visited philly a couple of times (company paid convention, ha, ha). both my wife and i really did enjoy philly : wannamakers store(when the organ was still being played regularly0, liberty bell, jazz in a waterfront restaurant(they did serve good food). also gave us our intro to atlantic city. we have gone back to atl city a number of times but never left any money there(simply cheap canadians); but thought the EXITEMENT of the gamblers was quite something to watch(sorry for the losers). hbg
Hi Hamburger!
I've met your lovely daughter in both Tucson and in NY... nice to see you here. Jazz in a waterfront restaurant sounds wonderful to me, was that on that Schulykill River? Awfully glad to hear you are a wise man who chose not leave any money, Canadian or otherwise, in Atlantic City!
my favourite (?) place to get lost in Pennsylvania - Gap. Went on a road trip with a friend about a dozen years ago - we're lost, where are we? i don't know. let me see the map. hmmmmmm. well, let's drive a little further and see where we are. ok, so now we're in some farmer's front yard. hmmmmm. turn around, drive back out. After about 20 minutes of circling and going in and out of farm yards, we found out we were in Gap. How appropriate. We found the Gap in the map of Pennsylvania - a sort of Amish Bermuda Triangle.
ehBeth, An "Amish Bermuda Triangle!" That's a first for sure. LOL c.i.
i take Philly for granted cause I train in from Lancaster and usually get my work done so I have enough time to go and see something (museum,major art store, specialty antiques shops,Elfreds Alley etc)
Not much whacking by the mob anymore. Street people are no m ore surly than those in DC, and theyre not quite as nutz. No squeegie people like in nYC. Now that the Barnes collection of post impressionist art and art of the early 20th century is going to be moved to Museum Row, there will be something for everyone.
Couple of Battleships sitting on the waterfront are a reminder of our past on the seas.
Restaurants are usually more expensive than NYC but no more distimctive. i dont like Le Bec Fin(Philly), but I do Like Nobu (NYC).
Philly slays the world in the entire junk food meal, like the cheese Steak and the Crabcake. Spaghetti in white clam sauce, served in Philly, has the reputation of being the last meals of many mobsters who got whacked at their tables.
Subway sucks, it smells like urine. However,lately, Ive noticed the distinct odor of weewee in the DC metro tunnels. Too many damn lawyers skulk around Philly. Im afraid they are impossible to eradicate so you have to be careful what you say in public or else youll get some advice , and a bill.
Well, I may - so far - be the only native Philadelphian. Was born there, grew up there, went to school there (including college and art school), met my husband there (blind date), and the motto I'm running was the motto of the Philadelphia High School for Girls (I can still sing the alma mater). Center city, although today my sisters and cousins and nieces and nephews all live outside the city). But after I got married, I moved away, and have never been back except to visit, (and it's changed mightily). I have never had a philly cheese steak.
I loved that city. We biked, roller skated, ice skated, went regularly to the Philadelphia Library (located not that far from the Philadelphia Musem of Art and the Rodin museum). On the parkway, looking to City Hall, the statue of William Penn is at the top, and from a certain angle there was always a faintly obscene slant to the way he stood, holding his hat.
Spent my summers working in the Pocono mountains. Lots of time in Lancaster county, Gettysburg.
And I always said - like so many Philadelphians - that if there was any place I would not move to, it was New Jersey. Which is where I am and have been. That might not be so bad, because I always have my home city to comapre it to, and Philly wins by a mile.
Incidentally, the Wissahickon Drive, from the outskirts into center city, has always been one of the scenic drives.
Will have to make it to Philly one of these days. sigh. c.i.
Yeh mamajuana-And isnt Fairmount Park at least 3 times bigger than NYC central park?
NEVER HAD A PHILLY CHEESE STEAK??
So our first native-born? Yay, Mamajuana. Are there any others?
and Wissahickon Drive?
<Madly writing and wondering if am pronouncing it correctly>
Fairmount Park??? Very, very big??? Great.
Junk food??? Heeehee, OK... we ought to at least TRY these things. I didn't realize, BTW, that there was a big mob influence in Philly. Is this true?
Okay - Fairmount Park - yes, very big. In my youth we could walk there, meet-up, have fun. And there was an open-air trolley that ran throught the park to another side of the city.
Sure - Philly had a big mob scene. And they all seemed to have summer homes in Brigantine, NJ or Atlantic City. I used to spend a lot of time in South Philly, because that's where the action was. And we had Graterford prison, which, while not a landmark, was where some of my father's clients were, so we saw some of that!
One of the things I'm doing today is writing short stories for the 2nd and 3rd generations, who don't care about geneology, but do want to hear about the family and the city like it used to be.
Hot pretzels with mustard, the burlesque house on Arch where we took my cousinn Stevie, who got so embarrassed he went down on the floor............memories, memories.
And no, farmer, I never had a philly cheese steak. We did eat a lot of toasted cinnamon buns.
Mama-you mean CIMMIN BAHNS
Hey, mamajuana, did you know a place called The Khyber Pass (I doubt that it exists anymore)? It was an Afghani restaurant on one of the streets named after a tree (maybe Walnut? not sure). I recall it from my Law School days so it was a while ago.
Muerte mentioned Mummers from South Philadelphia. Does anybody know a real Mummer? (what exactly is one???)
Heavens - Sorry, farmer, we said cinnamon buns. My Dad was a criminal trial lawyer who expected us all to speak English, so we did. Jespah, it pains me to say it, but you are younger than I. In my day, an Afghan restaurant would have been shunned like the plague. We were daring enough with a fancy sandwich place that played classical music on Sansom Street. I think it was called Maurice's.
Mummers. How to explain them? New Years' Day brought out the Mummers, who paraded in elaborate costumes and played instruments - like cousins to Mardi Gras, except in freezing weather in a city that did not have anything like Carnival. An ancient tradition (I used to know the derivation of the word, but don't feel like looking it up now.) Anyway, watching the Mummers' Parade was a big thing, and everybody went downtown to see it. Belonging to the Mummers was a privelege, and was quite often passed down father to son - a closed corporation, and the costumes were fantastic.
As one can plainly see, a lot more to Philadelphia than the jokes aout it, and that is where my heart is.
