Philly and Food
Todd’s parents flew home to California today. This means I’m going to have to rely on my family to do the laundry and clean the house until I’m able. *sigh* It also means I’ll have to make my own trips to Starbuck’s.
I believe it would be an atrocity to have company from out of state and not make it into Philadelphia at least once. With that in mind we drove into the city yesterday. Todd’s mother is a knitter and she had heard of a great knitting store downtown – Rosie’s Yarn Cellar (thought you might like the link, Radioactive Girl).
The store is in trendy Rittenhouse Row and less than a block from Rittenhouse Square, the charming park in the center of what was once known as the city’s “Victorian Aristocracy”. Parking in this area is a hot commodity. We dropped Todd’s mom off at the yarn store and then drove around for what seemed an eternity to find a place to park. We finally found a spot, put our money in the meter and walked down to the square after grabbing a snack for the kids at Wawa.
We only walked about two blocks to the park, but that was enough for me. The pathways are strewn with benches and it’s not always easy to find an empty one. I saw a lady get up and I made Katie run to snag the seat so I’d have some place to sit. Man, do I feel old!
Taylor and I sat on the bench while Katie and her grandpa went across the street to Barnes and Noble. And no, they didn’t go to read. They went for coffee and… you know what’s next, don’t you? That’s right. A White Chocolate Mocha!
They come back with the coffees and we’re just relaxing and visiting and having a nice time, when a very jovial man comes strolling up the pathway and yelling, “Dollar for a condom”, like he was selling popcorn at a ball game. Between New York City and Philadelphia, Katie is getting quite the education.
Grandma finished at the store and made her way down to the park to find us so we could go get lunch. But it had taken us twenty minutes to find the parking spot and we paid for an hour on the meter. I wasn’t inclined to rush. When we finally did get back to the car there was about 6 minutes left.
When you think of food and Philadelphia no doubt you think of Philly Cheesesteaks. We decided to try world famous Pat’s King of Steaks this time. You may recognize it if you saw the movie Invincible and I believe it was in Rocky as well.
Across the street is Pat’s rival, Geno’s Steaks. Geno’s made National news a few months ago for displaying a sign that says, “This is America. When Ordering Please Speak English.” Since my English is fairly decent I’m going to try them next time.
Between fattening specialty coffees, cheesesteaks and ice cream from several different local vendors, I haven’t bothered to count points. Tomorrow is another day, though…
The story was cute until I got to this:”Dollar for a condom”Then I busted out laughing and it went downhill after that.Oh and a word of wisdom for the Geno people, if they are trying to make a point like that then they should do some research or else they’d just come off as ignorant. America refers to every country IN America…not just the US. Even my Canadian friends get pissed off at “our arrogance”. LOL.
Sounds like you had a wonderful day!Never heard the condom thing before – gee! Any takers?I forgot to tell you that I have vacationed several times in Cape May and is one of my favorite places. Did you notice the Cape May striper cam on my sidebar? I look at it every day and get wistful because no vacation this year as not working yet. If you look at it around 6:30 or later you can catch the sunset starting. The Delaware bay is on the other side of the lighthouse and you can see the ferries going back and forth. Shopping district is fun but my favorite is always the ocean. :)Still not sure about rockin blogger. Did you see my question in the big head post?
haha there she goes with that Scarlett thing again! It’s not really that you are a procrastinator – you just work better under pressure! That’s what I keep telling myself!
Mailyn – When the “vendor” came by grandpa tried to embarrass Taylor by saying, “I thought for sure you were going to reach for your wallet.” But instead of getting embarrassed Taylor always has a come back. He very seriously said, “I was going to, but I left it at home.” So then GRANDPA was the embarrassed one!! LOLAs for Geno’s – it’s all very interesting. They’ve been rivals with Pat’s for at least 50 years. So when they put up that sign Pat’s put up a sign that said “Everybody served here.” And neither one of them lost or gained any business. Kinda wierd.Seaspray – No takers while we were there. We all burst out laughing when we heard him down the path yell, “Are you feeling lucky?”I’m going to go check out your cam right now! And I’ll leave you a message about the button. :o)Terri – You and I are cut from the very same cloth! So maybe you’re Scarlet and I’m Scarlet, Jr. Where did Shelli get her discipline?? I guess from mom.
I just checked out the link, and you may be costing me money because there is a ton of stuff I want!I love the whole story about the condoms, etc. I think food after surgery has no calories…that is my theory anyway. I believe the “after surgery” calorie free time lasts for about a year, right?
I LOVE big cities – you just see the neatest things!! However, can’t say I have ever encountered a condom salesman. How do you word that on your taxes???Anyhow, your little trip sounds delightful. I love cheese steak…it doesn’t even have to be from Philly. 🙂
Tori & Jodi – I think you both just need to come visit me. Plain and simple. :o)
LOL @ Grandpa! Still, got to give him props for not been scandalized when the guy came buy. Most grandparents I know would be! Very interesting about the two eateries indeed! They must really hate each other. LOL.
Reading your story makes me feel like I’m there too.I’m not sure I could patronize a business that posted a sign like that. I don’t know what they meant, but it sounds kind of discriminatory to me.
I thought Geno’s Steaks sounded familiar. Even as I was reading, I though to myself, “Hey wasn’t that the shop that…” LOL. Sounds like you all had a wonderful time.
No pix of Jenster enjoying the bench and the coffee????
Mailyn – I think we were all to stunned to be scandalized. lolDan – There was a huge controversy over the sign. Like most big cities, Philadelphia is a melting pot of sorts. Every language you can imagine is spoken here. I don’t think it’s considered discrimination because they serve anyone and everyone. But supposedly people were trying to order in other languages and they couldn’t understand. That’s their story, anyway.D.C. – Yeah. It was a fun day. I’m ready to go back and spend a lot more time in Rittenhouse Row when I’m feeling better.Barb – Nope! I forgot my camera anyway. These photos are off the internet. lol
Well that sounds like fun. The condom thig seems interesting. I can just imagine “take you kid to work day”.