After New York, I made the hour and a half train ride southwest to Philadelphia to celebrate a wedding! I ended up having a much wilder time than I had anticipated, but wild was just what I needed. I had only been to Philly once before, and I covered all of the historical tourist stuff then, so this time, I wanted to explore more of the city life. I have to say, I could really see myself living here. Now, brace yourself, I have a lot to say...
DAY 1:
I arrived at my very affordable Airbnb around 4pm, so when I ventured out for a walk, I only expected to be out for a couple of hours maybe. It just goes to show that you never know, and I try to always say "yes" when I'm traveling...
I started out the evening by walking east along South Street towards Penn's Landing and the Delaware River, where there's a pretty view of the Ben Franklin Bridge going over to New Jersey. I got my obligatory Philly cheesesteak (wit'out) for dinner at Sonny's Famous Cheesesteaks & Burgers on Market Street. After that, I decided to walk down Walnut Street towards the "gayborhood," just to check it out. Should I scope out the bars? Or would it be better to wait until Friday? I decided to give it a go.
I went into the Toasted Walnut Bar & Kitchen, apparently the only lesbian bar left in Philadelphia. When I walked in, however, it was overrun by gay men. Little did I know, it was RuPaul's Drag Race night and there was a drag viewing party going on. I stuck around for awhile and got a hot tip (thanks to the lovely Paige) about a burlesque show later that night around the corner at Franky Bradley's. So I headed there and investigated Get Hype!, a kind of variety burlesque show. There, I met someone who then told me about karaoke back at Toasted Walnut. So we headed over there and closed out the night singing along to Etta James and Gloria Gaynor. I didn't get back to the Airbnb until like 3am. So much for a short evening walk!
DAY 2:
After some morning recuperation and a delectable hoagie, I endeavoured to go out to the Eastern State Penitentiary, a suggestion made by the dear historian, Miss "Girl Alex," in New York. ESP was the first penitentiary in the United States and once held some of the most famous criminals, like Al Capone. It's a derelict hub-and-spoke of cell blocks now, and very creepy. I love abandoned buildings (I'm just drawn to that imagery for some reason), so I had a field day with photos. Not to mention it was a rainy day, which added to the eeriness. Oh, and part of 12 Monkeys was shot there.
Afterwards, I walked over to the Schuylkill River, and then to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rocky steps.
That night, I met up with Glo (the karaoke tipper) at Vox Populi for a show called Carnivolution. It was basically a crazy circus sideshow/freak show by the Squidling Bros that then turned into a dance party. But after three acts and three and a half hours, I had to bounce to get some sleep before the wedding the next day.
As promised, here's a shout-out for the sex workers of Philadelphia: There is a turning point occurring in the city where local sex workers are finally gaining some rights against the clubs and establishments that often exploit them. Not many people know that performers actually have to pay a venue to perform there, and then pay a cut of their tips as well. But in Philly right now, there are lawsuits that are enabling these workers to sort of "unionize" so that they may not be taken advantage of. Oh, and for those of you more prudish readers, the term "sex worker" refers to anyone working in the sex industry (e.g. strippers, burlesque dancers, dominatrixes), not just prostitutes.
DAY 3:
I somehow heard about an art show featuring trans and non-binary artists, so I checked that out early afternoon at the Tattooed Mom. Tattooed Mom is kind of a biker bar with multiple rooms, really cool postered walls, and old bumper cars as extra seating. I chatted with the curator of the art show, who said that artists were pulled from all over the East Coast. It was small, but neat. I had a really good breakfast sandwich there. In fact, I generally had really good food in Philly.
After the art show, I walked down to the Italian Market and was inundated with yummy-looking meats, cheeses, and gelati.
Finally, I got all dressed up for the wedding of my good friend, Mr. Andrew, and his (now) Mrs. Andrew at the Down Town Club, right across from Independence Hall. It was wonderful! The food, the band, the view, the love... considering all of the television people in attendance, I can say that it was a very beautiful production. I immediately passed out when I got back to my Airbnb.
