So, this is a fabulous picture of the Art Museum on July 4th, I did not take it - but wow is it cool or what?
Washington slept here..Pam strolled by...
Can you guess where this is? No, its not the casino - Its Valley Forge National Park - and these are those cool little cabins. I cannot remember the last time I had been out here - so I thought, if you have to put in 6 miles walking, you might as well do it with a little history thrown in. Here is the big official link http://www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm. I did the Martin Plumb trail, which is about 5.6 miles - its a little boring at the end, but has lots of elevations, minimal shade, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...I felt pretty satisfied with my effort so I swung by the new Wegman's in KOP right after and that bought some beautiful produce and what not...
Oh, and this is not the Arc d'Triumphe ...its The US National Memorial Arch (guess the flag gave it away..) http://www.nps.gov/vafo/historyculture/arch.htm..I plan to return and check out some other trails...maybe when its not 95 degrees out..
Homeless, Marauding Bikers, and Goose Poop
So my journey to reconnect with Philly continued with maybe what could best be described as a dare or some crazy idea cooked up by my friend Jen. But when Jen asked me to walk with her from Love Park to some point near our homes, who was I to let her walk alone?
What became a 9.4 mile walk started at my least favorite place in Philly - Love Park
Seriously, I hate this place. Its got tons of rats, homeless people bathing in the fountain, creepy people hanging out and lots of very sweet tourists taking pictures. Frankly, the Love Statue at Penn is much nicer and the weird factor is less. Nonetheless, I continued down the Ben Franklin Parkway where I met up with my pal. We met up in front of the just reopened Rodin Museum.
I love this place. http://www.rodinmuseum.org/. I love this place so much that I have been to the one in Paris twice but never the one in my own city. How incredibly lame is that?
Yes, yes..it's lame. We then went by the fabulous new Barnes Museum..so, I have not been to the new one, word on the street is that it's simply amazing. I have been to the old one, in fact I walk by there all the time. Now, that is a pretty weird story - the whole Albert Barnes story, the people in Merion who loved the Barnes, hated the visitors, drove it away, then wanted it back, seriously, some twisty stuff.
But I digress.
Kudos to the City, I gotta tell you - I used to live up in the Art Museum area back when it was rowers, college kids and immigrants, and trying to walk from Center City to the Art Museum was like playing dodgeball with traffic, but they got the kinks worked out! Phew!
The Barnes is a vast improvement from the prior Youth Corrections Center that sat on the site, and its still sad to see the mobs of homeless people being fed on the parkway. But the little park in front of the Cathedral is no longer scummy, and there were real people picnicking in there with kids and blankets..not sleeping and eating out of the garbage cans..AMEN!
The Art Museum continues to look dapper (see picture above) and then we set off down Kelly Drive for our power-esque walk..Everyone is motion is sharing this super sized sidewalk. Bikers, rollerbladers, walkers, runners, you name it, its shocking that there are not people littered along the drive the way some people ride bikes...but we lived.
If you have never been for a walk down Kelly Drive, you are missing a true gem of a stroll, there are handsome sweaty rowers by the boathouses (and in the water), cool statues, people climbing that weird overhanging rock, and goose crap everywhere. Its a small price to pay for seeing Philadelphia's lovely waterfront while cars zip by on the Monaco styled drive at 60 mph.. For those of you not from Philly, this drag way is named for Grace Kelly's dad, John Kelly, an Olympic Rower who rowed on the Schuylkill.
I absolutely adore Grace Kelly..but we can go on about that topic another day..
What a great night for a long walk..We also passed Laurel Hill Cemetery - which I will talk about a little later.
Our dogs barked through East Falls, and then the trail becomes, sadly a sidewalk in Manayunk, but there is enough to see there that it's not a tragedy.. Well, we did it - 9.4 miles....Bravo Jen..you are a rock star!
Harry the K and Other Famous Dead People
It's probably fair to say that I have a slightly morbid curiosity about cemeteries. I just think they are cool, and clearly, I am not the only one. I have a regular walking route in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, which I will talk about more on another day...but after seeing the mausoleums of the rich and famous rising above the Schuylkill on my stroll the night before, I decided it was time to get over my fear of possibly being mugged in Laurel Hill Cemetery, and check out this gem.
http://www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org/index.php?flash=1
I was not disappointed! Guess who is buried here - Harry Kalas..He is a beloved Philly sportscaster. Below is my picture of his gravestone - and there are four seats from skanky VET stadium where you can sit and talk with Harry. They have a cool little exhibit in the museum as well.
I saw a few enormous groundhogs, but nothing too scary and the views of the River were divine.
I have my maps, my history books and I will be back to listen to the audio tour. Any takers??
All said, I have to say, I gave it a really Philly effort this week..Finally, my husband and I capped off the week having dinner with our friends at Nectar in Berwyn.
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why I have not been here before..http://www.tastenectar.com/
The best thing about the Main Line in the summer is that everyone leaves and goes to the Shore, and that leaves it to rest of us poor schlubs that cannot afford a house in Avalon or Stone Harbor (or would just rather go somewhere else). The blood orange martini, lobster sliders, tuna tartar, tempura fried lobster..let's just say...yum. So go there if you get the chance, hopefully someone else is paying because its not cheap...but its good!
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