All is pretty well here; let me update you.
Friday 5/4/07: Steven, I, Dann & Tom went to Philadelphia for the weekend, with the goal of seeing the King Tut exhibit. We took NJ Transit and then SEPTA. It was a cheap way to get there and back and only to an extra hour and one-half each way over AMTRAC ($39 v. $136). The hotel we stayed at was pedestrian though, but conveniently located in the City’s old convention center. Tom arrived first and we three shortly thereafter followed. Found a great place for dinner thanks to Tom who was in charge of researching restaurants for the trip and who has, as you know, a penchant for the finer things, at least as far as food and liquor are concerned. The restaurant was in an old part of town, and was sort an old Irish-type bar/eatery with things like oysters, etc. Tom got the escargot, and I turned away as he ate it. We couldn’t bar hop that night since we had tickets for an 8:30 AM viewing of the Tut show the next morning. Three of us each had about two drinks, and Tom three and an after dinner cognac. Once Tom gets started, it’s, as you know, hard to stop him. I shared a room Tom, and Dann and Steven were together. After a few minutes after arriving at the hotel, I went to bed and Tom went out for a smoke – and I suspect to search out a bar for a nightcap.
Saturday 5/5/07: Next morning, breakfast at 7:00 am in the market. Don’t know if you know it, but each of the Pennsylvania towns (particularly in the East) have markets and usually a Market Street, which often runs up the center of town. These markets are covered areas where local farmers bring in their produce and meats, and some merchants sell other sundries. They’ve become somewhat touristy nowadays, but they still give a flavor of the old ways. I’ve seen ones in York, Lancaster, and Philadelphia, which has a big one right in the center of town. Breakfast was good and reasonably cheap. Great oatmeal and a good way to “bulk up” for the day, as Dann would say.
From the market we walked to the Franklin Museum where Tut’s stuff was located. Having seen Tut in the Cairo Museum and walked into his tomb in the Valley of the Kings when I was in the Navy 30 years ago, I was a bit of let down by the exhibit — no sarcophagus, you know, and most of the artifacts pre-dated him (although they provided a full context for his reign). Also, the show was expensive – $37 for a ticket. The rest of the Franklin museum wasn’t worth a damn. We made quick work of it and were out before 10:00 AM.
We headed out to the Mudder Museum of Medical Oddities (Stephen’s suggestion, of course), which was part of a local medical school in downtown Philly. Now I know I’ve seen it all: I will never again have to make an effort to see another hugely distended colon or skeleton of a Siamese twin. All and all interesting for the $9, although the curator should have created an audio guide to explain some of the stuff. We finished at this Museum by 1, and Dann, I and Tom headed for some flea markets while Steven went back to the hotel for a nap (Steven bar prep).
Flea marketing very successful, we visited three, and took local buses and an underground trolley which eventually surfaced to get to them: I got a ton of postcards and several books, and Dan some old Christmas stuff, books, and an old Hungarian metal wind-up toy. At the last flea market, we ended up in a distant part of town, where the Eastern Pennsylvania Penitentiary. Since Steven wanted to see this, we called him and he chanced a City bus ride, which he complained about for the rest of the afternoon. I think he was afraid of the populous that travel the buses.
Eastern State was a model in both architecture and penal principles for its time. http://www.easternstate.org. Architecturally, it had spoke-like corridors off which cells were located and prisoners were assigned to individual cells and a small isolated outside yards, which they were allowed to use for exercise. Each cell had a conical hole in the ceiling which let in light. The hole was called the “eye of God.” Prisoners had no interaction with their fellow prisoners, and little with staff save a chaplain. Prisoners were to contemplate their ways, crimes, sins, and thereby it was hoped change. It was Quaker in philosophy, and came to be known as the Pennsylvania system, as opposed to the New York system, which incarcerated prisoners together where they worked. Apparently, most of the US adopted the NY system, while Europe and some of the rest of the world, Pennsylvania. The visit was thoroughly informative, and they had an audio guide. Unfortunately for us, the guide had some supplemental audio material outside of the regular tour about which we only learned after leaving the place: sex in prison in the 19th and 20th centuries. After the museum a late lunch at an old firehouse converted to a restaurant across the street.
We got back to the hotel in late afternoon and rested until the evening when we had dinner in a Mexican place. We intended to bar hop, but we just pooped out and went back to the hotel to bed. Tom was disappointed, and wanted to stop in at least one or two places for a drink.
Sunday 5/6/07: Up early enough, and out to the old part of Philadelphia for an architectural tour. Steven and Dann tried to get Tom and I to go off to a museum, but we insisted on joining them. Well it was quite a day. They picked apart ever detail – Relentlessly savage.
As soon as we got to the Independence Hall area, Steven became excised, cursing the Rockefellers up and down for the restoration they financed there. Apparently, these “restores” thought it would be nicer to make wide streets and buildings with nice landscaping instead of the crowded old European city that Philadelphia had, according to Steven, been at the time. Ben Franklin wouldn’t have recognized it, and for the sound of it neither did Steven. Tom and I, of course, found the exposé interesting, and Dann was even though critical rather measured in his response. All of this measure changed however when we made it to Society Hill, where the federal townhouses could found. We happened upon an Open House for a $2,000,000 recently renovated house, and took the tour. Tom and I signed in, but the architects just hurried in. The place although Hugh, with four floors was awful: poor kitchen cabinetry, faux granite and shoddy carpentry with gaps between the closet door and its frame from which light pour through. As we ascended the stairs Dann became increasingly agitated. While Steven would zip in a rapier-like criticism, Dann could hardly contain his outrange. I think had the real estate agent been responsible for the renovation, Dann would have throttled him. All and all a truly interesting display: Steven freaking out over the grand scale, and Dann the little; Steven the Cityscape and Dann the homes. Interesting revelation.
We next walked to a neighborhood, which must have been like the East Village in the old days. Run down. Had dinner in the old part of town before catching the train, and got back to NY by 9PM. One week later, to and I got a call on each of our answering machines about the townhouse, and a letter from the realtor.
