Showing posts with label philadelphia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philadelphia. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

...on the playground's where i spent most of my days...

louise and i took a nice holiday trip to philadelphia. we only stayed 3 nights, but we got see most of the things we wanted to and after 3 days, louise starts to miss jessie too much. whenever i am away and wonder what jessie is currently doing...i usually picture something like this...
let's see..we stayed at the radisson hotel right in the middle of the city next to rittenhouse square. the room was huge and had a plasma screen so you know it was balla. we did some walking around the first day...and after about 20 minutes i realized i overdressed...it wasn't ridiculously cold like i expected. we got some subs from some place called jimmie johns...i think...delicious. while walking around, my keen eye also spotted a bus that may or may not have contained souljah boy.

later that night we went out and went to an irish pub called irish pub. it was nice and not too busy...but not dead. we found our own little area in the corner. louise drank some of their local beers, while i drank a lot of maker's mark and the beer that louise did not end up drinking. i was feeling good and tipsy. i remember sitting there with her really engaged in our conversation, feeling appreciative that i have a girlfriend that i really enjoy talking to.


the next day we visited the reading terminal market which was sort of like baltimore's lexington market, but much nicer and with a more pleasant aroma. we walked around and looked at amish stuff and lots of food. we bought stuff for louise's parents. i found a vegetarian food booth that served veggie cheese steaks. well i figured, since i'm in philly...might as well...it was...not great.






tastes like dissapointment






later that night we visited south street, which was mostly disappointing. louise bought some shoes and we ate at this nice and cheap mexican restaurant where louise did some eavesdropping on the other cutomers.

the last full day we were in philly was devoted to visiting some museums. i had intended on going to the museum of art to do the rocky steps run, but we decided on the ben franklin science institute and the mutter museum. the bfsi was cool and interactive. we checked out exhibits on sports and the human heart. i got to mix it up a little with mia hamm. we also saw an imax movie on ancient sea monsters which was cool except it was all cg.

the mutter museum was interesting. it was very similar to the walter reed museum i visited on a school field trip. there were a lot of medical anomalies and oddities that served well to make me uncomfortable and uneasy. no photography was allowed in the museum, which was probably a good thing unless my blog reader were interested in seeing unborn fetuses in jars.

one another thing i wanted to write down before i forgot was the diner across the street from our hotel. we ate their twice and really liked their food, prices, being open 24 hours as well as their name, little pete's.

Monday, December 10, 2007

are you philly'n me?

louise and i are planning a brief trip to philadelphia at the end of next week. i have been to philly a few times and have enjoyed the city. it will be nice to get away for a few days, even though it will probably be freezing. here are my notes for things i might want to go see, do, things i need to get before we go, etc.

i think we have narrowed down the hotel choices. the hotel we are probably going to book has sleep number beds! i am embarrassingly excited about this and can't wait to find out what my number is. they also allows dogs! while it would be awesome to bring jessie, the hotel might not want to house a dog of her gigantic, oafish girth. also, bringing jessie may limit the places we can go and it will be cold outside, so jessie might not like going outside...even if she wears her sweater. i think we will probably leave jessie at home to hang out with dave, nicki and a visiting seamus.

i am interested in the following:
  • the franklin institute science museum - this is a nice and nerdy source of edutainment and also has an imax theater
  • the reading terminal market - i love places like this...farmer's market, produce, baked good, crafts, junk, etc.
  • philadelphia museum of art - i like to pretend i am slightly intellectual...actually i think i have been here before and it was cool
  • shopping - christmas shopping sucks....hopefully we can get some more of it done here
  • dining - one of my favorite aspects of traveling...i hope to find a lot of vegetarian eating options...maybe i will ask for a veggie steak and cheese at gino's...and maybe i will get beat up
  • drinking - another nice change-up from my suburban lifestyle is going to bars, getting drunk and walking back to my hotel room
  • something historic - maybe we will go see the liberty bell or ben franklin's house...
  • u.s. mint - so i can see how thick my paper is gonna be
  • spend some time with louise - we are not one of those weirdo romantic couples, but it will be nice to spend some time together

here are some things we need to do/get before we go:
  • thermal underwear
  • new winter coat for louise
  • find gloves, hat, scarf
  • book the hotel
  • schedule out what we both want to do/see (3 days will go by quickly)
  • get a philly travel book or at least visit some websites to know where to eat, what else to see, etc.
it will be nice to get away...and also nice in that it leads right into my winter break, so when we return, i won't have work the next day. i hope to take a bunch of pictures and post about the trip when i return. for anyone who has spent any time in philly...any suggestions or ideas?