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Published: August 12th 2012
Being only 2 hours away the city of PHILADELPHIA is more than in our "overnight" trip driving range. The first time we went was for no particular reason other than to find out what the fuss was about with this whole philly cheesesteak thing. Since then we have been to Philly many times and pretty much every time it has been for the same reason - we are missing our favorite cheesesteak.
We'll start with PHILLY FOOD. Philly is definitely a little hidden gem when it comes to food. Philly is definitely more than just cheesesteaks. Let's just start and finish the order of business - CHOOSING THE RIGHT PHILLY CHEESESTEAK . PAT'S KING OF STEAKS is the king. There is no doubt and there is no close competitor. We tried and still try other cheesesteaks in Philly because that is what you have to do, but every trip we end up at Pat's because they are the best no questions asked. Be ready and be warned. Not in the greatest part of town, but always open. Know what you want before you step up to the window (and be sure that you have practiced your order in your head
Philadelphia
Just hanging outat least half a dozen times before stepping into the world of the super-intimidating-cheesesteak-order-taker at Pat's. Wit-wizz. That is the only way to get your cheesesteak at Pat's. All that means is with grilled onions and with that delicious thing called cheese-wizz. Forget about provolone cheese or american cheese and don't you dare get it without cheese. So there you have it. After you got through the hardest part just fork over your cash (no credit cards here) and try and contain your excitement from showing too much. This is almost a religious experience. Watch them built your cheesesteak in front of your eyes and especially when they whop a big old dollop of cheese wizz right on top of everything. You want to tell the guy to just forget about wrapping the thing, because that just prolongs the agony of getting that first bite. Find a little red table and try not to notice the hundreds of celebrity pictures all over the wall ranging from sports stars to actresses and ending with presidents. Open up that sandwich, close your eyes, take that first bite as the cheese and juices flow through your fingers and just savor the mixture of
Philadelphia
Just one of the many murals in Philly! steak, onions and melted cheese. Pure bliss in my mind. We have had many comparisons. We have had many discussions. GENO'S is right across the street and these guys have been battling it out for many, many years. Geno's may have a very, very slight edge in the meat department, but there is no question that Pat's is king. Our first time Nikkie actually stood in line at Geno's and I at Pat's and we each ate a half and compared the two right on a Pat's bench. Just go and do it. When you get to Philly just drive straight to Pat's and go get it over with. I promise you that by the end of the day you would have gone back for seconds. We have to really really resist not going to Pat's three times a day when we go to Philly. There are many other places in Philly that swear that they have the best philly cheesesteak. JIM'S STEAK is a good contender. I had the HOAGIE there which was very delicious and right up there when it comes to good italian sandwiches. TONY LUKE'S FOR PHILLY CHEESESTEAK is another contender. Again it was good, but
Reading Market
Fresh flowers galore just no comparison to Pat's. TONY LUKE'S also serves a mean PORK SANDWICH which is really tasty and tender.
The READING TERMINAL MARKET has become one of our favorite places in Philly. Packed with activity on weekends (many times you can find the Amish here selling their delicious deserts) and with a wide variety of food choices you can't go wrong here. The little market is great for fresh produce and then there are food stalls selling every ethnic food you can think off. Finish it all with some delicious creamy ice cream from BASSETT'S. The ice-cream is definitely some of the creamiest and richest that we have ever had. Make sure you stop for some. About right in between Pat's and the Reading Market on 9th street is the ITALIAN MARKET. Just activity all over the place with vendors selling their fresh produce come rain or shine. We hear that it has been scaled down a lot lately since a big part of this area is being developed and taken over by other ethnic groups so the street market is slowly dying out. Nikkie is following the Diner, Drive-in's, and Dives shows and on there she found Silk
Reading Market
Just some pretty colors from the market! City. If you read our previous blog you will know all about diners. Well this is a converted modern diner. We went for brunch and had delicious mimosas, bloody mary's and Silk City scramble eggs and eggs benedict. Definitely worth a visit when you are in the area.
Well besides the food bliss described above Philly was also kind of the founding city of the good ol' US of A. So from a historical perspective there is also quite a bit to see. The INDEPENDENCE VISITOR CENTER would be your starting point to see the INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK with all its old sites. We only got through a couple buildings and sites, but do start with the LIBERTY BELL if the line is not too long. They have not rung the bell in ages since it has a big old crack in it, but it definitely is interesting seeing how this bell has influenced a nation and how it has been there from pretty much the beginning. The BETSY ROSS HOUSE is another building of somewhat significance - old Betsy is rumored to have sewn the first American flag, but it really seems like this is very much
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The LOVE sign!! up for debate so we will just say that this makes for a good story. There is really not much to see at the house so this should be a pretty quick stop-over. FRANKLIN COURT was next on the list. This was the home of Benjamin Franklin. After seeing, reading, experiencing and just thinking about everything that this guy did it's almost hard to think that he is not one of the greatest Americans of all time. Just a short-list of his compliments: one of the founding fathers of the USA, author, printer, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, and just overall great citizen. Just reading that list kind of makes you think when this guy slept and how he possibly could have done all this stuff. Amazing I know. There is nothing left of the house that he did all of this in. All that's left is some foundation work and an outlay of what the house looked like. You can still visit the old printing press and have a freshly printed copy of the declaration of independence. Just down the street CHRIST CHURCH BURIAL GROUND FOR FRANKLIN GRAVE is another site to visit. They charge a nominal fee to
Reading Market
This was remarkable (Amish pastry). get into the grounds. You can also just walk to the end of the street and see the grave through some ironwork. Our last stop was ELFRETH"S ALLEY FOR OLDEST STREET IN US. This apparently is the oldest habitable street in the US meaning that people have actually lived on this street. Still occupied today with tiny picture-perfect, postage-stamp size houses it really is actually really pretty to see.
