Philadelphia, PA

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit two states I had never been to, as well as a couple I had not seen for five months. After a luxurious night aboard the something something boat in Chicago, IL, I flew to Philadelphia, PA. The city of brotherly love. And, it seemed to me, the people in Philly really do love you - they are some of the most amiable people I have ever met.

It is my intention now to post about this trip in many parts - how ever many it takes. I'd like to give my general ideas on the city, the food, and the "attractions."

For my part, the biggest attraction came "AS IS" or in the form of Anna and Ian Scherling - good friends from college and church who were so kind as to keep me in their house for all but a five-hour night (the last). And, though it may sound sad to others, I believe that the greatest part of this trip was the bonding and fellowship I had with both of them over the course of four-ish days.

But there's more - Philadelphia is a lovely city. As we flew over, I noticed that the roads were splayed out in interesting patterns. Not the grids of the midwest. Everything was new and shiny - and yet there was also quite a bit of old and abandoned. I suppose the whole city is like that. There's Olde Town, where all the historic sites are, mixed with some of the newest, shiniest, most sparklingest skyscrapers I've ever seen.

Ian, a landscape architect, took great pleasure in pointing out that "this square" or "that alcove" had been designed by the firm he was interning with. True enough, the city is full of little parks and alcoves. There are cemetaries in Olde Town, and there are statues of modern art everywhere (most famously "LOVE Park").

There are also a lot of homeless people - which is a kind of "well duh" in a big city, but I did observe them for two reason - one is that there really did seem to be more of them even than in Chicago. I would like to (and I will update you if I do) find the statistics on per capita homeless in Philly...it felt high, and I would be saddened if it was "not high." Because that would mean situations are worse elsewhere. My dad said some cities are better at "hiding" it, and this may be the case. Or the lovely weather meant that less chose to stay in shelters. The other thing I noticed, though, was that less seemed to be the rambling, staring-into-the-distance, slightly spooky "crazies" that I had encountered in Chicago. I would not be afraid to look most of them in the eye, or to approach one to give a donation - as my two companions both did quite freely.

I felt very peaceful in Philadelphia - I always knew I would love the city, although the Dr. Pepper disappointed (not in and of itself disappointing, but because I had expected some magical concoction, much like the elixer experienced four years ago when my sister and I had passed through on our way to Spain) - but then again, it is easy to be in love with any place when the weather's so lovely and there's green everywhere.

Somewhere in the last three paragraphs I lost my train of thought, and so I appologize for that loss - it is now gone for good. However, I am going to draw to a close with my intention to post over the next few days a sort of "critic's" view of the city - rating eating establishments and attractions in a way that, I hope, displays a little less of my own opinion and more of a combination of opinion plus facts that other travellers might observe. I shall also include photographs. I hope this does not weary any potential readers.