i'm heading to philadelphia at the end of the month. what should i see/do while i am there? i'm interested in seeing some decent architecture, shows, shops, pubs and whatever else you think is with worth experiencing.
art museum--they have the best duchamp collection.
ica--they're now showing an exhibit on ant farm ... philly is the only venue in the east coast for this exhibit.
kahn's richards medical center--near u. penn.
kahn's erdman dormitory in bryn mawr.
wright's beth sholom synagogue in elkins park.
venturi's mom house.
If you're on Penn campus (which you should be to see Richards) then you also must, must go to the Furness Library, known these days as the Fischer Fine Arts Library. It is breathtaking and sublime. Do not miss it, and remember that it probably would have been torn down if not for the work of Venturi and Scott-Brown in making sure it was saved.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) also by Furness is also stunning, on Broad Street (the main drag) about three blocks north of City Hall.
City Hall is the building built smack in the middle of town, you can't miss it. It is undergoing an extensive exterior cleaning and is really glowing right now, it's the country's last great pile of bricks before steel frame structure took over, and its massiveness is overwhelming. Covered in sculpture. Heavy.
For cool restaurants, POD in West Philly is a trendy sushi bar, Buddakan in Old City is a trendy Asian place, and Jones on Chestnut Street is a trendy comfort food/Brady Bunch decor place. Basically you can't walk 10 feet in Old City without finding restaurants.
If you're interested in independent music history, the Khyber is the bar to go to - every band that is anything now has played the Khyber in their young and hungry days. To decompress in a real dive with cheap good food and local beer on tap, Tangier at 18 and Lombard is my hangout - don't tell anyone or it will be overrun by hipsters. A "pretty-dirty" alternative is the bar Low. A similar hipster poet cafe is the Last Drop at 13 and Pine. Cart vendors sell the best cheessteaks, no matter what anyone else says.
Walnut Street west is the shopping district with the cool boutiques. South Street east is disgusting and full of suburban Jerseyites looking to make troble, but if you need a head shop that's where to go.
You won't need a car, except if you want to go out to the Venturi Mother's House. Your feet will get you around center city, and the trolley (green line) takes you right to the door of the ICA, at the 36th St stop, then just a couple blocks walk to the Penn stuff.
Oct 15, 04 9:13 am ·
·
That bit about the Furness Library having been in danger of demolition is an example of 'urban legend'. In the mid-1980s UofP's Graduate School of Fine Arts was running an massive fund-raising effort to renovate the building, and VSBA handled the renovations.
Spent time last week 'touring' Trumbauer 'palace' architecture of Philadelphia's immediate northern suburbs--the remains of Whitemarsh Hall, Grey Towers of today's Arcadia University, Curtis Hall-the remains of the Curtis Estate, the somewhat derelict Lynnewood Hall, Chelten House, Elstowe, and Georgian Terrace.
The great hall of Grey Towers is easily one of the best interior spaces in the Philadelphia area, a decendent of the entry hall of the Paris Opera House and a precursor to the great hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (where Trumbauer also played a role in the design). Overall, I've come to the realization that grand buildings containing great multi-story halls are a Trumbauer hallmark.
My mistake, then, Rita, although in my case it's less an "urban" legend than a "Venturan" legend, as I tend to believe much of what the man says despite others' claims of exaggeration.
Speaking of whom, the Guild House could also be on your list, e. It is surprisingly unremarkable in real life, on a rather neglected stretch of Spring Garden Street. The first time I saw it I was shocked that this icon of the history books was just so quietly existing in a Philly neighborhood.
I'll look for Great Hall Grey Towers pics on quondam soon, Rita.
sorry, i forgot one more and it is a must!
the eastern state penitentiary.
it was the first penitentiary to be built in the u.s. ... as you know the concept was derived from following the quaker's doctrine. it's an amazing project where geometry, tectonics, spatial organization, dress codes, schedules, ethics and philsophical beliefs come together in a rather coherent and, at the same time, fascist way. incredibly 'round' and oppresive ... makes you think about the limits of what a good project is ...
