Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Another early bus trip. This one is only an hour or so up the road to Philadelphia. We sleep the whole way.
Its a bit too early to check in, so off to a cafe for some breakfast. We are in a university district and there are frat houses along the way with the Greek letters and all. The cafe is right in this district. We are looked after by a bunch of uni students.
Courtney has the french toast which is so big she is looking around for the hall of fame. "Is this an eating challenge?" she asks.
We drop our bags off and head straight to the famous art museum. Not to take in the art, but to run up the steps like every other tourist in the city, just like Rocky. Ok, stereotypical tourist activity: check (neither of us have seen the movie).
We then head to Eastern State Penitentiary, the first prison in America that had separate cells which became the norm for prisons across the world. They had the first true solitary confinement where inmates would not hear or see anyone else for their entire sentence. Charles Dickens visited at one point and was shocked at what he saw.
The prison opened in 1829 and at one point had Al Capone as an inmate. We take a tour narrated by Steve Buscemi. Its very cool, and in the cells - very cold.
We grab a cab to the centre of town and wander around. We stumble across some places from Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Jeff is a little giddy.
Christmas is coming and there is a large German Christmas Market in the middle of town. We have some Christmas bratwurst (of course). A little further down the street there is a group of African Americans with a megaphone speaking of how Santa is always portrayed as the "white man". Quite disturbing. A lot of people walking past shaking their heads.
Atlantic City is only an hour or so away, so off we go. We arrive and it is freezing. Low cloud and high winds and no one on the streets. Looks like the end of the world. Luckily there are people in the casino.
We go to Ceaser's first. Jeff wins some more at the poker table. Then we head to Trump's. No poker there, so in a cab to the other side of town to the biggest casino, The Borgata (we later see this casino on TV).
This casino is massive. There are proper clubs with line ups and food and shopping courts. Jeff heads to the poker tables again and again does well. There are hundreds of tables. Its out of control. Even the chips are nicer here.
Its about 2am now and we have missed the last train home. We find out that buses go back to Philadelphia all night and get one at about 3. Back home and in bed by 5am. An interesting night out.
Day 2
Philadelphia has a significant place in the history of America. The declaration of independence was signed here and America then heads off on its own tangent. We head to the spot where this happened and also see the cracked liberty bell.
That's about it as far as touristy stuff is concerned today, except for one more "must-do" while in Philly: The Philly Cheese Steak.
We pick the nearest place that has a neon sign advertising the iconic meal. They also have massive slices of pizza and cheap beer. Surely this can't end badly. It doesn't. The cheese steak is juicy, cheesy and awesome (and hot). The pizza is just as good. This American diet is dangerously good. Lucky we only have another few weeks here.
Jeff's NFL team (Chicago Bears) are playing later tonight, so we decide to get in the spirit and watch it at a sports bar. We figure out who they are playing though... the Philadelphia Eagles. Uh-oh.
Jeff sticks with his team despite going to be the only supporter in the house. The place is pretty full but we manage to get a little table. Probably luckily for Jeff, the Eagles smash the Bears, so Jeff is pretty quiet. We play some poker and keep an eye on the game and generally be American with the locals. A fun Sunday night.
