The
breakfast did not improve this morning but we were joined by another couple
in town from DC for a soccer tournament. Thankfully, there was one banana
left but Eric ran out of orange juice. They shared our sentiments about
the lodging including the fact that there were WAY too many knickknacks
everywhere. The place was so cluttered, there were literally rooms that
couldn't be used because they were packed full of "stuff".
This morning
we set out to explore the west half of the city by walking down Antique
Row to Broad Street heading north to the gigantic City Hall. The building
takes up an entire city block and there's a huge statue of William Penn
standing on top. For some reason, Penn is facing north, away from the
historic district. The sculptor was incredibly mad about this and claims
the architect did it on purpose because he found the statue ugly. The
point is moot however because the statue is so far off the ground you
can't see any of the detail. (There's a mini version much closer to the
ground in Welcome Park near the waterfront.)
Logan
Square was next on our walking tour where we spotted the famous Philadelphia
LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana in front of a giant fountain filled with
bright purple water. Very strange that I can't find any information about
why the water would be purple, only a few stories of vandalism last year
when someone dyed the water pink. It certainly makes for a vibrant photo.
Our next
stop was the Rodin Museum where the largest collection of Rodin's sculpture
resides outside of France. 'The Thinker' is out front, but after discovering
there are over twenty replications of the same sculpture all over the
world, it wasn't quite as charming. The museum is small and the "suggested
donation" box is guarded by two security guards who make sure you
do, in fact, donate the suggested amount, but it was nice to see all the
sculpture and some of the smaller practice/study pieces.
We
continued our trek down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and stopped to spend
a little time photographing the Washington Monument in Eakins Oval in
front of the Philly Museum of Art. While we didn't run up the steps of
the museum like Rocky, we did get a shot of the engraved footprints where
he stood in triumph after his fitness comeback - all this from someone
who hasn't even seen any of the Rocky films in their entirety. After a
brief rest on the steps we walked around the Museum but didn't feel like
shelling out $10 each for the inside, so we walked back to the Rittenhouse
Square area for lunch.
Unfortunately,
the restaurant I had in mind was further away than expected and then wound
up being closed for lunch on Saturdays when we finally found it. Who knew
a place called Friday Saturday Sunday would be closed for lunch on Saturdays.
They are even open for Sunday brunch. Grrr. By now we were both tired
of walking and more than a little irritated. After trying to find another
place that apparently went out of business and another closed on Saturdays
place, we popped into a Chinese restaurant on Chestnut. We just made the
$6.95 per person minimum by splitting the smallest serving of sweet and
sour chicken I have EVER seen at a Chinese food place and a Sam Adams.
The hot and sour soup was unremarkable.
I really
wanted to see the Mütter Museum, so we backtracked about 10 blocks
near where our first restaurant choice was closed. While the medical oddities
and pieces of famous people amused, the highlight was by far the Only
One Man Died: Medical Adventures on the Lewis & Clark Trail special
exhibit. There were handwritten journals on how to cure ailments with
household items in the 1700s and lots of random facts about life and illness
on the trail. Very cool. I think a lot of the oddities weren't as interesting
because we just saw that incredible Body Worlds exhibit in LA a few months
ago. Or it could be that most of the exhibits were wax molds of diseased
body parts. The soap lady was one of the authentic exceptions.
By
now it was around 4pm and the Georgia-Tennessee football game had started
so we found a sports bar on Market Street and plopped down for a Guinness
and Bass respectively with a side order of fries for the rest of the first
half. We finished watching the (disappointing) game in our room at the
B&B, then headed out to Chestnut Street to find a place for dessert.
On our way out again, we noticed that the milk, grapefruit juice and butter
had never been put away from this morning's breakfast. We found out the
next morning the other guests had dumped everything when they returned
from their tournament and called the guy who was watching the place to
tell him to buy some fresh stuff for the following morning. Thank goodness.
I
had read about this comfort-food style place called Jones in our visitor's
guide so we stopped in to see a dessert menu. Yum. We got a table for
two right away and immediately settled in to people watching mode. There
was a huge diversity of folks there, everyone from grandparents to college-aged
kids. I ordered a Duncan Hines chocolate layer cake that came with a cold
glass of milk and Eric ordered the chocolate chip ice cream sandwich.
Just what we were looking for and the service was outstanding. Full of
chocolate and toting my leftover cake, we walked home and called it a
night.
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