Oct 16, 04 1:31 am ·
·
Yes, Franklin Court, first virtual house of the 20th century.
e, your brother is a dj on the big corporate rock radio station, i'm sure he has no idea where the khyber is. tell him i said thanks for playing the same crappy music over and over all day.
e-rizzy, i know my brother is a dj on a big corporate rock station, but to assume he has no idea where the khyber is is just plain ignorant. i'm sure many of the people who frequent this site work at big corporate architecture firms, but that does not mean that's all they know and appreciate. and if you really don't like it, stop listening to it. i don't like and i don't listen to it.
OK, so I checked out these old threads about Philly and I need to ask a question, I'm looking for something specific here:
Where can I get good brunch in Philly? I mean like a "2 pm, hair of the dog that bit you, waffles and bacon and mimosas, oh my" brunch. A really fantasticly hip but yummy brunch place.
I love brunch, BTW.
Oh, and I just came to Philly for the first time on Friday for work, I'm here again and I get to come back next week. I'm a putz. I don't know what took me so long, I LOVE it here. It makes me so happy! If I find a good brunch place, I might just up and move.
Beau Monde on Bainbridge at 6 or 7 or thereabouts - I think it's 6th, a half a block west of the city's best young art gallery, Spector on Bainbridge.
Beau Monde is a crepe restaurant, the interior design is great, they make snappy drinks, and you can go either sweet or savory on the crepes, depending what your hangover tells you to do. Also have a decent little sidewalk eating space, not just a few tables dropped next to the parked cars. Very hipster but totally accessible and relaxed.
Bridget Foys at Second and South used to do a great brunch - I hostessed there 8 years ago, and at that time they had a make-your-own bloody mary bar - hot sauces galore, really fun.
There's a total meat market bar, the Irish Pub, at about 20 and Walnut. Avoid it at night. But the next morning, they have a little cafe space next door, I can't remember what it's called, that does a lovely brunch in a space that opens wide to the street with a big window.
Morning Glory Cafe also makes theee best breakfast, it's at about Fitzwater and 12 or so. However, it tends to get super crowded - probably better for a morning you manage to get up early.
If you have a car, Silk City at Spring Garden and 5th or so makes an incredible breakfast - it's a dine right next door to a cool nightclub, so you often see the club kids in there straight from the dance floor.
Oh and the fruit salad cart vendors are a blessing when you're dehydrated. Season's almost up for them, though.
OK if I think of more I'll post 'em. Where do you stay in town, I might direct you to some that are local to your hotel.
God I miss Philly. Ask me where to get brunch in Indy and I'll say "Uh, Steak 'n Shake?"
aseid, monk's for brunch, or for beer? They have the best beer selection, bar none, but it's so f*ckin smokey in there you can't taste the Belgian! I stopped going there about 5 years ago. But if they have a brunch, and they can clear the air out overnight...
lb, i hear you about the smoking affecting your taste buds. i have some friends in seattle who own a bar that focuses on belgian beers. they have 50-60 beers on tap and about 200 in bottle. for that reason, smoking is only allowed upstairs, and they have a great ventilation. they also have an enclosed smoking parlor for those who want to smoke cigars.
I would give advise of great bars to visit in Philly but I cannot remember the names of any of them. Probably because I was drunk. I did live up in the Chestnut Hill area right off Germantown Ave. Myself, coming from much newer parts of the country it was interesting to live in such a historic location. Sadly the work I did in suburban Bucks county might as well have been in Las Vegas. We all have things we aren't proud of.
Hey thanks guys. I'm so excited! Proper Sunday brunch is fantastic. Especially if I can have it in a cool city. Unfortunately since I live in Cincinnati it is hard to come by.
