I also have a familial connection to Philadelphia. My grandfather was born and raised there and attended Girard College from age 5 or 6 to 18. Both of his Italian-born immigrant parents perished in the Spanish Influenza epidemic. His father died first and then, his mother. Girard College, an institution created for the welfare of orphans, was endowed by Stephen Girard, a French-born immigrant and one of the wealthiest men in America at the time. My dad was also born in Philadelphia and lived there with his parents and brother for the first eight years of his life.
After this recent visit I think we can safely say that Philly is not our kind of town. It's gritty, dirty (there's litter everywhere despite recycling and trash receptacles on almost every corner), and people are kind of surly (I realize I'm painting with a broad brush but CBS Sunday Morning covered Philadelphia prior to the DNC and the locals seem to relish in their F-U attitude). That being said, we did a few quirky, unique-to-Philadelphia things and we enjoyed them. It's unfortunate that despite magnificent architecture and public art everywhere, the bad, in my opinion, outweighs the good. I'd like to see Philadelphia clean up its act. There's a lot of potential there but currently, it's rough.
It probably didn't help that we drove there (parking is expensive and a nightmare) and that traffic to/from Philadelphia was also hellish. AND it was very hot. If we were to give it another try, I think we'd have to take the train there and then walk/take the subway. I'd also prefer to go in the spring or fall when the heat isn't so oppressive.
Now, let's focus on the highlights!
Saturday, July 30, 2016
When we arrived in Philadelphia mid-to-late afternoon we already had plans to take a Mural Mile Walking Tour with the Mural Arts Program. Nancy Chen was our guide for two fun hours. She was a delightful and personable guide. She was extremely engaging and made the tour interactive by asking us what we thought about the specific artworks we observed. I really enjoyed participating because now that I'm in my 30s I don't have the same crippling shyness I did back in school when put on the spot.
The Mural Arts Program started in the 1980s (I believe) originally as a way to combat graffiti art. It eventually evolved into an outreach program where graffiti artists were approached to collaborate on approved murals in place of illegally defiling private property. Today there are over 3,800 murals around Philadelphia. We saw twenty on our walk.
City Hall:
Tree of Knowledge:
This is a Porch Light project, which specifically encourages community engagement and involvement in the artwork. This is right near a homeless shelter.
The overlapping geometric shapes reminded me of Picasso.
This guy is Edmund Bacon, Kevin Bacon's dad, who was the architect of modern-day Philadelphia.
I wasn't overly impressed with this cartoonish mural.
Real Philadelphia artists, dancer, performers were featured in this mural, which is loosely inspired by the various Greek muses. Nancy said that she notices, in particular, the heavily featured sphere, which represents perfection.
A beautiful day in the "Gayborhood" (this is how Nancy referred to most of the area we walked through).
This mural was painted outside a building that houses a famous restaurant in the city. I can't recall the name but I think the chef is a James Beard award winner. It's also adjacent to a public parking lot. The former parking attendant (Nancy thinks he's since changed jobs or moved away) was from Jamaica and missed his daughter immensely. As an homage to the man and his devotion to his daughter the artist painted a likeness of her peering at her dad from the mural.
This is outside a famous dive bar that's called Franks (there are a bunch of famous Franks painted on a mural outside the establishment, including the new addition - Pope Francis). Nancy said that it's been affectionately dubbed Dirty Franks because it's, you guessed it - dirty!
This was one of my favorites because of the vibrant colors and watercolor-like quality of the mural. It's painted on a building adjacent to a community garden.
Back in the Gayborhood - this mural honors Gloria Casarez, a civil rights leader and LGBT activist. She passed away a couple of years ago from breast cancer.
This is part of a mural that highlights the city planning/construction of Philadelphia. I think this segment is amazing because the molten metal looks so real.
All in all it was a very enjoyable experience and I'd highly recommend it! They offer many tours including one that utilizes the subway system.
For dinner we went to an old favorite and Philadelphia staple, Reading Terminal Market.
It's a huge bustling indoor market with any and all types of food. They also have non-edible goods but they're in the minority. Evan and I split off and got meals and desserts from different places. Evan had an average cheesesteak and I had an amazing burger with equally amazing mac & cheese. When you buy a burger they use a portion of the profits to feed a child in need. Their mission is: "buy one, feed one."
For dessert Evan got ice cream and I got a lemon coconut whoopee pie from Flying Monkey. It was awesome! I had no idea I liked whoopee pies but apparently, I do.
We passed several of these donkeys part of yet another art project. Unfortunately, this was the only one we were able to catch on camera. So cute!
We ended the evening by relaxing at Cornerstone Bed & Breakfast. We loved our hosts, Dennis and Liz, and we had no complaints about our room/bathroom. We were comfortable and well-cared for. Breakfast was also delicious and filling. The location was also very convenient. It was one of the better/safer neighborhoods we encountered, we were able to find street parking easily, and it was close to various attractions.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
As part of our package with Cornerstone, we were given complimentary tickets to the Eastern State Penitentiary. It's no Alcatraz (ha!) but it was interesting for other reasons. We took the audio tour, which is narrated by Steve Buscemi. Kind of appropriate since he tends to play creepy characters. Unfortunately, because I was focused on taking pictures I was only able to absorb some of the information.
When it was constructed in the late 1700s it was the first of its kind. A penitentiary was constructed specifically for the purpose of fostering an environment in which the prisoner would be influenced to seek penitence hence the term, penitentiary. Prisoners were completely isolated from fellow inmates and the outside world so as to focus on inner reflection. Eventually, people came around to the idea that it was cruel to force such complete isolation on prisoners. It was effectively, solitary confinement for all. ESP converted to the more traditional prison structure in the early 1900s. It was closed altogether in the 1970s and allowed to disintegrate into ruins, which is what we were able to observe on our visit.
There are several exhibits and other offerings beyond the initial audio tour. Unfortunately, we were limited on time because we had tickets for another outing right afterward. A lot of people like to go to ESP to ghost-hunt. Looking back at the pictures, even in the daylight, it's pretty creepy.
This was Al Capone's "suite" while he was incarcerated at ESP. Must've been nice, huh?
Two examples of nature coming back:
After ESP, we had a date with Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. Isaiah Zagar is the master behind this mosaic masterpiece. I guess the theme could be: one person's trash is another person's treasure...? It's a lot of fun to walk around and nearly impossible to photograph. There's just so much to see in a fairly condensed space. We managed to spend an hour there.
Both this project and the Mural Arts Program are meant to revitalize neighborhoods. All I have to say is, keep it up!
