Around Philadelphia

Since we did so  much sightseeing around Philadelphia on our trip this past summer, we didn’t do much besides the Independence Hall tour on Saturday afternoon.  I was more interested in hanging out with my best friend, lounging around her house in our PJ’s, taking Ginger for walks around her neighborhood & generally chilling.  She did however meet me at the airport & we rode SEPTA to her house in West Philly.  We got off the train at the 30th Street Station & was blown away- it’s so beautiful & gorgeous to NOT be the main downtown terminal.    Wish I’d taken a photo of the outside, which is just as impressive, but we weren’t going the right way & I had all my luggage.

I’d heard Stephanie repeadedly refer to riding the trolley to her school everyday & was NOT expecting this!  It’s a cross between a bus and a mini-train.  It’s on rails, super-fast, quiet and they go all over West Philly like buses on a schedule.  You have to pay your fare & they go underground when they get near the city.  It was such a cool experience.

We drove around the course on Saturday to check it out & to stash some food snacks along the course.  I was in awe of how pretty the long stretches of trees along the Schuylkill River were with their brilliant fall leaves.

This is one of the bridges that we ran out & back across for the marathon- something about it’s small size, repeating patterns, strong iron works spoke to me.

We spent some time walking around her neighborhood & it was so different for me to be “in the city”.  I loved all the sidewalks, row houses, funky architecture, neighborhood parks with people playing basketball and dogs frolicking, the several tiny restaurants in walking distance, the amazingly well-stocked mini-market just a block away.  Coming from the suburbs, this was a whole adorable little world to me!

Sunday night we were ready to go out on the town!  We were exhausted & sore, but still ready to wine & dine.  Our first stop was the Continental Club, with it’s larger than life olive, for some yummy martinis.  Next stop was to see her brother who was working as a pastry chef in a fabu little place called Budddakan.   We did head down to South Street in search of a good bar/pub, but had no luck on a Sunday night.

Family style dining at a large table in front of Buddha & with a mouth watering menu.

One of my other favorite photos I took in Philadelphia.  The Comcast building is so iconic on the skyline and it’s supposed to be shaped like a jump drive.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY:  You probably can’t see it since I my 900 px photos are still larger than my main area, but I did add some fun buttons for Texas Wineries and Running Marathons on the sidebar menu.  They will be all pretty when the blog make-over is complete.