To Motown Philly and back again.
Al: You see, inside of what we know as reality there are these pockets, these black holes called Philadelphias. If you fall into one, you run up against exactly the kinda shit that's been happening to you all day.
Mark: Why?
Al: Because in a Philadelphia, no matter what you ask for, you can't get it.
--David Ives, All In the Timing
This weekend, I headed to my half-business, half-pleasure trip to Philadelphia. Despite what the esteemed Mr. Ives has written, I found the whole thing very accessible. I haven't been to Philly since about one year B.C. (before college, when I was looking at UPenn), so I hadn't remembered how small and easy to navigate it was. More cities should be that size, and that neatly laid out.
Highlights:
1) Getting to stay at a fancy B&B. It helped that they tried to butter us up by putting free Champagne, fruit, and cheese in the room for our arrival. (A little dairy goes a long way in my book!) The place was really swank. Our second hotel was pretty nice, too, considering it was cheaper than a Holiday Inn.
2) Eating at nice restaurants: Cuba Libre, Continental Midtown, and Marathon on the Square. Sadly, no cheesesteaks.
3) Shopping at The Shops at Liberty Place and The Franklin Mills Outlet. Okay, no more spending money for me until 2007.
4) Watching The Matador at another city's art theater. The experience was more engrossing than the movie. They get playbills with crossword puzzles at their theater!
5) Visiting Penn's Landing and the waterfront area in the total fog. But it was picturesque fog.
6) Getting tickets to see Belle and Sebastian and The New Pornographers. A modern rock concert!
Lowlights:
1) Freakish weather. It went from warm but pea-soup-foggy to freezing and snowing in 24 hours.
2) Driving. Am I the only one who thinks going from the George Washington Bridge to the Major Deegan is terrifying?
3) Having to work tomorrow. Sorry, Martin Luther King. We don't care that much about you in the suburbs.
4) Coming home to a place without Godiva chocolates and Fiji water at turndown. Pity me.
5) The pile of laundry heaped in the corner