City of Brotherly Love

This year is going by so quickly that I only recently realized I hadn't left New York since July, when I came back from China. Also, this winter was cold and gray and rainy and I think I was left with a slight case of seasonal depression, topped with a dollop of cabin fever. So I decided to take a very mini holiday to Philadelphia, to visit my friend Chris (from China) and Helen (from University of Michigan).

Philadelphia is one of my favorite cities. It has pretty much everything. It's small enough to feel intimate, but big enough to qualify as a "real" city. It has neighborhoods. It's very walkable. It has history and gravitas and cobblestone streets, without the preppy elitism of Washington, D.C. It's diverse and interesting and only two hours away from New York City.

When I arrived on Friday morning, I was happy to be there, despite the pouring rain. It always feels good to be in a new place and I was nostalgic for all my Asia traveling. Being in a new place is all about learning. How do you take the SEPTA? (Philadelphia's public transit). What are the best museums? What does it feel like at night or during the day or in the earliest hours of the morning?

My first stop was the Franklin Institute, where I met up with Helen and her boyfriend, Antoine, who was visiting from France. We went to see an IMAX movie about tornadoes. I haven't seen an IMAX since I was about nine years old. It was both cool and horribly nauseating. We also explored some of the galleries. It's always fun to be looking at museums from a critical perspective, now that I've worked in several of them.

I wasn't quite sure what this was, but it had something to do with cell phones and electricity and energy and Ben Franklin. When Antoine used his cell phone near it, the lights went crazy.

Some of the hands-on features seemed a little bit worn out, but even so, I got a major kick out of this one, pictured above. It was set up like a pinball machine and your ball landed on various ailments and time periods. So you might land on "broken arm" and "England, 1788" and an actor would appear onscreen and tell you how he or she might treat you for the problem in that place and time. It was pretty goofy and the historical actors were cheesy, but for kids (and myself) I found it entertaining and effective.

After the museum closed, we walked in the pouring rain to meet Chris at his favorite restaurant, Mercato. I really love the fact that Philadelphia is teeming with BYOB restaurants. I had some delicious pasta with beef bolognese, rosemary and shaved grana padano, we drank lots of wine, and then Chris and I dashed off to a show. Our friend Tae had attended Penn and been part of an historic, all-male musical comedy troupe called Mask & Wig, and they were performing that night.


It's hard to describe the show, except to say that the dancing and songwriting was excellent and that I've never seen such heterosexual drag in my entire life. It reminded us of Tae and that made us happy. Afterwards, we went out to a bar, where I talked Chris's ear off about all my white girl problems.

The next day was beautiful. Chris and I went to Reading Terminal Market for French Toast and eggs and grapefruit juice. Then we walked to the Italian market (they love markets!) and wandered around, checking out record stores and cheese shops. I met up with Helen and Antoine again, and then split off on my own to explore some other neighborhoods. I saw wonderful old signs and lettering, some Philly hipsters, some winding streets, and Ben Franklin's old house. All in all, a really lovely 36 hours.