Apostrophe S

That was the first thing that really struck me about Philly. Everything looked like it had been there for a very long time, much more like a European city than an American city. (Granted, I’ve never been to a European city, but I’ve seen lots of pictures.) There were lots of narrow, cobblestone streets and lots of very old brick buildings.

The second thing I noticed is that the streets look like the streets from Sesame Street. I expected to see Snuffleupagus dancing down the street at any given time. But that would have been kind of cool. There were lots of people sitting on doorsteps, but none of them were singing.

Our main reason for going to Philly was so Mouse could get her hair cut. (I’ve started using aliases, per request of a certain someone who is very, very, very shy until she drinks. Just kidding.) So the group this time was Mouse, Talula and myself. After Mouse got a decent cut at this place called Le Bomb Chele, I insisted on getting a Philly cheese steak while in Philly. So I did, at this place called Pat’s. It was pretty darn good. Made with Cheese Whiz, which is awesome. Not so good that anything less than a steak from Philly would be a disgrace, but good enough.

After that, we went to another section of town. I can’t remember what it was called. We walked up and down a street for a while and then stopped in this place called Fat Tuesdays. It was all dressed up like, you guessed it, Mardi Gras. It was kind of touristy, but they did have killer frozen daiquiris. I had one called a hurricane. I have no idea what was in it, but it was good. I’m usually not one for girly drinks, but this was above and beyond the usual ice-and-fruit-juice-with-a-touch-of-liquor-to-make-it-a-”drink” fare. They must have had a dozen machines behind the counter just churning this stuff out. It was really the only thing people there were drinking.

After that, we walked to another area where we ate at this restaurant called Taco House. I only had nachos, because I was still pretty full. Talula (I feel dumb using aliases) used to live in Philly, and she recommended the place. It was really a hole in the very old wall. But it had that old city charm.

Our next stop was at what Talula claimed was one of her favorite Philly joints. It was a dive-type bar called Dirty Frank’s. On the wall outside of the door was a giant mural covered with pictures of famous Franks through the ages, from Frank Sinatra to St. Francis. It was a neat little place. They make a strong jack and coke, too.

The next section was too far to walk, so we moved the car. Parking in Philly is worse than parking in NYC, at least it seemed that way last night. We went to this bar called the Khyber to see this band called Mcluskey. The band wasn’t my usual type. They were a kind of screaming punk band. But anything sounds good when played loud and hard in a small, crowded, hot bar in a city. Not sure I’d pay to see them again, but I got no regrets.

The final stop for the night was this bar/hangout called Sugar Mom’s. It was very cool. Of course, if you didn’t know exactly what you were looking for, there’s no way you could find this place. It’s in the basement of a poorly labeled building with is set back a way from the middle of a cobblestone ally. Luckily Talula was there to guide us. Sugar Mom’s looks like a scary wine cellar with no wine. It was huge for a city building, with brick pyramid-shaped pillars holding up the ceiling. There were old arcade games and pinball machines and tables set up everywhere. The place was far from crowded. It was very laid back. The music wasn’t too loud. A place I would probably frequent if I lived in Philly. We just sat and talked. Mouse got hit on by a very drunk black guy. We played some pinball and generally just hung out and drank until last call. Then we had to find our way back to the car, which was pretty far away by this point.

Leaving town, Mouse drove us through downtown so we could see independence Hall, which was pretty impressive. Very old. Lot’s of history. That about defines Philadelphia. Perhaps I’ll return some day. Take care…

ON AIR: PJ Harvey - Pocket Knife