eastern State Penitentiary (the latter for scheduling reasons).  Hopefully, we'll be able to do this again soon - with me presenting as Marian.

Philadelphia Trip - 09/10/24

 

The main tourist part of Philadelphia was on "lock down" today, as the presidential debate was being held at the National Constitutional Center on Independence Mall.  This meant that the visitors center and associated buildings would be off-limit to visitors due to security concerns, and that we'd have to go elsewhere for our tourism fix.

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As I noted in yesterday's post, I had GI Tract issues last night and blocked up the toilet.  This morning, RQS and I had to get up early, so that we'd be ready for the maintenance engineer when he arrived.  We were originally told that this man would arrive between 8 and 9 am.  But we later found out that he'd arrive around 9 and 10 am.  This was more than acceptable to us, as RQS would be able to get an extra hour of rest.  Around 9:30, the maintenance engineer arrived, and he used a snake to unclog the pipes.  (The one thing you can't say about me anymore is that I am full of s**t.)  It took a while, but he was done by 10 am.  Then, the cleaning ladies came in to clean up the bathroom before we could get ready to go out for the day.

Noon came, and so did RQS's cousin.  Now, we had to do the hokey-pokey to get into her cousin's clown car. After contorting ourselves into some unnatural positions, we had managed to fit ourselves into her car, and we were off to the Penn Museum to spend much of the day.  We walked through several galleries including Ancient Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa.  By 3:30, we were pooped, and it was time to go to South Philly for some fish at Anastasi Seafood.

RQS's cousin took us past the corner where Pat's and Geno's compete selling cheese steaks. And then we walked up the street a few blocks to a fish monger who would cook food to order to be eaten in a street side shed.  Her cousin had mistakenly this was another place she had gone to, but we decided to eat here anyway.  Can I say much about the food?  Not really.  This is not a restaurant after all - this is a fish monger that cooks food.  The seafood platter wasn't bad, but it wasn't NYC's Oyster Bar either.

We were dropped off at the hotel around 6 pm, and we relaxed a bit before going out for some ice cream.  It looked like this was a day where the police had to make their presence known, as they didn't want to be held to task if anything would occur in the upcoming debate.  Once we finished our ice cream, it was back to the hotel to watch the debate.  Would it change any minds?  No.  Hard core people with locked in positions would never be swayed by a debate.  But it did show that our former president wasn't up to the task of leading this country.  I hope that he doesn't get the chance to do so again.

Philadelphia Trip - 09/09/24

This would likely be the saddest sight we'd see on this trip - the S.S.United States, just before it is expected to be towed away from Philadelphia to a place in Florida where it will be sunk and turned into an artificial reef.  For people who enjoy trips upon the water, knowing that this once great ship is likely being scuttled and turned into an artificial reef soon.

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When we awoke, we got moving relatively quickly, as we were meeting RQS's cousin after breakfast to do some sightseeing.  Luckily, there was a place down the street where we could get some breakfast, and we walked over there around 9:30 am.  By the time we were done with breakfast, we still had time to kill before her cousin arrived at 11:00 am. Before I go too far, getting into RQS's cousin's car is like trying to load clowns into a clown car.  Mini Coopers are small to begin with, and both RQS and I had to perform unnatural body movements to get in and out of the car.  So both of us felt cramped as we drove the 20 blocks to reach the Mütter Museum.  

The Mütter Museum is a museum of medical oddities, but not in a way you'd expect from a circus sideshow.  Instead, the exhibits are tastefully presented, with respect for the people whose bodies these artifacts are taken from.  One can view many medical maladies, and see how the body and skeleton is affected by them. This is not a museum whose collection would be assembled today.  Yet, it is a valuable guide to how doctors would learn about these ailments over a century ago.

Next, it was off to drive past the "corpse" of the S.S. United States.  This ship was stripped of almost everything important years ago, and is now a rusting hulk on Philadelphia's shoreline. The conservancy that owns the ship has been in a dispute with the owners of the pier where it is docked over docking fees, and the ship was scheduled to be evicted this week. Yet, I can't but help hope that someone will rescue this ship and find a way to preserve it before it is turned into an artificial reef. On the way back to the hotel, we passed by the area which will be cordoned off for the presidential debate.  It's sad to need such security these days, but American politics are too polarized to take any chances with the candidates' lives.  

Later on, it was off to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant.  It was Restaurant Week, so we chose the special from their list of offerings.  Although the food was good, I'm not sure if I'd eat there again, as the service was slow and not up to our standards.  Once we got back to the hotel, the "fun" began....

As I've mentioned here before, I have GI Tract issues.  (I'll have to change my diet, as I need to introduce more roughage my meals.  But I digress....)  Unfortunately, I clogged the toilet, and we couldn't get late night maintenance - and we were told to use the toilet in the club room for the rest of the evening.  AARGH!  Even the use of a plunger didn't help.  (I have a stronger one at home.  The cheap one here was worthless.)  There was no way we'd get dressed to go to another floor to relieve ourselves, so we figured we'd figure out a way to make do until maintenance would arrive at 9:00 am the next day.

Philadelphia Trip - 09/08/24

Philadelphia, "The City of Brotherly Love".  I'd never have coined that phrase for this city, but it is what it is. The last time I was here, it felt like New York City would have been had the Erie Canal not been built. Now, the city seems to be growing up with quite a few tall skyscrapers being built.  And this would be our destination for the next few days.

If we didn't have non-refundable Amtrak tickets, we would have postponed this trip.  What we didn't know at the time of booking was that the second presidential debate would be held during our visit, and that our plans to visit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Constitution Center, and the US Mint would be scotched for the day we planned to visit.  However, there were enough other things to do, that RQS and I would likely be busy for the 3 days we would be here.

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Our day started by getting showered and dressed, and out the door to Penn Station, NYC.  Although this was a weekend, the subway's weekend schedule didn't make it overly hard for us to reach Penn Station in a reasonable amount of time.  (Often, the weekend schedules might force us to make multiple unneeded transfers to reach some parts of Manhattan, as some routes are shortened and don't facilitate the transfers we need to make.)  By 2:30 pm, we were on the train and off to Philly.

Once we reached Philly, it was off to our hotel.  I was surprised to find that the hotel was on a narrow street that was too narrow for a cab to drop off passengers without blocking traffic.  Yet, the hotel was in a busy an relatively safe neighborhood.  So it appeared that I again had a made a good choice in places to stay.

After having a chance to rest, it was off to a Japanese place for Sushi, and then off for Ice Cream before trying to take an Uber home.  And this is where the first glitch in or trip occurred - I entered in the hotel's address, 130 S. Juniper Street, and accidentally got 130 N. Juniper Street filled in for our destination. Our Uber driver could not speak any English - he was effectively a deaf mute to us.  We ended up walking several blocks with our melting ice cream to our hotel room.  At least the ice cream was still enjoyable when we settled in for the night.