Streets of Philadelphia

With all things being equal, I'd rather be in Philadelphia. –John McClane, Die Hard

I had a wonderful time up in Philly seeing people that I haven’t seen in twelve years or more. The weather was pretty good the entire time, but, for someone who’s spent the last twenty years in warmer climates, it was cold. The first day, we arrived, at about two in the afternoon, the temperatures were in the low forties. As a comparison, it wasn’t that cold at home when we left home at five in the morning.

There was lots of food involved from my aunt and my cousins making sure I was full to the cold and less-than-soft soft pretzel I had in the airport as my dad and I waited for our flight home. I went to Pat’s Steaks in South Philly for a cheesesteak from the world famous stand, and it was underwhelming to say the least. A cheesesteak place in North Philly (the name escapes me at the moment) does a much better job. Both of the pretzels I had, the one at the airport and one that I had downtown, weren’t that good.

So, what did I do? I drove many miles around the city (odd given my work driving). The second day that we were there, my aunt guided my dad to see some of the changes in North Philadelphia where they grew up. It’s impressive the changes that I could see, and I haven’t been there since 1996. I could tell it was a shock to my dad. Later during the trip, my dad caught a cold, and I didn’t want to sit there doing nothing. I convinced my cousin to guide me to places twice. The second time I saw what happened to my home where I lived in the late eighties on the former military reservation just off of the former navy base. The modest homes are now townhouses billed at $300,000. Ugh.

One of the highlights was my ride to the Gallery in downtown Philly. It was notable because it was the first time I had been in Center City alone. Granted, the last time I was in the city I was 16, but it was still an interesting thought. The big reason for the entire trip was to see my relatives. I saw my grandma, several cousins, and many aunts and uncles, and I plan on seeing all of them again in less than twelve years.