Things to do in Philly

 When I think of Philadelphia there's two things that immediately come to mind,the Phillies and cheesesteaks so when I learned we were going to Philadelphia(for me it was vacaction, for my girlfriend it was for work)I knew I had to go to a ballgame and conduct my own cheesesteak poll. Now those two things were great but there is so much more to do including the "Rocky steps" which as a runner was another must do for me.

If you're a history buff Philadelphia is a great place to go. You've got the Delcaration of Independence center,the Liberty bell,, Benjamin Franklin's workplace,the site of where he lived(they tore down the house)and the oldest Masonic Temple in the United States(both Franklin and George Washington were Masons). I got some great pictures of the Liberty Bell. There's also a few cool exhibit which showcases a picture of the Dhali Lama giving a peace sign in front of the Liberty bell and Nelson Mandela in front of the bell as well. The tour of the Masonic Temple was the definitely the coolest of all of these attractions though. They give you an hour and a half tour of the Temple which allows you to view 5 differently themed rooms which are used for ceremonies. All of the rooms in the temple contain flaws which is the Masons way of saying that all men are flawed and only God can creat perfection. You don't learn any mindblowing secrets or anything but you do get the sense that the Masons are very giving people who believe in doing good for society. It is interesting to note that they have the portraits of all of the grandmasters of the temple on the wall and every single one of them was a white male(it is a fraternal society, so male is implied.

Another thing you must do is go to the Reading Terminal Market. This place is jamming with people. It's a tremendous indoor Farmer's Market with tons of restaurants as well. I had myself an apple walnut crepe while my girlfriend ate nextdoor and had the soulfood at Delilah's. THere's also a pretty good ice cream shop there as well. THe most impressive part for me was all of the great baked goods being sold by the Amish people. These people can flat out bake their puritanical butts off.

We also went to the Italian market on 9th street. We got some great bitter cheese at one of the deli's. There's also a donut shop and a chocolate shop along the walk. The produce vendors though had a ton of fresh vegetables at very good prices. This was  a very lively atmosphere but don't let the name fool you. This is a very ethnically diverse marketplace with a good mixture of black and asain and Italian businesspeople.

A great way to see all of tourist attractions without spending 30$ on a bus is to get a day pass on the Phlash. The Phlash runs on a loop of 21 tourist attractions and you can get off at any of the spots and catch another one anytime you wish. They run every twelve minutes so if you want to get off snap a few pics and catch the Phlash it's very easy and conveneint to do. Along the loop you can see the Museum of Art(aka the "Rocky Steps"),the Philadelphia Zoo,the Declaration of Independence Center,the Liberty Bell,get off a few blocks from Chinatown,get off near trendy Rittenhouse square, go shopping at The Gallery(an indoor mall) or go to the VIsistor center which is a great place to book tours.

Ok, onto the cheesesteak test. While watching the food network I learned of 3 very popular cheesesteak places in Philadelphia, Tony Luke's,Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's. So going in I knew I had to check out all 3 of those place's. While in Philadelphia I also learned of two more hot spots, Steaks on South and Jim's. My girlfriend and I used those 5 cheesesteak restaurants to conduct two person test. THe only place we didn't like was Tony Luke's because we found the thin beef slices were just too soggy. My personal favorite was Pat's King of Steaks, I got mine without onions,with cheese wiz and pizza sauce. What a revelation this was!!! Mariaelena like Geno's the best, they were good but I wasn't wowed. The overall winner though is Steaks's on South. THey were great, my 2nd favorite steak as well as Mariaelena's. She wasn't wowed by Pat's either so Steaks on South gets the nod. I love onions but she doesn't so for the sake of fairness we shared a cheesesteak without onions with wiz. We got it right after we ate dinner so we took it back to the rental house and heated it up a fe whours later. I baked it in the oven for about 20 minutes and doing it quizno style really did the trick. So if you're going to Philadelphia check out Steaks on South, you won't be disappointed.

As you can tell by the picture I did the "Rocky Steps". I'm a runner so I was thrilled about the idea of doing this. IT looked so arduous in the film and is such an iconic moment I just had to replicate it for myselft. Truth be told, it's not nearly as intimidating as it looks. I did it with relative ease and as a matter of fact I did it again just moments after the first run. It wasn't as big of a deal as I had thought it would be but I'm glad I did it and I love my pictures of "the Rock".

In the middle of the week I also went to a Philadelphia Phillies game. I'm a big baseball fan so I'll watch any two pro teams regardless of whether or not I am a fan of that team. The park is relatively new and is absolutely gorgeous. THey have a beautiful clock in the park, a nice big screen with fun videos on it before the game and the park is small and intimate without a bad seat in the house. Also, and this is a huge plus the food although not great is very reasonably priced and the concession stands are effeciently run. You can grab a decent bite and do it for a fair price and do it hassle free.

So that was Philly. Great historical sites,convenient buses for the tourists, really fun food shopping, great ballpark and outstanding cheesesteaks. ANd one last thing, don't forget to check out the BFI, the Ben Franklin Institute with the Galilelo display,the IMAX theatre and the science exhibits.