Official residents
We're now official residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I'll do my best to not start driving like a Pennsey.
May 24, 2006
May 22, 2006
Breakfast
So far, most of the restaurants Mike and I have tried have been merely OK. Neither of us have had a meal that stands out as remarkable. It's a little disappointing since we have become something of foodies in the past couple of years, and we unrealistically expected to find a bunch of great restaurants right away. Columbus was nice because there were lots of restaurants that offered real quality at reasonable prices--Betty's and the Northstar Cafe come to mind. Things here have so far been more expensive than we expected with not the same quality that we're accustomed to.
To be fair, we certainly haven't ventured far from the Art Museum neighborhood, we haven't come close to fully exploring even that area, and we have been cooking at home a lot as well. Additionally, I believe the situation will improve once I obtain gainful employment (which seems imminent, in fact). Once I'm getting a paycheck, I won't feel guilty about going out for more expensive dinners.
Despite the lack of good dinner joints so far,we found a nice place for brunch. Up until yesterday, the only place we'd gone for breakfast is Mugshots coffee shop a couple of blocks away, and all we've really gotten there is boring bagels with cream cheese. (By the way, we haven't found an awesome bagel place yet, and I'm obsessed with bagels. I thought we'd be swimming in awesome bagel places around here.)
Anyway, we trekked over to Northern Liberties--a neighborhood we realized is much closer to us than we thought--and waited outside of Honey's Sit 'n' Eat for an hour plus. The meal--and the ambience--turned out to be worth the wait. We enjoyed good coffee, good grub, and friendly conversation with a couple of dudes at an adjacent table, which was placed ridiculously close to ours. The menu stated that Honey's gets their eggs, meats, and produce, when possible, from nearby farms in or near Lancaster, PA. Local food is always a good thing--the bite of thick-cut bacon that I stole from Mike's plate sure was yummy.
The wait was pretty ridiculous--I mean, that could be a serious problem on weekend mornings when you've got to eat, and pronto. So, the search continues for a breakfast joint that isn't so trendy. Still, it's good to know where to go for a proper meal in a pinch.
May 21, 2006
Geno's
Well, it took us far too long, but we finally made it down to South Philly to sample some yummy cheesesteaks. And cheese fries, too. There was a Cheez Whiz puddle in the bottom of that cup of fries, which, for me, elicited both a YUM! and an EEW!
We happened upon Pat's and Geno's while biking through South Philly, and decided to give Geno's a go. Pat's is up next, so keep an eye out for Mike's and my verdict on which one is better.
We opted to split a cheesesteak with provolone and onions and an order of cheese fries so as not to completely O.D. on grease. I almost wish we had gotten Cheese Whiz instead of the provolone--somehow I feel it would have been more authentic with the Whiz. Next time I'll know to go with my gut instinct, no matter how much my gut might later regret it. Come to think of it, I didn't feel too great after eating that thing.
May 17, 2006
photos
I'm trying to get back in the habit of carrying my camera around with me everywhere since there are actually new & different things to see everywhere. Keep an eye on my Flickr photos tagged "philadelphia" to see if I'm actually following through with it.
May 16, 2006
welcome to philadelphia
I'm not even sure how long ago it was at this point, maybe a year, maybe eighteen months, but Katie and I had been planning to move for a LONG time. She's from South Jersey, I'm from Cleveland, and we'd both spent far too much time in Columbus, Ohio (6 years for me, 3 for her). And so, on May 1, we became residents of Philadephia, PA. Given the fact that I don't know squat about the city (and what this world really needs is one more blog), I decided to start this page up & document our (mis)adventures in the city of brotherly love.
What have we learned in our first two weeks? Well, first thing is that Verizon will try to be helpful & ship out your DSL equipment the week before you've moved. The second realization, following directly from the first, is that Katie & I are both really dependent on the internet. Damn. Other things of note:
- Philly soft pretzels may be good, but Philly soft pretzels fresh from the factory after a midnight bike ride from the Art Museum are FUCKING AWESOME.
- Mugshots is the place to go for coffee. I'm still not sure about the bagels, though.
- IKEA has everything you could ever possibly want. There are none of these in Ohio (the closest was in Pittsburgh, and I'm not about to go to Pittsburgh), and I never before realized what 300,000+ square feet of store could do to my life.
- I'm not sure if you've heard of this "Ben Franklin" guy, but he seems to have made an impression around here.
What's next? Who knows? Still need to meet some people & find a good place for drinks -- there's a bar a building over from us, but we went in there once & the music selections were.. less than good. Need to get a cheesesteak (Pat's? Geno's?). Need to run up the steps & strike a Rocky pose. Need to check out the Art Museum & Franklin Institute. Basically, just need to keep exploring.