DAY 4:
Day 4 was Easter and who better to spend it with than my favorite Jew, the stunning Miss Elena? She drove in from the Philly suburbs to have lunch with me at Green Eggs Cafe, a spot known for its huge, curious-looking pancakes. Neither of us ordered the pancakes, but the food was great nonetheless.
After Elena had to peace out, I spent the rest of the day exploring by foot some more. First stop was a queer bookstore that I stumbled upon called, Giovanni's Room. They have lots of used books, records, clothes, magazines, and doo-dads.
Next, I walked over to the Magic Gardens. For those of you who don't know, the Magic Gardens is an outdoor sort of sculpture garden presenting the work of Isaiah Zagar. I have to say though, the people of Magic Gardens are kind of jerks. I arrived not knowing what to expect and was informed that tickets are sold for scheduled time slots. Fine. Only after assuring that I wanted to buy a ticket (for an hour later), they let me into the building to purchase the said ticket. After buying the ticket, I kind of perused the "gift shop," but was chased down by an employee saying that my ticket was for 4:30, so I had to leave until then. Okay, weird, so I left and killed the time in a park nearby. When I returned slightly before 4:30, I asked if I could use the restroom before getting into the 4:30 line. They said no, I had to wait until 4:30. I told them that they are taking their jobs way too seriously. Like, just let me in already, WTF! Anyway, the Gestapo eventually let me in. It was very crowded and everywhere I looked were duck faces and selfie pouts. I wonder if anyone actually took in the detailed knick-knacks. End of surly rant. There was also an exhibit for the work of Russell Craig, which was kind of cool.
Later, I walked to City Hall and through Chinatown to Terakawa Ramen for dinner, as recommended by the exquisite Miss Tanaya. I was not disappointed. I hopped on my feet again to trek over to Franklin Square, Elfreth's Alley (the oldest street in Philadelphia), and Race Street Pier (jutting out under the Ben Franklin Bridge).
Not a bad way to celebrate Jesus' resurrection/April Fool's Day (ha!).
DAY 5:
For the last day of my trip, I had planned to go to the U.S.S. New Jersey battleship, but I was starting to feel a cold coming on, and the weather was less than ideal, so I scrapped that idea. So I did some more epic walking in the cold instead.
I had lunch at a queer-ish cafe called Toast. I say "queer-ish" solely based on the clientele I saw in there. Kind of queer. Then, I walked through Reading Terminal Market, where I spotted these delectable-looking doughnuts. I didn't try one though because I had just eaten and I didn't feel like waiting in an astronomical line of people.
From there, I ended up walking across the Ben Franklin Bridge to the Jersey side of the Delaware River, which proved to be very cold and anticlimactic. I guess I should've known. It's Jersey, after all.
Next, I intended to check out the Independence Beer Garden, but it was closed, probably because it was too cold to be beer garden'ing outside. It looked hip though. I managed to get a beer at DiBruno Bros Bottle Shop instead. After that, I went into Time, a whisky bar with live jazz that overwhelmed me with their selection of Old Fashioned's. Another good "meal" in Philly.
Finally... a ghost tour! Those of you who somewhat follow this blog know that I'm a history buff, but also that I love me a good ghost tour. So I would be remiss if I didn't partake in a ghost tour in the most haunted city in America! I originally wanted to take the "Ghosts, Sex, and Vampires" tour with Grim Philly Twilight Tours, but it's only seasonal and on weekends right now, so I missed my chance. Instead, I went with Ghost Tours of Philadelphia and it was... okay. There were a lot of children on the tour, and serious ghost tours are no place for children. I was a bit disappointed because the first time I was in Philadelphia many years ago, I went on an awesome tour with what I think was Spirits of '76 Ghost Tour of Philadelphia. Side note: Is it a requirement of ghost tours to have really primitive 90's-style websites?
After my mediocre ghost tour, I sought solace in a gay bar, but alas, it was a Monday, so when I scoped out both Woody's and Stir Lounge, they were pretty dead. Oh well. Hopefully, I'll be back someday to have a completely unexpected legendary night at these establishments too. You just never know.
All in all, I had a fantastic time in Philadelphia. I'm glad I heeded Andrew's charge and gave this city the chance to impress me. And impress me it did.
Onward,
Chris