My last visit to the East Coast in March 2012 was a much shorter and more impulsive trip. There was no real agenda or itinerary; I just thought of things to do and I did them. This time, however, there's been a lot of ground to cover -- literally and figuratively -- so there has been a method to the madness.
Leaving New Jersey on Sunday afternoon, we took a winding path that allowed us to avoid toll roads because a.) tolls are for suckers and b.) regular roads help you see more of where you are. Since this was one of the relatively nicer parts of the state, it may have taken longer but at least the view was more scenic! The route suggested by the GPS took us through Trenton, NJ, which borders Morrisville on the Pennsylvania side and is only two towns over from where I grew up in Levittown, PA. A distant suburb of Philadelphia, I'll admit, but it saves a lot of time explaining where you're from if you give people the closest major city. Technically, I grew up geographically closer to Trenton than to Philadelphia, but I would NEVER say I'm from New Jersey! (And to think that I did so well being nice to Jersey in my last post...)
Needless to say, Levittown became our first stop in Pennsylvania. Among the points of interest in the quick drive-through tour were my elementary schools, my old house, and that paragon of retail excellence, the Oxford Valley Mall. Aside from the schools, none of those locations look the same as they did in my childhood, or even like they did as recently as 2012. The times they are a-changin', but it was nice to be able to finally give Chris a visual reference for these places that I often mention when discussing the old neighborhood.
The only place we couldn't find was the recent site of national news coverage, where a girl's 16th birthday party had waste dumped on it by a passing airplane. None of the articles or clips we found online mentioned the specific part of Levittown where this occurred, but my morbid (still unsatisfied) curiosity demanded to know in case I had ever set foot near there. This lack of discovery also scrapped our duck-and-cover-drill photo shoot on their front lawn. Probably for the best...
After heading south again on the highway and returning our rental car to the airport, we took a train back into downtown Philadelphia and checked in Chris for his conference. After taking a few minutes to get our bearings, we walked toward the waterfront and arrived at our hotel on Penn's Landing, which is such a unique and historic part of the city to be in the first place, let alone stay down there. Our neighbor to the north is the Ben Franklin Bridge, which is quite majestic and also surprisingly quiet given our proximity to it.
During dinner at La Peg, a small French bistro adjacent to the hotel, the night sky was illuminated by rescheduled fireworks from the night before (apparently, the rain we experienced in New Jersey spoiled a lot of plans elsewhere too). We couldn't quite see from the angle of our table, but every so often, a stray burst of light or color would match the booming festivities. I did find it odd that nearly an entire restaurant full of people abandoned their food and beverage to go outside and watch a small-scale display that would surely be dwarfed by the upcoming 4th of July spectacle -- especially since the staff was so trusting that they would all return -- but hey, I guess it makes for a good story.
Monday was Chris's first full day at the conference, so I spent the better part of it wandering around and re-orienting myself with the downtown area. Once I got my bearings, I dedicated myself to that most noble of pursuits: the search for the perfect soft pretzel. Unlike the more traditional looped soft pretzels, East Coast pretzels are more compact and rectangular. The dough somehow seems softer and they are always salted the right amount. Accept no substitutes!
After his sessions ended, Chris and I had dinner at Ocean Harbor, a Zagat-rated Asian restaurant in Chinatown. I tried the crispy lemon chicken, and Chris had the pepper steak. The accolade was no accident; that was some legit Chinese food! For dessert, we decided to walk down through parts of the "gayborhood" and pay a visit to Big Gay Ice Cream, another Zagat-rated establishment with unique flavors and sundaes. Chris had vanilla and dulce de leche ice cream topped with crushed Nilla wafers, and my ice cream was vanilla blended with dark chocolate pretzels and dipped in chocolate. I had no idea that Zagat covered dessert items along with other types of food, but their recommendations have yet to steer us wrong!
We walked back toward Penn's Landing and our hotel via South Street, which is basically Philadelphia's answer to Denver's Colfax Avenue. While South doesn't hold the distinction of being the longest continuous street in the country like Colfax does, it has the same mixture of boutique shops, vacant buildings, and restaurants both upscale and dive -- not to mention some of the best people-watching this side of the Mississippi.
On Tuesday morning, I got good news and bad news courtesy of Paddy's Pub from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" fame. The good news is that the bar is in fact inspired by a real place; the bad news is that the bar featured on the show is not the same place as the pub in question. Despite the opening credits and many of the exterior shots indeed being filmed on location, the same can't be said for Paddy's itself. I was looking forward to taking a ridiculous selfie or two in front of such an infamous (though fictional) site, but alas, that dream will have to wait until my next trip to southern California. 2016, perhaps?
Dinner on Tuesday was less about Zagat prestige and more about convenient location. Equipped with some generally positive online reviews from everyday people, we found ourselves at the nearby Old City Pizza. For individual pieces, their Mega Slices of pizza are not just a catchy name; they are literally the largest pieces I've ever seen (and I've eaten a lot of pizza in my day). Meanwhile, my personal-size pie was a Greek pizza -- the combination of my cravings at the moment -- topped with gyro meat, feta cheese, green peppers, grilled onions, and diced tomatoes. Zagat or not, good pizza is good pizza, and Philly is a primo destination for inventive twists on popular menu items.
As we collapsed into bed, Tuesday ended like every night on this trip has so far: exhausted from walking our way through the city, full from the gourmet meals, and content in the knowledge that several days of fun are still ahead.
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