Tuesday, July 31,

Well as if we couldn’t get enough traveling in, we took a little trip to Pennsylvania. Dual purpose; I had a family reunion and we visited Molly in Philadelphia.

Not much to say about the family reunion. Reunions are reunions.

We spent a night with Molly and Mitchell in Philly. This isn’t the Philly I remember as a kid. We did regular school trips to Philly for things like the Franklin Institute and Independence Hall. Or the occasional family trip to the Philly Zoo. Back then it was not a place you wanted to spend a lot of time in, let alone live there. Things have changed there and for the better.

Philly is one of those old metropolitan areas that have seen a renaissance. Molly lives in the downtown area, in a neighborhood full of restaurants, coffeeshops, bars, and stores. All within close walking distance. If you don’t want to get your produce from a grocery store there’s the Italian Market or the Reading Terminal market, both in operation since the 1800s.

Philly is a juxtaposition of old and new. William Penn founded the city in 1682. It has modern glass and steel sky scrapers, but it also has buildings from before the revolutionary war. Some of the buildings, like Independence Hall and Carpenters Hall, were important in the revolution. If you are interested in early American history, Philly is one of the places to be.

Philly skyscrapers.

The graves of Revolutionary War soldiers and sailors.

Life in Philly seems to revolve around eating and drinking. Great eating, but the kind of eating that tends to line the aorta with nasty stuff. I don’t think a vegetarian could survive in Philly. Probably starve to death. Just a little south of the Italian Market are the purported two best Philly cheese steak restaurants in Philly. Across the street from each other. While you’re cruising through the Italian Market you can also buy live poultry. And rabbits. Just in case you are in to really fresh chicken.

Geno’s and Pat’s Philly steak sandwiches, also know as heart attacks on a bun.

The open-air Italian Market of South 9th street.

If you want really fresh chicken.

I really like Philly, but it isn’t perfect. Being founded in 1682, the downtown streets are not designed for cars. Parking is close to impossible. And like many metropolitan areas, there are homeless people trying to hang on by panhandling. Philly can be a great place to live, if you are young without children or retired. Not so sure I would want to raise kids there though.