More Than Just the Cheesesteak

The city of brotherly love, more commonly known as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a city filled with many small shops and interesting and unique places that only a truly authentic traveler is able to see. Philadelphia is much more than just Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial field, the Wachovia Center, The Art museum. Philadelphia is more about independence, freedom and small shops such as a fish market in Chinatown or a condom store located on South Street. It was a beautiful day on the morning of April 19, 2009 when I decided to take a trip into Philadelphia with Morgan Rawlings, a classmate and friend of mine. We decided that we would set a goal to see the city like we had never seen it before and try and see it more in the eyes of a local than a tourist. So that is what we did. We began our journey when we boarded a bus bound for City Hall. All we brought with us was a bag with a notebook, pen, sandwich, two small water bottles, rain jacket and twenty one dollars. So off we went down to Philadelphia, with the goal to see the city like a local and a true traveler.

City Hall in Philadelphia is gorgeous. The buildings elaborate architecture and the statue of William Penn at the top allows the building to truly represent the sheer beauty of the city. Starting at City Hall is probably the best place for someone who is new to the city. It is located almost completely in the center of the city and it allows you to choose which way you want to go. One can go northwest and head toward the Art museum, or you could head northeast and go toward Chinatown and the old historic district, you could go southwest and head towards Rittenhouse Square and then cross the Schuylkill River and visit the University of Pennsylvania or you could head southeast and visit Washington Square and South Street. City Hall is a great starting point for anybody to start their journey no matter how much travel experience you have.

For Morgan and me our goal was to see Chinatown. Chinatown for me was a place I had always wanted to visit. I love Chinese food and I wanted to see what it was actually like. Traveling with Morgan helped because she had spent five weeks in China over the summer, so that made it a little easier to communicate with the people. Traveling through Chinatown one will notice the enormous amounts of Chinese writing on the signs of the stores and everywhere you look. But actually the Chinese that is written on the signs is not actually the kind of Chinese most people learn in school. It is the more traditional old fashioned version of Chinese characters. One of the most interesting parts of Chinatown are the two open air fish markets. For me it was probably my favorite part of the entire trip because I work at a fish market in the summer and seeing fish markets like the two in Chinatown was very different and an eye opening experience. It was very different in the sense that there were live fish in tanks that the workers would take out and kill and then fillet it for you. The variety of different types of fish was also very interesting. Some of the fish looked very appetizing while others looked like they had sat on ice way to long and needed to be thrown out. The way they take care of their fish is so different than the way that I do at work that it was interesting to see. It is definitely one of the top five places a tourist who likes seafood should go.

When most people think of Philadelphia they think of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Constitution. The Independence Mall is a place where anybody and everybody who travels to Philadelphia must see. It is the birthplace of our country the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written and singed in Philadelphia. Therefore it is a national monument and a place where everybody should go. It is very beautiful the way in which the mall is set up allows people to get from one place to another quickly. Also the national park right behind Independence Hall is a beautiful place to sit and reflect on your day, write in a journal or even play Frisbee as we saw three college aged kids playing and enjoying the nice day. The reason for going there is not just to see the liberty bell and Independence Hall but it is to learn the history of our country there is so much History in such close proximity that one could spend the entire day there and they still would not be able to see it all. The independence mall is a must see place in Philadelphia for any traveler.

The old historic district of Philadelphia is located at the northeastern edge of the city. It is very quaint and small it has some coble stone roads and old brick buildings. It also is the home to the oldest block in the country. Elfreth’s Alley is the oldest street where people have lived in the United States. It has been inhabited by families since the early 1700s. It is a very narrow road with small town house style homes on either side. It is a beautiful place to live if you don’t mind the extremely close proximity and the deep tradition involved with it.

South Street in Philadelphia is a place where everybody must go. It is almost impossible to describe what it is like in words. It is a place where you must go. There are many different stores, restaurants, cheesesteak places and condom stores. You will also find many different types of people. Morgan and I saw a drag queen a crazy street performer with a dancing puppet. One of the most famous places on South Street is Jim’s Steaks. It is one of the best cheesesteaks I have ever eaten. I waited over an hour to get this cheesesteak and it was worth it. I ate it in about seven minutes. It was delicious. The wait around the corner and then winding around inside the store was worth it. When you get up to the grill you will see how it is covered with steak and onions and then next to the grill is a can of cheese wiz. In order to get a really cheesesteak one must order a cheesesteak with wiz, onions and mushrooms. It is absolutely delicious. I am proud to say that I waited in line for over an hour and it was worth every minute. There is a reason why there are always so many people waiting to get a cheesesteak from Jim’s and that is because it truly is the best. Not only is South Street home to Jim’s, it is also home to one of the strangest stores I have ever seen, and that is Condom Kingdom. A store that specializes in the sale of condoms, I found this very amusing yet strange at the same time. Over all South Street is crazy.

We finished our trip with a walk over to Head House square which is located on 2nd and 3rd street. This is one of the oldest squares in the city. It is completely cobblestone roads which is very unique. It is also lined with many great restaurants that the menu’s looked enticing and appetizing. We decided to walk around the square for a little while just to kill some time before we had to head to our pick up spot at the Vietnam memorial. Head house square was very interesting and I wished we were able to have gotten there before 1 because on Sundays there is a farmers market that takes place in head house square. Right off of Head House square there are some beautiful apartments and what was interesting about these apartments was the some of the dates on the buildings were in the late 1700s and early 1800s. That just shows how old the city of Philadelphia truly is.

Traveling through Philadelphia for a day made me really see the true inner beauty of the city itself. I was able to realize the city was more than just the professional sports teams, the art museum and its cheesesteaks. It was rather more about the people and the small places located throughout the city that make it so special. I would like to encourage anybody who travels to Philadelphia, to not just go to the really famous spots in city but rather go off the beaten path and find a small restaurant and try it, you may surprise yourself how delicious it really is. And I promise you can see the amazing city of Philadelphia and everything it has to offer with less than twenty one dollars.