Other than this there are a couple other really fun things to do in Philly. Usually in March they take the Philly convention centre and turn it into the PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW. What a spectacle. Our first real flower show. Also considered one of the top 10 flower shows in the world and we could definately see why. One side of the centre is set-up for vendors just selling their stuff. This in itself was quite spectacular since there was pretty much anything you could ever dream of buying for flowers and gardening. The rest of the convention centre is set-up with all kinds of absolutely breathtaking displays. Just looking at these it is almost unthinkable that this could be real. Displays running a couple stories high with "natural" waterfalls.
Pat's King of Steaks
This just looks good Patches of vegetables looking like a professional farmer's backyard. Staring in amazement and trying not to miss anything which is pretty much impossible because the displays are just so many and after a while you pretty much just give up and try and see what comes up next in your way and try not to bump into one of the other thousands of people walking around with their mouths open saying "wow" every 5 seconds and not paying attention. The cool thing about it is that they have a different theme every year. In 2012 it was "Hawaii". Plenty or orchids, waterfalls, "lava" and tropical plants and fruits. I think we were there for a good 4 - 5 hours and saw a good chunk of the exhibits. There are also all kinds of competitions held (kind of like at a fair) where people submit their things in various categories and the winners are displayed. We skipped over these, because apparently these were the most popular things and the lines were endless. Hard to believe but this is actually just the start. The rest of the convention centre rooms are set-up with all kinds of other things. Live cooking demonstrations,
live gardening demonstrations, new product demonstrations and then a first that I have not seen anywhere else... Wait for it.... A MAN CAVE. Since this is a flower show guys are probably just not too interested in the flowers so they set-up a massive man-cave with televisions, games, beer, etc. What a great idea. We thought it was just too funny. Well that was the flower show. Really well worth a visit if you are in the area. It is really is one of those once in a life-time things, because the things they put out there will literally blow your mind.
And now for the real Philly spectacle. THE MUMMERS PARADE (always held on January 1). Just a little background. We did this in 2011. We live about 2 and a half hours from Philly. The night before we were caged in (yes this is correct and please see one of our previous blogs if this interests you) at the New Year's celebrations in Time Square. We left Time Square at around 2 in the morning, got to our house in CT at 3:30 in the morning, took a quick shower and left for Philly. We pulled into
Philadelphia
Philly phanatic Philly at around 8 in the morning and the Mummers Parade was in full swing already. The only way to describe the mummers parade would be one big costume party/parade/festival. Bo-Kaap parade meeting drag meeting Mardi Gras meeting Carnival. We have been to all the major New York parades - gay pride, halloween, Macy's thanksgiving day, etc. This tops them all in my mind. Not as crowded as any of the above mentioned parades. No barriers put up as for any of the above mentioned parades. This is the fun part since you get to just interact with the people. At times we went to stand in the middle of the street and just take pictures as people walk by all around us. Now more about the parade. I believe there are 5 different categories that the people compete in - humor, bands, etc. (not sure about all of them). I believe for the most part most of the competitors actually come from all the clubs/bar/shops down on 2nd street. So this really just becomes a competition amongst these places and oh they go all out. The whole group wears the same thing (and these groups are huge at time
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A little different view of the Liberty Bell with a 100+ people). The costumes are elaborate. Grown men dress-up as babies complete with bottle, bib and cap. Some guys smoke big ol' cigars while walking. Everyone is drinking even though it is only 8 in the morning - they probably are still hung-over from last night's new year's celebrations. Everyone participates - infants, mom, dad, brothers, sisters and grandma and grandpa. Everyone is jolly. Music blares and everyone is dancing through the streets. Then the bands show up and then it is costume time with some of the most elaborate costumes you will probably ever see. So grab a chair, make sure you have some coffee or something stronger and just sit down and enjoy.
Couple things on Philly. It is a pretty spread-out city, but walkable. As with most cities the red-tour-bus is an excellent option to get a quick view of everything and see what you would like to do. Parking in Philly is not fun. Not as expensive as New York or Boston, but still just a pain to find parking. Hotels in Philly are also pretty expensive. There are lots of cheaper options 5 - 10 miles outside Philly so if you don't
Mummers Parade
Making friends at the parade mind the drive these might be cheaper options.
That's all for Philly. We've managed to cross off 10 things in Philly including Philly Food, The Mummers Parade, Independence National Historic Park, Betsy Ross House, Franklin Court, Choosing the Right Philly Cheesesteak, Philly Sandwiches, and the Philadelphia Flower Show. So 143 down and 5,182 to go
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