Trip Report (Conclusion?)

Ok, back to it....a bit quicker this time....

Wednesday - morning, we woke up....got packed, ready to leave "Charm City", as they call it. Charming? Perhaps...parts of it are less than charming, however.....Pimlico, etc. Anyway, back to the Blue Moon Cafe, where KB and I swapped.....I had the Eggs Benedict, she went with the "Vegetarian" Potato Pancakes......both great again. Back to Whole Foods Market for some stuff....then on the road again! Getting out of Baltimore was easy, as was the drive to Philadelphia (back through Delaware, which AFAIK, is all power lines and credit card buildings.....seriously, lots of power lines/transformers/etc.). Into Philly, no problem.....got off 95 near the stadiums (not even close to our hotel, or the closer exit.....stupid MapQuest). Instead of heading up on Broad Street, we headed west, by accident (poor signage), and back the way we came....uggh. Eventually, the ship was redirected and we headed up the famous Broad Street, which isn't so broad.....Anyway, the largest street in Philly has a great way of running right into City Hall, which makes everyone do a little series of turns around it. Seriously, this could be one of the dumber things I have ever seen......until I tried to follow the streets. At least in NYC, if you're on 5th, 7th is 2 blocks over....not here. Here, you go 11th, 12th, then Broad (which should be 13th), then 13th....uggh. Then there's 17th, which we need....which stops, picks up again, etc. Yeah...horrible. Back to it....to the Wyndham (pretty nice, a step below the Marriott) where we relaxed a bit, then went walking before the Phillies game. We stumbled upon a Trader Joe's, which if you haven't been, go. Its a discount/gourmet grocery store, full of neat little groceries and such. Didn't buy anything there, either.....but neat to go. Ok, grabbed a bite at a local Au Bon Pain...then back to relax before the game.

Boarded the SEPTA Line, which brought us all the way to the game....and what a stadium! Nice, out of the way (sometimes good...), and still shiny and new. Then, i heard something that I thought I was making up.........

"DOLLAR HOT DOG NIGHT"

Yep. Hot Dogs, $1.00. Amazing. And these were good hot dogs. Hatfield's. Nice, fresh......good mustard, ketchup, relish, and a neat onion dispenser. People were buying 10 at a time, despite signs that supposedly limited them to 6 at a time. Children, men, women, nuns, etc....all linked by the same constant.....cheap hot dogs. I have to admit, I had 4. I started with 2, then staggered the next 2. They were fabulous.....and considering they're usually $4.75 at Shea for a dirty water dog, this was the most remarkable thing I have ever heard.

Back to the stadium......nice place, friendly, passionate fans. Good sightlines....which is something I see of the norm with the new stadiums (all the seats seem pretty good). Again, we had good seats (and saved $7.00 per ticket....college ID night), even with the first base bag, 15 rows back. Take a look:

Thats Nick Johnson, body double for TR

Again, great game....good ending (walk off hit by Ryan Howard), and the home fans went home happy. We went back to the hotel and fell asleep.

Thursday - Time to get up and see the historical sites, which I am going to skimp on, since they pretty much were a disappointment. The Liberty Bell was a mess....with more security than the White House. The Mint was 1000 degrees, and filled with little kids.......plus, no cameras allowed, so we went in one at a time. The new Constitution Hall was very nice, and very new....and something like 12.00 each to get in. The Betsy Ross House was small, and that cost 7.00 each, so we passed......considering it was a 2-room tour. Meanwhile, all of these neat old buildings are not separated in any way, and are surrounded by nail salons, dollar stores, bootleg CD places, pawn shops, bodegas, etc....and tons of panhandlers. If they wanted to be taken seriously, they should take the 8 block area and turn it into a historical area, keeping all that crap out. Perhaps since I have seen it all before, or the surroundings.....but very disappointed. Anyway, we stopped at the Reading Terminal Market (VERY cool), which reminded me of what I would think the Pike Place Market in Seattle to look like. The place was bustling, full of people and commotion all trying to have lunch and get out as quickly as possible. The market is full of little stands and shops, selling food, fresh fish, jams, spices, butters, meats, chocolate, pastries, etc....hard to describe. Definitely no atention paid to the facade as it looks like a place that gets hosed out at night. Well, we got what we needed (peach, apple and root beer twizzlers, as well as sweet potato butter from the Amish stand; some pastries from another), and headed back.....time to go home! A quick walk to the Wyndham, back in the car......and northbound we were......Great trip!!