Philly: Part 2

Second Stop: Pat’s Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Apparently, the first Philly cheese steak sandwich was made (invented and originated) at Pat’s King of Steaks. Family owned and operated since 1930, they compete against across the street rebel Geno’s Steaks (1966). Use your best judgement and try a sandwich from any local restaurant.

We were told by a community assistant (like community trust officers, but not officers) to avoid the food stand versions because they aren’t as awesome. “You can’t really go wrong,” according to the lady we spoke to.

At the end of the strip of stores, resided Pat’s on the corner (literally, the corner lot. Special Assessments must be real expensive with 3 streets boarding the property!). We ordered the cheese Philly, ‘wit onions’ and ‘wit out’ cheese wiz (sub for provolone instead). The order was up in less than 30 seconds and we sat outside to eat it. It was just like a regular sandwich and didn’t blow either of our minds. Aw man….they got us good. Kinda a bust.

We were going to try the competing Geno’s, but decided that we could find another yummy. We can make these at home no problem.

Walking back towards the car, I saw the largest mocha coffee pot EVER! To the point where I thought it would be a great idea to go inside and ask the ‘nicer’ looking coffee barista where the best food is located. We ordered a coffee and the guy behind the counter shared that there isn’t really any good food in Philly, except for the Mexican food. Lol. What??

He said that there is a restaurant that is only open 3 days a week and has the BEST homemade corn tortillas with their 3-day slow roasted meat, all made into mouth-watering tacos in the owner’s personally-made clay oven. I guess we will have to come back?!

Taking our coffee on a stroll, we dodged across a street that had a car looking like it was going to run the stop sign. I had to hop/bound the remaining way to clear the vehicle. I happened to spill some coffee on my tennis shoe during the process.

Chad, oh clever Chad, mentioned, “don’t worry about that stain on your shoe, Katie. You only have to worry about keeping me happy!”

😊 To that, I responded, “annnnnd to write down what we do each day! Your happiness and the blog are very important.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the new and old buildings, checking out City Hall and investigating the entrance to a subway system. I have never seen one in person and I wanted to check it out.

“Katie, don’t your feet hurt? … Yeah, we should start heading back to the car….”

Not a fat chance! We walked down the steps into the subway entrance and back through and up to the other side from where we came from. I should have guessed that I would have to purchase a ticket before I could see the trains…. Maybe in New York I can see a subway!

Oh! I also was able to try a Philly-style pretzel that is box shaped for $.85 from the Pretzel Factory!

The last item for the day in Philly was to buzz through the National Constitution Center because Chad remembered seeing kidney stones on display when he was there last time. Without having to go through the ticketed part of the museum, we ducked into a little section of artifacts.

No more than a minute inside this little room, a man approached us and I thought he was going to kick us out for not having a ticket for this exhibit. In fact, he wanted to share with us about a new exhibit they are opening up on May 9 to explain the different Amendments for the United States. Sadly, we were only planning on being in Philly for the day and he found this disheartening. So, he offered to take us on a private behind-the-scenes tour of the exhibit while it was still being worked on!

But first, the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The guy, later discovered to be called NAME HERE, explained in detail the famous duel and how crazy of a time it was back then to have major dueling laws changed as well as how to properly review court cases with the new proceedings.

NAME HERE then lapsed into discussion on artifacts of quill pens, notes, paper, stop watches, and personal notes that have been preserved to this day. His passion for history is absolutely contagious. Chad and I hung on his every word and asked questions often.

He then took us into the secret exhibit and there we saw the crew still working on the finishing touches of the permanent display. They were even still placing artifacts into their cases and finalizing the graphics on the walls! (an old ink quill and pot used by former slave Frederick Douglass used to write a letter his previous master rolled by us on a cart and was installed into its exhibit right in front of us.)

We talked about the history of the amendments, especially the 14^th, to describe how without the 14^th Amendment, none of the previous amendments really had any power. He then explained that he spent 10 years as a lawyer studying legislative work and had practiced in Minnesota and Chicago.

Now currently working with his favorite law professor, who happens to run the National Constitution Center, he is basically #2 and helps facilitate the exhibits and events. He loveds the ‘nerdy’ details of history and sharing it with others.

We spent over an hour and half with him going over the history of the exhibit and eventually parted ways. Thank you so much for your history lesson, the special guided tour and your tie! Wow. We live in a country with so much new, rich history.

Car packed and ready, we hit the road out to New Jersey!

In the middle of New Jersey somewhere, we pulled off into a little town called Chester because of the old houses-turned-restaurants. The fog was coming in and it seemed like the right mood for ice cream. 😊 But first, an Italian shop. We tried their Eggplant Supreme (mozzarella cheese, basil, balsamic vinegar on toasted bread) and their Mouth of Fire (spicy capicola, spicy sopressata, hot peppers, lettuce, tomato, oil and vinegar on regular bread). The eggplant sandwich was REALLY yummy!

Down the street was the ice cream parlor and we tried their banana split with their homemade ice cream. Three flavors included pistachio, Oreo mint and caramel vanilla with sprinkled oreos and hot caramel on top. Also, quite delicious.

I ended the night with a stomach ache…..(I should have known better, I always get sick with sugar….) and Chad said he feels better when he has a salad. He can handle these foods better than I can.

Only an hour out of Manhattan, New York, we situated ourselves pretty good to make it into the city in the morning to then start our adventures in the Big Apple. Chad recommended knocking out the blog for today to make sure we have enough time for adventures in New York tomorrow.

What a late night! It’s slightly raining out, Chad’s feet STINK from his hiking boots and has taken precautions to relieve the car of the stench (isopropyl alcohol spray/drenched boots now residing in the trunk). Rest well! Stink less!