Train Tripping

 Steve and I had not gone into Philadelphia for quite awhile.

First there was all the 250th celebration stuff.

Then there was the MLB All-Star Game,

added with the extreme heat and the humidity.

With it feeling a little cooler and a whole lot less crowded,

we went into Center City on Monday.

Get a beverage . . . this post is photo heavy.

Center City (Cuthbert St.)

The name of this sculpture is ContraFuerte.

It is in an off-the-beaten path alleyway. There are homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks,
delivery people making deliveries, and dumpsters doing what dumpsters in August do so well,
smelling AWFUL.
If you'd like to read more about this sculpture (and you should), check out this link.
ContraFuerte

Chinatown

Chinatown and "Ben" welcome King James (James LeBron).
Philly is pretty excited for the 76er's next season.

Parking lot dragons in Chinatown.

Next it was off to Olde City.

Station 4 --- keeping Olde City Safe

Next to the fire station is Girard Fountain Park.
There you will find a Benjamin Franklin sculpture covered in (what else?)
KEYS.

Girard Fountain Park also honors firefighters past and present.

One of my favorite fountains can be found outside the Betsy Ross House

We had lunch in Olde City at a place that makes THE BEST shakshuka.

Then it was heading back to Center City via Independence Mall.

There are these automated delivery "vehicles" cruising through the city.
These boys were trying to stop it from running the red light
(which it wasn't going to do), but they were having a blast explaining the LAW!
The robot just blinked and went on its way 
once the light was green.

 

Independence Hall

The past and the present

The bulliest of the Broad Street Bullies ---- Bobby Clarke
featured on a temporary mural that was put up for the 250th celebrations.

Liberty One  --- Center City

I love the juxtaposition of the old against the new(ish)

Heading down 12th to grab a coffee.
Philadelphia has so many great murals. This is one of my favorites.

At last --- Cypress Garden Coffee in the Gayborhood.
It is so teeny tiny small.
We almost had to drink our coffees outside.
We managed to get a table in a very tight corner,
It was worth it ....the coffee was wonderful and our seat "mates"
were all studying.
A great blend of good coffee and quiet time.
A book was read (Steve) and a sock was knit (me).

By that time we had walked over 5 miles and still had about 1/2 mile to go. We were ready to head back to the train ahead of the leaving work crowd.

Mural inside Jefferson Station

Jefferson Station mural continued.

If you stuck around for the whole photo montage, I thank you and hope you enjoyed seeing some of the things we love about Philadelphia. Philadelphia makes the news for a bunch of bad things sometimes, but truly it is so much more good than bad. You should come visit sometime.