City Hall
In the summer of my 19th year a series of lightning strikes from a passing thunderstorm triggered electrical mishaps that resulted in the New York City Blackout of 1977. Although the lootings made the front page of the local newspapers my Bronx neighborhood responded by hosting a huge unofficial street party. Temperatures inside the tenement apartments on that July night made them uninhabitable so we all took to the streets. My travels this past weekend transcended time as I was brought back to that steamy July night only it was daytime in Philadelphia and the temperature on the asphalt as we pounded the pavement was 111 degrees.
Not in my neighborhood!
(Credit to Tyrone Dukes/NY Times)
It seems fitting that we shared this experience with fellow ex-Bronxites, Reno & Donna Righetti. Reno was Don’s mentor when he first landed on the aircraft carrier which became his home for almost 3 years. A rendezvous in Philly allowed us to reconnect with the Righettis and gave Reno the opportunity to visit the John F. Kennedy. Reno had not seen the ship since his discharge from the Navy which ironically occurred in the Philadelphia Naval Base. The JFK is in dry dock at the Navy Yard.
The friends that schvitz together. . .
Philly street scene that reminded us of our youth in the Bronx. (You had to be there. Bronx homies will totally get this.)
Our hotel was located in the central city area right across from the Convention Center. We laughed as we imagined what the room rates must have been during the Democratic Convention. We decided to take the hike early in the day down to the historic district and try to obtain tickets for the Independence Hall complex. The already sweltering heat had us soaked in sweat by the time we arrived and the air conditioned Visitors Center was a welcome relief. I guess the heat advisory was keeping less intrepid (less stupid?) folks indoors because we were able to gain tickets for immediate access. Imagine our surprise to discover that these buildings from the 1700s also had air conditioned interiors! This building was where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and adopted. It is currently undergoing some roof renovations. The interiors have been furnished with all period authentic furniture and restoration is detail specific down to the actual paint colors. The tour guide we had did an amazing job setting the scene for what it was like to be here during this pivotal time in America’s history. His main point was posed as a question to us: Does government protect or limit our rights? He debated both sides of the argument by illustrating both the British and Colonist point of views. A thought provoking discussion made particularly poignant during an election year.
Imagine wearing wool and sitting in here without a/c arguing about independence.
Senate Chamber
Roof restoration
Upon completion of our tour of the complex we crossed the street to head over to the Liberty Bell. The wait on the street was made slightly more tolerable by the placement of a misting fan. This kept us from dying before getting into the air conditioned building.
The headquarters for the Duck tours was parked outside of the Liberty Bell. A duck tour takes you in an amphibious vehicle that cruises both the streets and river giving you a unique overview of the city. The good things were we were out of the sun, there was a slight breeze on the river and we didn’t have to walk in the heat anymore. The bad thing was there was no air conditioning. The best thing was this guy:
Juan
Juan was our hilariously flamboyant duck tour guide. He had us singing and dancing our way through the sights of Philadelphia. While he complained non-stop about the heat punctuating his displeasure with the clever use of a hand held spritzing fan his antics distracted us from just how hot we were.
On the duck
Damian & Don did not sing nor dance so I had to represent extra.
These were some of the highlights on the duck:
And then there’s this chick:
Crazy Italian tourist who spent the entire tour taking selfies on the bus while missing things like this great wall mural.
When we disembarked from the duck we had to make the trek through the streets back to our hotel since we decided we all needed showers and a rest (& a cocktail). Don plotted us a course that took advantage of walking through buildings that were air conditioned until we were able to reach the Reading Terminal Market. This amazing marketplace occupies the former Reading train shed and developed when the city closed down it’s public open air markets in 1859 due to complaints about traffic congestion and sanitation issues. The market has been featured in major motion pictures and several food related TV shows. I could spend an entire day there. The food purveyors included such well knowns as: DiNic’s Beef & Pork, The Original Turkey, Bassett’s Ice Cream & Termini Bros. Bakery. The most amazing sight I witnessed was the line for Beiler’s Donuts. This Pennsylvania Dutch run operation had a line that extended so far back I had to ask someone what exactly they were standing in line for because I couldn’t see the front. The still warm, freshly baked donuts and fritters are purported to be the best in Philly. I wouldn’t know because I was not about to stand in that line. When I made my way to the counter to see what the fuss was about I decided that I would need to wait that long just to decide what I wanted as the choices seemed infinite.
We returned to our hotel and after wringing out our clothes, showering and changing it was on to dinner. Ralph’s Italian Restaurant has research backing the claim that it is the oldest Italian restaurant in America. This place is still owned and operated by the original family who opened the doors in 1900. It is now housed in an old brownstone that has been it’s location since 1915 with the original subway-tile floors. They have hosted an enormous amount of celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Taylor Swift. We enjoyed an old school Italian menu although my husband’s sauce is still better and he doesn’t overcook the spaghetti. Despite the small flaws we were stuffed after espresso with sambuca and dessert.
You can take the ‘gavones’ out of the Bronx . . .
Sunday morning was a refreshing change since it was only supposed to feel like 105 degrees. The fact is that it felt like 155 dgrees while we were standing on the pier at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. My son Eric says that his father has more pictures of himself with the Kennedy than he does with me. This is sadly, not an exaggeration. It was nice to be able to experience Reno’s reunion. It turns out that Donna was in Spain in the 1970s and was given a tour of an aircraft carrier that happened to be in port by one of the American sailors. Through logical deduction, we discovered that it had to have been The JFK. In the 1980s she would meet and then marry Reno who had left the Mediterranean cruise when his enlistment period had ended. Don was on the ship at the time Donna was taking her tour. It is indeed a small world.
We said our goodbyes as Donna & Reno headed off to Atlantic City. Don & I had to return to work Monday and needed to attend to the life we so enjoy escaping when we travel. The only possible ways we could have enjoyed ourselves more would have been if the temperature was in the 70s and we had taken this tour instead of the duck: (WARNING!! ADULT ONLY CONTENT FROM ONE OF MY FAVORITE TV SHOWS: IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA. IF YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THIS SHOW YOU SHOULD WATCH IT.)
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