Despite living forty-five minutes from Philly, I’m not a Philly person. In a battle of Philly v New York, New York wins hands down every time for me. Every. Single. Time. In fact, it wins so much, that until a few years ago, Philly was practically nonexistent to me.
I knew I was being a little too hard on Philly when my friend, Amy, would tell me of places she’d go in Philly and my immediate reaction was to wrinkle my nose or feign puking.
It was a problem that needed to be sorted.
You might recall, Hubby and I spent some time in the fall of 2020, mid COVID, visiting Federal Donuts and brunch spots* in Philly. And sure, it was nice. We had a nice time. The food was nice. But I still wasn’t singing Philly’s praises.
*Which I swear I blogged about, but perhaps only thought about blogging about since I can’t seem to find a post titled anything like Brunch in Philly.
What did Philly ever do to you?
This was the question posed to me by Amy’s boyfriend, Kyle, when he learned just how much I go out of my way to avoid Philly*.
*An extra forty-five minutes, that’s how far out of my way I go. Because though I live in the sweet spot of the world where a trip to the mountains, beach, multiple cities, and farmland is all under a two-hour drive away, New York is a solid hour and a half going out*.
*Though, somehow, only an hour and ten-minute drive back home.
It isn’t what it’s done…it’s just, what has it done for me recently? I said.
This led to an afternoon together in Philly.
Ordinarily, I’d keep all these thoughts bottled up to myself, but I think you, the reader, will enjoy knowing that 1.) I’m branching out 2.) I’m constantly attempting to find love for Philly and 3.) I enjoy a good battle of two beloved places or things.
Which led to the immediate comparison between Philly and New York over mojitos and empanadas at Cuba Libre. If there is one thing I love in any city in the world, it’s good food, good drinks, and good company.
Check. Check. And…check.
What does New York have that Philly doesn’t? Kyle asked.
I stifled a laugh, because the question just seemed too easy.
To ‘skyscrapers’, I was given ‘The Comcast Building’ which I didn’t hold back from pointing out the madness of thinking the Comcast building anywhere matches the Empire State Building or Top of the Rock. Just try saying Comcast Building with confidence that you’re going to have a good time. Comcast? You mean the people who say I have an appointment at 1 pm and either show up at 6 pm or not at all? No. Thank. You.
To ‘Central Park’ I was given Fairmount Park, a fair comparison I thought since, even without visiting or knowing what it is like, I have to imagine its fourteen miles beats out the one mile of Central Park.
But my winner, the point which could not be disputed was ‘theaters’. Because we all know Broadway is something special. Something which cannot be beaten. And though Philly has certainly got a few magnificent theaters to offer, they don’t have the magic of Broadway.
Even with all this, I’m not sure exactly why I’ve always felt so adamantly against Philly. Perhaps, it is because Philly has always been part of my life. Philly is like the annoying friend who always keeps turning up at your side and you just want to go away. While New York is the cool kid you want so badly to be your friend, and so you linger in their shadow just to be close.
And though I’ve spent five-hundred words here putting Philly down, this post is actually about the really nice time I had being shown the wonder and beauty of Philly through experiencing it with friends.
As stated, we started the afternoon right by having apps at Cuba Libre—because who wants to go hang out at one restaurant and one restaurant only? Not me.
Amy gets me. Not only did she suggest the apps and drinks at Cuba Libre, but already she knew that dessert, also, would require a change of scenery.
Like my feelings towards Philly, I can’t exactly explain why I so love making an event out of an evening out. You’d think just one restaurant would be enough, but no. This evening was spent in exactly my ideal way of eating out.
Note: Can we spend a moment to talk about how awesome it has been to eat outside? Especially in cities like Philly, but even in the cute little neighborhoods near me, they continue to maintain outdoor seating created because of COVID, and it is just one of many COVID changes I love and hope is here to stay.
From Cuba Libre we went to Amada, which Amy has been telling me about for years pre COVID. I mean, what’s not to love?
Iron Chef. Tapas. Wine.
Win.
It was somewhere around this point of the meal that I realized I hadn’t taken a single picture that day.
Patatas Bravas
Which, on one hand is really great, because it means I was so absorbed in having a good time with friends, but on the blogger’s hand, not so great because it means less photos for you, dear reader.
Albondiga
If you have never eaten in a tapas restaurant, find one and do so tomorrow*. Essentially, it is a bunch of small plates of food designed so that you can order two or four or twelve** and share them with the table.
*Unless you hate sharing food. If you are a person who orders what they want and doesn’t have a second thought or consideration towards anything else, you might hate tapas. But then again, you might love them, too.
**In our case. I can’t help it! I want to try everything!
Ensalada de Jamon–my absolute favorite thing we tried
I tried a new-to-me Spanish wine: Garnacha, which I loved, though I think the table favorite might have been the Tempranillo.
For dessert, we wandered down a few blocks to the Franklin Fountain, an old school ice cream shop, where I learned that Hydrox* was the original Oreo cookie.
*Can you guess what flavor I got?
Oh, look, there’s Amy! Hi, Amy!
We ended the night wandering down Elfreth’s Alley, which is considered the oldest street in America, with homes dating back to 1703—and are still being lived in!
And there’s the guys! Hi, guys!
This, I had to admit, is something New York does not have, though it may have buildings as old, I do not think it can boast such a quaint little street, which makes one think instantly of harder, yet possibly also simpler times.
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