Anybody got any favorite buildings I should see, or houses I should track down? I'm going to have the Never Lost in my rental car so I can basically go anywhere if you have an address for me :-D
Since you have a car, you might try Valley Green Inn in Wissahickon Park. It's only a couple minutes outside the city, via a beautiful scenic drive along the river, but feels like it's in the middle of the woods. They do a lovely brunch, but it's kind of a dressy/family event place, NOT a place to roll into bleary-eyed with your hair a mess and still wearing last night's smoky/beery clothes - in other words, don't do The Walk of Shame into Valley Green. Do that into Tangier at 18 and Lombard - but call them first to make sure they still do brunch (Tangier was my neighborhood good-food dive until 6 months ago...sigh.).
I wonder why (Hurricane) Rita hasn't weighed in yet?
Sep 20, 05 11:38 pm ·
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It's because I'm busy pondering the prospect of Hurricane Rita and reenactment.
And just because Philadelphia is a great place for gossip, Bridget Foys, the young woman who the restaurant is named for, behaved like a real jerk this past spring as she abandoned her (so-called) friend and flatmate in Brooklyn. My museumpeace assistant from 2001 was friends with Bridget since 2001 as well, and their move together to New York this time last year sunsequently ended all that.
The only place I've had brunch in the past few years is indeed Silk City.
I'd go to Bryn Athyn and see all the overwhelming architecture there:
Bryn Athyn Cathedral
Cairnwood
Glencairn
etc. http://www.quondam.com/03/0269.htm
Or go the Bryn Mawr and see insirational architecture there:
the quondam Bryn Mawr Hotel by Frank Furness (now the Baldwin School, across the street from...)
Kahn's Erdman Hall at Bryn Mawr College
all the Mitchell/Giurgola buildings at the American College
[I had brunch somewhere in Bryn Mawr around this time of year 16 years ago.]
You know, no one from the internet has ever visited the origin of www.quondam.com at 5233 Arbor Street.
Next time I'm in town I'm comin' to Arbor Street, Rita!
Then I want to see the bar where your friends nearly tore your first edition IKEA catalogue to pieces in their desire to get a glimpse of the new furniture paradigm circa 1985, was it?
Sorry to hear about the young Bridget's fecklessness.
WonderK the places lining Rittenhosue Square's east side also probably do a nice brunch, but too fancyschmancy/hipster for me.
if you go to bryn mawr college to check the kahn dorm, be sure to see the new rhys carpenter library also... it was featured in the mags a few years back, and is a very nice project.
e, you're right - morning glory is the best breakfast. Those huge biscuits, and the coffee in the stell mugs, and gritsgritsgrits...plus super cute waitresses and snappy decor. It deserves to get praise from both of us.
lb, the best I could do is guide a tour of what "once was" in 1985. Like a full John Wanamaker department store (where I bought my first answering machine back then). Which reminds me of a now long gone restaurant Apropos on South Broad Street across from the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, because that's where I had brunch after I bought my answering machine.
In some ways, Philadelphia was a different place twenty years ago. Even IKEA isn't where it first was anymore.
I think I've only had scrapple once in my life so far.
Liberty Bell is on point with most of her suggestions. However i would just add to the list you should prob. check out vinoly's kimmel center on avenue of the arts(although philadelphians hate it). i am not sure what your style or likes are but just go exploring around olde city or northern liberties area there are some artsy things like first friday you might like.
oh my gosh, when I was there last week I "stumbled upon" the Kimmel Center and went in like a kid in a candy store. Very fun. Went up to the top deck which gives you some really great vertigo, and makes for good pictures as well. I heard they have some interesting issues with that roof when it snows.....
I would recommend going over to POVER’s on the square. Great BURST Pontage, if that’s your thing. Tell you what, if you’re looking for great service, POVER’s is the place. Never heard any complaints, never had any. Now, ask about their “lower†menu. That’s the thing. Get’s them extra GOOD and ‘sperimental. Like the Metabolic Sampler. That’s new, right? A whole course of stuff. They tell you the ingredients through illustrated food chain diagrams. Very NOVEL and SUGOUY. Go to POVER’s and then skip over to the luck trolly on 3rd.
