We took a short hop over to Philadelphia this past weekend – in this case, “short” in both time and distance. Philly is only about a 100-minute drive from our home, and we only went for two nights. Ordinarily we would have spent more time there since the kids are on Spring Break. But our oldest plays for her high school softball team – and the team practices and plays games over Spring Break, so……
It was my second trip to Philly. My wife and I visited there about 20 years ago, pre-daughters, when we were living in New York City. My main memories of that first trip were as follows:
- We didn’t get a chance to see the iconic Liberty Bell because of the heavy, post-9/11 security that slowed the queues to an interminable crawl. We opted to skip it, which was kind of a bummer. If you’re unfamiliar with the Liberty Bell, it was an important symbol of America’s fight for independence back in the late 1700s. Here, read this.
- We did get a chance to eat an iconic Philly cheesesteak from either Pat’s or Geno’s, I can’t remember which. Both joints have been around for decades, and you can read about them here. If you’re unfamiliar with the Philly cheesesteak, it’s basically thinly sliced beef, cheese and grilled onions on a hoagie roll. I had eaten plenty of them before visiting Philly, and loved ‘em. Ironically, I did not love the original Philly version because unlike the others I ate, it’s doused in Cheez Whiz — that liquidy, gloppy, orangey/yellow pseudo-food you squeeze out of a can. Nicht mehr, danke…
Well, here’s the good news, friends: We did get to see the Liberty Bell on this latest trip! Waltzed right through security before the lines got too long and saw it up close and personal, along with some interesting exhibits. Yay us!
ALSO:
We did not eat any Iconic Philly Cheesesteaks! Yay us! We did eat some other kinda crappy food. But none of it included Cheez F******g Whiz.
*****
After two short trips to Philadelphia, I still don’t know a whole lot about Philadelphia. It has not made a huge impression on me – which is weird, considering that Philly is one of those famous American cities known for a bunch of different things.
Historically speaking, Philly is one of the two most important American cities (along with Boston) because of the role it played in the formation of our nation. Philadelphia is where the Declaration of Independence was signed. It’s the heartbeat of the American Revolution.
Philly is the hometown of Rocky Balboa, that tough and beloved cinematic boxer who kept getting up up up every time he got knocked down down down. Go anywhere in Philly, and you see references to Rocky. Yo Adriannnnnnnnnn!!!!!!
Philly is home to famously unhinged sports fans who regularly boo their own players. They even booed Santa Claus at one legendary Eagles game before pelting the obese, jolly, bearded one with snowballs.
Philly was the center of the 1970s soul music scene – one of my favorite music scenes ever – thanks to songwriters and producers like Thom Bell, Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble, as well as artists like the Spinners, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, the Stylistics, the Delfonics, Lou Rawls and Patti Labelle.
Philly is an education capital that is home to many fine universities. It’s the City of Brotherly Love. It has a vibrant street arts scene.
So yeah, Philly has earned its stripes as a distinctive American city.
It just hasn’t made a huge impression on me personally. The problem is not necessarily Philly and not necessarily me (I don’t think). Philly has captured the hearts of many visitors, I’m sure. And I’ve had short visits to plenty of other cities that made a huge impression on me, ranging from Edinburgh, Vienna, Panama City and Amsterdam to Seattle and New Orleans.
Not much about Philadelphia really stands out for me. I can’t give you much feedback on a single neighborhood outside of the historic district (where we stayed over the weekend in a fantabulous Airbnb) – but that’s only because it’s where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are located. Independence Hall is where the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, hence the name.
The neighborhood we stayed in did have some nice parks and green spaces, which is always a treat in a big city. But there’s nothing much else about it that really stirred the blood. We ate some very mediocre sushi at one neighborhood restaurant, and some very mediocre steak and salmon salad at another. Oh, and there’s a Wawa (google it).
We did hit Rittenhouse Square, a pretty cool neighborhood not far from our Airbnb with lots of restaurants and shops. We visited it on a Sunday, when they closed the streets off to give it a really nice urban vibe. We ate a great meal at an Italian restaurant called Pietro’s – topnotch pizza, pasta, bread and meatballs.
*****
You know what really made the deepest impression on me while visiting Philadelphia? The many and varied odes to the United States in the form of historical landmarks, public art, museums, statues, etc.
You really get a sense of this country’s history – good and bad – walking around Philadelphia. It’s all right there in front of your eyes:
— The early European settlers who came from across the Atlantic to escape the royal tyranny back home, and their struggle to become an independent nation.
— The uneasy relationship between the European settlers and America’s indigenous people, which eventually led to a form of genocide that saw millions of indigenous people die through war or disease, or be displaced to lands far west.
— The struggle over slavery, which robbed the independence of millions of Africans shipped over against their will. Philly was home to both slave owners and slavery abolitionists.
Above all, Philadelphia is a symbol of the idea of America, if not the reality of America. You look at the landmarks and can’t help but be moved by so many monuments to liberty and freedom — even though they came with a huge asterisk if you didn’t happen to be white, male and Christian.
But then, in the back of your mind, you realize where America is right now, this very second, with a president who is every bit as tyrannical as the British king that America’s founding fathers rebelled against.
The current president would love nothing more than to be named King for Life – you can believe that. He has no interest in personal liberty. He has no interest in the rule of law, or in due process, or in democracy. He only has interest in feeding his massive ego.
I have no doubt in my mind that if the current president gets his way, he will do away with free elections altogether and install autocratic rule, with him at the helm, and his lackeys punishing anyone who dares challenge his authority. In fact, it’s already happening. America is moving steadily toward fascism, and don’t think for a second that the rest of the world isn’t noticing.
But here’s the thing:
The current president won’t succeed. He’ll fall short of the mark — but only because he’s a weak, pathetic old fool who might have the desire to be an emperor, but lacks the intelligence and focus to pull it off. And he doesn’t have enough smart people hovering around to fill in the gaps.
That’s America’s one saving grace right now: Our president is morally corrupt enough to want absolute power. But he’s too lazy and stupid to pull it off.
That’s not exactly the winning hand our founding fathers banked on back in the early days, back in old, revolutionary Philadelphia. But for now, it’s the best hand we have.
Images: Family photos.
Vance Cariaga 