We loved it so much, Landon and I decided to visit again. I wondered if it would still enchant me as it did so many years ago. It did.
So this time we took it a step further. Did you know that simply moving to Philly would mean about a 20k dollar pay increase for us? The Philadelphia school district is hiring and has a great benefits package. We even found a few places we could currently afford.
What is it about this place that draws me in so intently? While it is no doubt a big city, each area has a very intimate feeling. The old, early American architecture mixed with the grit of a busy city is in perfect harmony with a seance of national pride in each neighborhood. It's just such a magical place.
I mean seriously. Just look at this place! From the historic district and the Old City borough to the wild counterculture found on South street. Chinatown, Market East, Society Hill, Queen Village & Fish Town! Each place has its own personality with so many things to discover!
It's just where I think we're meant to be...? I don't know about the winters though. We need a little more research I think.
We did try to visit our old favorite T-shirt shop, but they were out of town on vacation. We were bummed, but hope they are having as much as we are!
Of course no trip to Philly would be complete without a cheesesteak, or four. Yep. Four. We had Jim's first. One whiz wit and one provalone wit. We had to sit down and eat these immediately for lunch. They were fantastic, no surprise.
But before we left, we decided we really should expand our cheesesteak education to include Pat's & Geno's. If you haven't heard of these places, let me shed some light for you. Sometime around the 1930's, Pat's was opened as a hot dog stand. Pat Olivieri, co-owner of Pat's, was tiered of eating hot dogs everyday. He decided to chop up a steak, grill it with some onions on the hot dog flat top, and drop it on a fluffy Italian bread loaf. A classic was born.
Geno's was opened in 1966 right across the street corner from Pat's and a "friendly" competition was born. Joey Vento, Geno's owner, began putting signs up with slogans such as "The Best!" and "No need to order extra meat, just walk across the street!"
The feud was fueled by the public and the owners, delighted in the resulting publicity had no problem hamming it up. So Pat's or Geno's? We unfortunately came to a bit of a draw between us. I liked Geno's. The beef was sliced and seemed to have more flavor to me. Landon chose Pat's for the signature chopped beef texture. Neither of us were unhappy having cheesesteak for lunch and dinner.
With cheesesteaks in tow, we said our goodbyes to our sweet Philadelphia. We'll meet again soon.
We headed off to our next camping location at Brandywime campgrounds about an hour and a half southwest. We set up camp with the knowledge of possible afternoon thunderstorms. We took a quick (maybe 5 minutes?) dip in the pool before the sky opened up. Luckily we were set for dinner with our 2nd round of cheesesteaks. Some of our clothes were soaked in the transition though and we had a lot of drying out to do. Also, Brandywine only had nonelectric sites so there were no fans for drying. We spent a damp, hot night there and broke camp early for Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Gardners PA.
Ween- Freedom of 76
The intro runs a little long. Skip to 1:45 for the song that kept rolling through our playlist and minds while in the city.
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