The City of Brotherly Love, Take 2

I love me some Philadelphia. Last year I got the quick two-day version... this year I spent a little more time, and totally loved it. It's such a colorful, lively and interesting city. There's so many different things to eat, neighborhoods to explore and interesting people around. I can't wait 'til my next visit.


We started off the weekend right with a mission to solve one of the great foodie debates of the century - Geno's or Pat's?

We started out by going to the "flashier" of the two, Genos. After briefly studying the menu (gotta get that lingo down... "Wit'?") ordered a cheesesteak with provolone. Jaime ordered some fries and we all sat down to check it out. First thought: This is kinda dry. I wish we had ordered it with Cheez Wiz- apparently the only way to truly experience a cheesesteak. Jaime was less than pleased with her fries. They were kinda like the Ore-Ida fries you find in the freezer section. Geno's was covered with pictures and autographs from every celebrity imaginable, so that was pretty cool.

Anyways, after that we crossed the street to Pat's for a more subtle and quiet take on the Philly staple. This time we ordered it "wit" (onions) and slathered in Cheez Wiz (is that even made of cheese?). It was served to us oozing with the neon yellow deliciousness.

It was immediately clear who was the winner. The actual meat on Pat's cheesesteaks was softer, juicier and definitely tastier. The bread was better and even the fries were deemed much better by Jaime. We had a winner!

After stuffing our faces to our hearts content, we hobbled over to downtown Philly and hopped on the subway. I get such a kick out of riding the subway, so I was stoked. This was shortlived however, when I realized that Philly's subway pretty much smells like urine. I kinda think that it's not a coincidence that SEPTA sounds just like SEPTIC. I still got a small kick out of it because it reminded me of my times traveling in Europe.

Our next stop was the disturbingly graphic Mutter Museum of Medical Oddities! I'd seen this place in my Weird US book and knew I had to make a stop. No pictures were allowed so all you get is the sign.



The place was stuffed with all kinda of gory and graphic medical stuff, i.e. a man's colon that was bigger than my body, a "collection" of skulls with bullet holes in them, a shrunken head, a burnt penis. Yeah, really weird crap. It was interesting, but after about 2 hours of looking at deformed baby fetuses in jars, I was ready to go.

I got to see some things of historical significance this time. Last time, I was a bad little traveler and bypassed most of the historical goodies. I tend to lean towards the weird instead of museums and such... (Have I ever written about how I bypassed the Louvre to go to the underground catacombs in Paris?)

One of my favorite parts of the day we spent in Philly was when we found this little hole-in-the-wall bar and spent a couple of hours playing pool, darts and drinking beer. Oh, and blaring music on the jukebox upstairs. We had a whole room to ourselves and it was good times. It made me realize why I love these people so much. Because I can act completely retarded and they still love me. And they act retarded with me.

On our last day in PA, I had the weird idea to search for a winery in the area. See, I had this great experience visiting a winery in Starlight, Indiana when I was staying in Louisville, KY last year and I discovered that there are wineries just about everywhere. Little, family-run, adorable places. So I went online and found this little gem. Check out their website, it is sarcastic and clever and awesome. So we piled in the car and headed to check it out.

Va La was gorgeous. It was in the middle of Avondale, a picturesque little town. There's farm houses, cute shops and rolling hills. Love it!

Jaime, Dan, Steve and I payed 10 bucks and got a sampling of four different handcrafted wines and cheeses. It was delicious and so much fun. They also had semolina bread and homemade olive oils around that you could dip while you drank. We took our last glass of wine outside and enjoyed the scenery. What a beautiful location. Who would've thought! Southeastern PA Wine country, whadya know.

We ended the weekend by going to a BYOB sports bar and watching the Magic game. BYOB sports bar! What a great concept. We got a bunch of wings and watched the game while drinking an assortment of different beers.


All in all, it was a wonderful trip. We made tons of amazing memories and everytime I hear "Possum Kingdom" by the Toadies I'll be taken back to those hours we spent at that seedy little bar playing pool and laughing our asses off. I love my friends and I can't wait 'til Philly Take 3!