The Boys Meet in Philly

After getting mixed up on the NJ Turnpike a little I finally made it down to Philadelphia. A quick stop along the way provided me with a pair of gym shorts, a small cooler, and a Nalgene water bottle for the road. I picked up Ariel at Reading Terminal Market where he'd been waiting since arriving earlier in the morning. The first reaction was a solid bout of laughter at the car I rolled up in and we threw his luggage in the trunk. We had all day to hang out in Philly so we started off with a stop at the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Our Hall tour guide was an interesting character and provided some unintentional comedy to the historically informative tour. It was pretty inspiring to be in the same room that the country's founders sat in while they crafted documents of tyranny.

Next we met up with one of Steph's friends, Allan, at whose place we'd be sleeping that night. He gave us a spare key and some great recommendations so we set off back to Reading Terminal Market. We indulged in the mandatory cheesesteak which was fine but reminded me of how little I enjoy the taste of red meat on its own, especially when there's nothing else on the sandwich but some onions and mediocre cheese. A walk was necessary and the course of parks on the way to the Stallone Rocky statue and the Museum of Art provided a great relief from the cheesesteaks. We even got to see a grown man of questionable sanity playing in one of the fountains. He was obviously having a great time in his swim trunks, sticking his chest into the high velocity fountain jets and yelling at random people so we stayed to watch a few minutes.

We found our way to the subway and rode down to the Phillies ballpark where we had tickets for the game that night. The sports complex there is like nothing I've ever seen, with stadiums for baseball, basketball, football, and hockey all in one area with one of the biggest sports bars either of us had ever set foot in right in the middle of it all. The game was fun and the park was really nice but it's hard to cheer on a game when you don't care about either of the teams playing. But since I've been starved of Giant's games this season it's been great to be able to see a few games on the road. We hit up a pizza joint on the way back and then settled down for the night. Thanks again Allan for letting us crash in your room while at work overnight!