Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The second stop on my east coast trip was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to meet another long-time friend, Pat. At first, I didn’t really consider Philadelphia as a priority stop, but Pat was always telling me how much he loved Philadelphia and I knew I had to see it for myself. I was originally supposed to arrive in Philadelphia Thursday evening, but Pat had to go to the emergency room the night before with some sort of stomach virus, so once I made sure he felt better after his treatments, I rescheduled a bus for the next morning.

Friday, 21 August: I got into Philadelphia in the early afternoon and Pat was still recovering, so we took it easy for my first few days there. We spent our first days in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where Pat lives and knows well. First, we went to Peace Valley to enjoy the view of the lake among the trees. After that, we headed to Doylestown for some exploring. We popped into a few bookstores, a record shop, where I bought a Rise Against vinyl, and a quaint ice cream shop.

Saturday, 22 August: We decided to take it easy again, which was a wise choice because we both slept eleven hours the prior night. We met up with a few of his cousins and friends and went to Nockamixon State Park, where we hiked to some climbing rocks.

Sunday, 23 August: Thankfully, after a few good nights of sleep, Pat was feeling better, so we hit the city. We walked all around the city, including City Hall, South Street (including Magic Gardens), Independence Hall, Penn’s Landing and the waterfront, Market Street, Love Park and Logan’s Circle. The coolest part of the day was seeing all these places from my favorite television show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, including a bar owned by one of the cast members and modeled after the bar on the show. I also got to try a vegetarian Philly cheesesteak and it was definitely the best meal I had during my time in Pennsylvania.

Monday, 24 August: We further explored the city by walking around Chinatown, Reading Terminal, Philadelphia Art Museum (including running up the stairs like Rocky), Boathouse Row and South Street again. All of this took a little longer than expected because we were both so exhausted, particularly from all  the walking the day before. Either way, I had a great time in the city of brotherly love; it was a nice break from the busy city.

I’m taking an overnight bus to Canada, where I will be reunited with my best friend in a little over twelve hours. I can’t wait!

Photo by Ethan Hoover.