That's Philadelphia!!!

I've had a pretty good day... here is what I did.


(This blog has very little to do with the Phillies, but it has a lot to do with Philadelphia... So please continue reading and find out why I'm so happy today!


I flew up from Atlanta yesterday morning to look at a house that my wife really liked. We both live in the ATL, where the fans are, shall we say, less rabid than the Philly faithful. Regardless, we're both Philadelphia natives (she from Radnor and I from Warminster) and are moving back home in June.


The last weekend she spent a few days with a realtor looking at houses in the city. And to make a long story short, she found one she likes. So, with her back at work, I figured I would take a few days off and come up to check out the place, and if I liked it as much as she did, then we'd make a bid... so we did.


Our big reason for moving home is the fact that our family is here. Family is important... but it is also because we missed Philadelphia. And after looking at the house yesterday and seeing the potential there, I spent today really taking in the city...


In addition to looking for a house, I too must look for work. I do have a backup plan set up and can do some web consulting work for a few months, but I really have a passion for US History. (see my website http://USHistorySite.com) I've been a teacher for 2 years, but I was previously a web designer and worked in a corporate environment.... and I want to find a job that allows me to teach and be around education while at the same time have the adult interaction and team environment you'd find in corporate America... the solution... work at the Constitution Center. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one... I'd love to work in Old City.


Through my network of friends I've found an in at the Constitution Center and I spoke with that 'in' today. After speaking with him I really took in the sights and sounds of Philadelphia... something I truly missed.


I must have spent ten minutes standing between 5th and 6th on Market street with a huge smile on my face staring at Independence Hall. I watched the archaeologists dig where the President's House used to be... I listened in on a few tours... I talked to a woman in Colonial garb about the Presidents house and informed her that there was never actually a picture of the house taken and the only sketches they have of it were from memory... so they don't really know what it looked like. Additionally, the city of Philadelphia hastily built a bathroom at that spot in the 1950s when they were revamping Independence Mall. (this is all knowledge I gained while interning at the Independence National Park, which is actually different from The Constitution Center, but they sometimes work together. You can see the work I did there... here... It's a webquest I helped design.)


With a huge smile on my face, I look left at the Wachovia building at 5th and Market... That's where my dad worked for 37 years. He worked for one company... though it had many different names... Philadelphia National Bank (PNB), CoreStates, First Union and finally, Wachovia.


I head passed the liberty bell in front of Independence Hall and a smile while truly appreciating the debate and deliberation that took place in that building... I double back passed the horse and carriage pickup, and I jay walk (ssshhh!) right towards the Bourse. I stop to see the Rocky display they have in the display outside... and then I head straight to Bain's Deli and order a corned beef special. The girl behind the counter asks me if I want rye bread. Of course I want rye-bread.. and pickles on the side. The sandwich was excellent... I was trying to engulf myself in the Philadelphia culture that I missed.. the culture I will soon have when my wife and I are living in our new neighborhood... University Hospital/Rittenhouse.... We can't wait...



...then the girl who rings me up, is a nice looking jewish girl (my father's jewish, which makes me half jewish... we celebrated al the holidays, and I feel we're evolved enough to be able to call a girl jewish by the way she looks without having to hear about it... right?) So the jewish girl behind the counter, who had super long fingernails and a big nose...which i enjoy by the way, I have a thing for noses... though my wife doesn't have a big nose... anyway.. then the girl behind the counter calls me 'hon'... Yes! You don't get that in Atlanta...


That's Philadelphia!!! Ordering a Corned Beef Special from a jewish girl with long fingernails who just called you "Hon"... 100 yards away from the spot where Thomas Jefferson and Company wrote the most important document in our Nation's history.... That's Philadelphia!


I even drove home via Broad Street so that I could see Temple. That's Philadelphia!


I stopped in to see my grandmother in Jenkintown...and then it was home to Warminster! That's Philadelphia!


Then the Phillies win... but the radio callers are still complaining (as they should)... That's Philadelphia.


Then I listen to 610 and I hear Eskin busting Elmer Fudd's chops. That's Philadelphia!


I come home sit down at my old stomping grounds...my dad shows me his new tools down in the basement... That's Philadelphia!


But tomorrow, I must wake up early, catch a train to head to the airport and go back home to Atlanta... but I'll be home soon... because I love this city.


That's Philadelphia!

Also, today on the radio I heard a guy who wanted to start a countdown to Eagles training camp in Lehigh because the Phillies, Flyers and Sixers are all pathetic! That's a good idea..i'm going to add that to my Eagles Blog, The Eagles Chronicles....

That's Philadelphia.