Bob picked me up Wednesday morning to begin our journey to Philadelphia. It was a beautiful day for driving. We took a slightly less-traveled route in order to take in some of the rural scenery and avoid traffic. The thing that stands out to me the most when traveling this part of the country, is just how lush and green it is there, full of rolling hills and corn fields.
We entered Philadelphia near Wynnefield, where Bob was born and raised. Now I must say that when I visit new cities, I love to explore the various neighborhoods and get a sense its diverse character. But having Bob lead the tour made this trip different. As we toured the streets that made up his old neighborhood, Bob was pointing out the homes, schools, markets, and playgrounds that made up his youth. The stories added a richness to the experience that gave me a special appreciation for the area that I would not have gotten on my own.
We eventually made our way to downtown Philly via the route along the river that Bob's dad used to drive to work. Today most commuters use the expressways. As we neared the downtown core, Bob took my by several well-known landmarks (like the Philadelphia Art Museum) and some of the many universities in the city (St. Joe's, Penn, Drexel, etc.).
One of the goals of the trip was to literally give me a taste of Philadelphia. Philly is known as the home of the cheese steak sandwich, and according to Bob, there are just two places to go to really experience a "true" Philly cheese steak -- Geno's or Pat's. They are rival eateries on opposite street corners. Bob suggested lunch at Geno's, then Pat's for dinner. He didn't offer an opinion as to his preference as not to sway my opinion.
After navigating through an old residential neighborhood lined with row-houses, we arrived at the intersection of 9th, Wharton, and Passyunk (a.k.a. Cheese Steak Heaven). Geno's immediately struck me as being the nicer of the two restaurants. We ordered two cheese steaks the way Bob likes them, with onions and provolone (no cheese whiz for Bob) along with two Birch Beers to drink (another first for me). After we got set at our outdoor table and unwrapped the food, I was surprised to see the beef wasn't cut up into small pieces like the cheese steaks I was used to. It was also a bit smaller than I expected. I must say though, it was very good. My first Birch Beer made for a nice complement as well. It like a cross between Root Beer and Dr. Pepper. With the Geno's experience behind us, phase one of "Operation Cheese Steak" was complete.
Next we headed back downtown to check out the
Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. After a security scan, tourists must first pass through the building housing the
Liberty Bell before crossing the street to
Independence Hall. We quickly scanned the historical exhibits and took our time at the Liberty Bell itself taking photos. It was much smaller in person than I expected.
After crossing the street to the Independence Hall courtyard, we unfortunately learned that we wouldn't be able to tour Independence Hall itself that day. It turns out we would have had to have been in line by 8:00 am in order to ensure a place in the tour. We did however spend quite a bit of time going through the building that housed original House of Representatives and Senate. Although it too was much smaller that I had expected, it was far more exciting than I could have imagined. To be in such a historical place was amazing.
With the historical part of our day burning up a big chunk of our afternoon, it was time for phase two of "Operation Cheese Steak". We were off to Pat's.
Pat's itself is much different that Geno's. It's not as tidy in it's appearance or upkeep as Geno's, yet it was far busier. At that particular time, there seemed to be twice as many customer's at Pat's. We ordered exactly the same as we had for lunch. The sandwich itself was comparable both in terms of size and content. The biggest noticeable difference was that the meat was chopped into smaller pieces than Geno's. The bread also seemed to be a bit chewier. After finishing, I must say that choosing between the two sandwiches was difficult. They were bothe great. I had expected it to be a far easier decision -- Bob certainly made it clear that in his mind there was no comparison. Unfortunately for me it wasn't that easy. I even tried to anticipate Bob's choice, although he wasn't really tipping his hand (he's a good lawyer). But finally I chose Pat's primarily due to the more finely chopped meat, and consistency of the bread. I also thought Bob would choose Pat's because I assumed he would have saved taking me to his favorite restaurant last. I was wrong. He's a fan of Geno's all the way. He took me there first because he didn't want to wait to have one. So much for my detective skills.
With the successful completion of "Operation Cheese Steak", we were off to our final destination of the day -- Citizen's Bank Park to see the Phillies host the Florida Marlins a short distance away. Woohoo!
We were very early for the game and had plenty of time to explore the place before taking our seats. Since we had only purchased our tickets two weeks prior, our seats were in the upper deck, but they were still outstanding. By this time of the day, the heat along with the walking we'd been doing was starting to take its toll. I settled in with a beverage to enjoy a night at the ball park.
The game itself turned out to be excellent. It was a pitcher's duel between the Phillies' Kevin Millwood, and the Marlins' A.J. Burnett. Jim Thome cut an impressive figure at the plate, but Burnett held him to only a double in his four appearances for the night. The Phillies were the first to strike when they manufactured a run with two outs in the third when Jimmy Rollins stole his way to third and scored on a hit by Placido Polanco. In the fourth inning, Ricky Ledee robbed Damion Easley of a homer. There would be no more scoring until the 7th when the Marlins' Matt Treanor scored on a Damion Easley RBI single. But the Phillies answered right back with a solo home run by Ledee in the bottom of the inning. The Phillies then finished things off with Todd Worrell and Billy Wagner combining to close out the 2-1 win for Philly. It turns out that this was just the third time the Phillies had *ever* beaten the Marlins.
With the game over, the only thing left was to hop on 95 South and head for home. Unfortunately for us that was easier said than done. It turns out there was a Hillary Duff concert adjacent to the ballpark that night that ended at the same time as our game. Between the baseball fans and Hillary Duff fans, there was little movements in the parking lots for a while. It took nearly an hour to get to the adjacent freeway entrance.
We finally arrived back at Brad's house shortly after 1:00 am. It was finally the end of a long, yet great day. The memories will last far into the future. Thanks Bob.