Philadelphia - Love and History

So my for my final weekend trip, it was off to Philly, the home of . But first it was a trip to Mahwah, New Jersey - home of Brian and Valerie. So after I caught a train from Manhattan out there, the three of us went to a local Japanese restaurant for some sushi/sashimi.

Quick side story: for lunch at work, we had Japanese as well (thank goodness for work lunches). I had the salmon teriyaki, and it came with some tempura and mini-sushi. So as I'm busy scribbling notes, I'm trying to put away this food. As I'm downing the mini-sushi, one of the last pieces had what appeared to be avocado falling out of it. So I shove it back in before sticking it in my mouth. Then before I even taste it I realize that wasn't avocado. Uh-oh. My mouth quickly turned into Mt. Fuji erupting. I had to get the food out before my eyes start to weep. I quickly got it onto a napkin and in the bin before anyone noticed. So watch what you eat otherwise it will end it tears...literally.

Back to Mahwah - so we had some great food. However due to the restaurant's location, the crowd was a little sparse. In fact, empty - the entire time we were there...on a Saturday night. This is not a good side. Good luck to them though - great food, chef even tried some "experimental" stuff on us. Tops.


After playing Star Wars and laser tag with cats, we woke up the next morning, picked up an some hitchhiker named Annabelle and headed off to Philly.

At the LOVE Park

Famous things from Philly: Will Smith, hip-hop group the Roots, Sylvester Stallone, Boyz II Men (remember Motownphilly?), NOT cream cheese (actually from New York), Kevin Bacon

Second side note: As we traveled through New Jersey, Brian and Valerie pointed out to me the nightclub from the TV show "The Soparanos", called Bah-da-bing in the show, it's actually called Satin Dolls in real life.

So we got there and checked out all the historical sites - including the Liberty Bell, National Constitution Center, US Mint, Independence Hall, etc. And yes, we did run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art, famous for being in the movie Rocky.

One of the coolest things about Philly was the public art - there are murals on the sides of buildings everywhere. Another one was the mighty philly cheesesteak - one of the greasiest foods I have ever eaten. It's a roll, sliced beef, cheese, and that's about it. You can other stuff - but it wouldn't be a CHEESE-STEAK. Yum.

Mural art on South Street

It was great to be traveling in a car instead of a bus, we drove through the University of Penn, and famous streets like Walnut, Chestnut, Market, and South streets. And it was great traveling with friends again.

Next stop...Seattle.
DN