It was a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in sight, warm weather, and trip ahead of me that I will remember forever. As I approached the bus that would bring me and the rest of my English class to Philadelphia, PA, I was overwhelmed with what the day ahead of me would bring. While my travel partner and I sat on the bus, we briefly discussed what we would do when we got into Philadelphia; cheese steaks, South Street, and the many historic sites were things coming to our minds. The history of this grand city goes all the way back to beginning of our nation’s birth. While there were many important documents in Philly, there were far more important people who made America the great place it is. Not only have I never been to Philadelphia before, but I had practically no knowledge of the city either. To me Philadelphia was a place that I would fly into after a weeklong baseball tournament, but after being in Philadelphia as a travel, my views of the cheese steak capital were forever changed.
As our small Peddie yellow bus made its way over the Ben Franklin bridge, I saw Philadelphia as I had never seen it before. The enormous size of the city made me think of New York city, but as we made our way deeper into the heart of town I realized there was a great difference between the two. When my travel partner, Jackie, and I departed from the rest of the class near city hall we were overwhelmed with what site we would visit first. After looking through our travel plans we made up a couple days before, we began making our journey eastward. As we walked by 9th, 8th, and 7th street we were introduced to the various mirages on the walls of the building and the everyday people that made Philadelphia the city it is. When we had walked for over fifteen minutes, we begin to have some doubts about where we were going, but shortly after we felt this sense of being lost, we found ourselves right in front of the liberty bell. When we first made our way to the large grass land that the liberty bell sat in, I could not find this enormous bell. Jackie and I contemplated on where the Liberty Bell was and finally worked up the guts to ask a fellow travel of this great city. The fellow traveler we spoke to told us the liberty bell was inside that large building, and this was a big shock for me. While I had never really thought about how the city conserved such a national icon, I always thought the liberty bell was outside, in the center of a gated off piece of grass. But boy was I wrong. There as an entire building and museum dedicated to this large piece of metal. When we made our way inside Jackie and I figured we had made our way into a closed museum considering we were a part of the small group of four people making our way around the museum. After viewing the bell, we crossed the street and made our way inside independence hall. It was at independence hall when I realized how historically rich Philadelphia is. As Jackie and I stepped into the solemn building I was amazed at how simple the set up of this national icon was. In many ways this room that made America, America greatly resembled my own study room. In this sense I felt a sort of connection not only to my past, but also to Philadelphia. From independence hall Jackie and I made our way South on 5th street and onward to the famous South Street of Philadelphia. As we approached South Street, we were both stunned with how many shops there were and the difference between historic Philadelphia and the modern and up beat South Street. When we made our way into the heart of South Street I made my first interaction with a suspender vendor. I walked around the suspender shop for quite a while until a small Asian man walked up to me and said “may help you, ten dollar all suspender and six dollar all hat”. I had finally chosen a pair of Rasta colored suspenders and brought them to the cashier. Since I thought that ten dollars was an unreasonable price I presented the man with eight dollars and told him that I will go no higher than eight dollars, and he instead sold them to me for six. After I had bought the suspenders I began to ask this small man about life in Philadelphia and about his store. He was much kinder than I had thought and he told me how he had moved to Philadelphia from Woodbridge, New Jersey seven years ago. He expressed his love for all of the shops around this city and the various great places to get food: Pat’s, Capital Grille, Tim’s fish market, and a couple other Asian infused restaurants. When I left the suspender shop, my views of Philadelphia were changed forever. Rather than seeing this city as a place full of typical urban people I now saw Philadelphia as a place filled with everyday people living the life they have always dreamed of. When we walked around the various reggae shops, skate stores, and shoe shops we made our way into one of the most memorable stores I have ever been in. Condom Kingdom was a store filled with risqué clothing, toys, and people continuously laughing. As Jackie and I walked around the store we found some of the funniest named foods, such as “Mac a weenie and cheese” and weenie sharp cheddar. As we approached 9th street we began to head towards southern Philly towards the Italian market and the cheese steak district.
Walking through the Italian market was by far one of the best experiences I have ever had. Small sidewalk markets were filled with fresh baked biscotti, fish, and a spectacular array of Italian meats. While there were many people walking around, many of the shops were closed due to Sunday being such an important day in the lives of all Italians. As we made our way out of the Italian market Jackie and I reflected on our Italian descent and how similar our families were; being that we are both a part of very traditional Italian families. Just a few blocks down the road on the corner of Washington Ave and 9th street I had an experience that has forever changed my taste buds. I had my first ever traditional Philadelphia cheese steak at Pat’s steak house. Although I had to wait in line for close to a half an hour, the wait was well worth the explosion of taste as I consumed the best cheese steak I had ever had. When I placed my order for a cheese steak with hot peppers on it, the man behind the counter said that will be eight dollars, and as I gave him the money I had the cheese steak placed in my hand. As I ate my cheese steak and Jackie ate her cheese sandwich prepared by our very own Peddie food service we talked a little more about our families along with our plans for the upcoming summer. From Pat’s steaks we began to make our final travels within this great city towards the Vietnam War memorial.
On our way to the Vietnam memorial we walked over to Penn’s landing and found ourselves in front of an artist using spray paint and stencils to make some of the most exciting paintings I had ever seen. As we made our way towards the war memorial Jackie decided to walk on the curb, and while looking towards the New Jersey river shore, she had tripped on a crack in the curb. As she clumsily fell onto the ground we both immediately started laughing. From that point on Jackie and I had laughed until we made our way onto the bus. The war memorial was a very intriguing part of our trip, and I had been looking forward to finding this memorial the entire day. While walking around the memorial was very upsetting, I realized how great our nation is, with cities such as Philly and the remembrance of those who protect these great cities.
After a long day of traveling I was still energetic due to the greatness of a brilliant city that has forever changed my views of various groups of people, and our magnificent nation. Through traveling within Philly I understand our nation’s history and where this great city and country all began. Along with getting to know the history of America better, eating the best cheese steak I have ever had, and interacting with various urban dwellers I became a lot closer to a new friend that I will forever remember.
No comments:
Post a Comment