A FOUR DAY VISIT TO PHILLY
Good morning.
I just returned last night from a four day visit to Philly, having made a very last minute and impulsive decision to visit my son who just moved to Philadelphia after graduating college. He deferred law school to take a 2 year Teach For America job in the inner city of South Philly. Surprised to learn that the high school where he teaches had a 4 day weekend in observance of Rosh Hashanah, he cajoled me to come help him outfit his very first apartment. How could I say no to that? So, in an effort to take full advantage of seeing not just Taylor, but my son Nathan and his family as well, I flew into Baltimore, middle ground, and spent one night in DC. The next morning it was very difficult saying goodbye to my little granddaughter who waved goodbye at the front door.
Taylor and I then drove 2 hours in the rain to Philly, a city I had not visited in 2 decades.
My previous visits to Philadelphia had been on business, and I had seen little of the city. As it turned out, this trip was no different. No Liberty Bell for me; I’ll have to save that for a future visit. Instead of sightseeing, my time was split between numerous trips to IKEA…
and my son’s apartment, where we furiously worked at making it a little more livable. His apartment is located in the heart of downtown on a charming residential street lined with historic town houses. So, when we did venture out for dinner, it was easy to get to nearby restaurants on foot.
On Sunday, we escaped the apartment long enough to attend church and hear Taylor’s girlfriend sing in the choir. Walking afterward to brunch afforded me the only opportunity to see a smidgin of the city and take a few photos to share with you.
What I saw of Philadelphia I found to be very historic and European in flavor. Unlike New York City for example, Philadelphia seems to have retained a lot of the historical buildings and is not completely overrun with modern skyscrapers. I really liked what little I saw.
Being in the hand-forged wrought iron business, I am always on the lookout for beautiful ironwork, as seen on the faςade of this vintage Social Club.
And old ironwork adorned this coffee shop too.
I also admired the Art Deco style signage of a Dance Academy.
This old building caught my attention. While it is boarded up and vacant, it is still standing, just waiting for someone to make it whole again.
It’s called The Warwick and must have a fascinating and storied past.
We walked past this little gem of an Italian restaurant…
Most of the restaurants seemed to feature street-side dining…
something I’m sure will be coming to an end soon with fall nipping at the air.
Then there was this charming restaurant, The Dandelion, a British Pub style restaurant.
Literally just dripping in hanging plants and atmosphere, this three story restaurant oozed charm.
And although I admittedly am not a cat lover, I just had to take a photo of this fat cat decorating the window of a beer making establishment.
So, that’s about all I saw of the City of Brotherly Love. I did see a lot of the interior of my son’s apartment, and in my next post I’ll share with you the “IKEA Hack” we performed on it.
So there you have it: A FOUR DAY VISIT TO PHILLY.
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