Okay. And then after you hit POVER’s and the luck trolly, why not go to HOICE! It’s a new freakin’ place that just caters to you, friend. Now, you like friends? Sure you do. HOICE has friends. HOICE has plenty of great STUFF and friends and just general type of ambient and nice quality stuff. EXPERIENCE a candle on every table. EXPERIENCE a menu held to a clipboard with a durable, contemporary rubber band. EXPERIENCE a steady stream of happy patrons wearing cutting edge clothing. EXPERINCE HOICE. Philly’s best.
Now get ready to go elsewhere. Move into the Philly streets and think of everything in terms of metabolic re-enactment. You’ll freak out with thoughts like, ‘that place used to be here and now this NEW place is here.’ It will feel like a super and original new insight. And you’ll get real excited with the possibilities. But now is the time to calm the hell down. Because we’re going to get a bowl of that famous PHILLY CHOWDER! Over at Max’s!
I take it all back. Everything. Don’t go to HOICE. Don’t bother with POVER’s, either. Here’s what I really recommend: Don’t go to Philly. Ever.
It used to be that Philly was all I thought about. I dreamt about that city. I dreamt about how one day I would finally get out there, make it my home. All of that was before I knew how a city can ruin a man.
I took the trains out through Malveston, Perkinsville, Hanover. First day, I landed a job at a filling station out by the docks. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make ends meet. Found myself a little rat hole out by Stanton Bridge. It needed some repairs but not too many. After a couple months, I had it fixed up pretty good. I guess you could say I got along well enough. That’s until the shipments went south. The dock captain ratted-out some union boss and half the labors guys got sent packing. That included me. They say a hard day’s labor can cure all ills. Try tellin’ that to a bunch of hard scrabble dock men and ex-cons down on their luck. They find other ways to make it work.
You don’t what you’re capable of doing just to survive until you’ve got nothing left. You’re not sure if you’ve got what it takes. That’s when the city turns against you. The dealers, crank addicts, petty crooks, they’re like a cast of nobody’s just waiting to pull you in, to make you one of their own. They come out of the back alleys and whorehouses like sharks to the feed. And you learn what it takes. You learn real fast.
Oh, and Wonder K, about the Caps. If the notes are all lower case, they don’t go on the drawings. Notes in all Caps go on the drawings. I hope that clears it up for you.
Also, just to set the record straight, I don’t run with that pack anymore. Those guys can throw shaving cream canisters into volcanoes all day, for all I care. Or hop lava streams. It’s none of my bee’s wax.
Sep 27, 05 2:20 am ·
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From: Janice L. Booker, Philly Firsts (Philadelphia: Camino Books, 1999), p. 108:
In 1750, two days before Christmas, Benjamin Franklin mistakenly attached the apparatus he used for his lightning experiments to himself instead of to his intended victim, a turkey. The jolt knocked him to the floor. We don’t know how many turkeys Franklin electrocuted and cooked in his experiments, but he did declare that, when prepared by this method, they were “uncommonly tender.†He wrote in his notebook that it took a lot more voltage to kill a turkey than a chicken.
--excerpt from A Quondam Banquet of Virtual Sachlichkeit: Part II, p. 306.
philly.
hey
i'm heading to philadelphia at the end of the month. what should i see/do while i am there? i'm interested in seeing some decent architecture, shows, shops, pubs and whatever else you think is with worth experiencing.
thx in advance,
e
art museum--they have the best duchamp collection.
ica--they're now showing an exhibit on ant farm ... philly is the only venue in the east coast for this exhibit.
kahn's richards medical center--near u. penn.
kahn's erdman dormitory in bryn mawr.
wright's beth sholom synagogue in elkins park.
venturi's mom house.
thx raton. looking forward to seeing that any farm exhibit. anyone else have any thoughts?
mutter museum @ the college of physicians of philadelphia. if the Murder City Devils wrote a song about it, how can you go wrong?
yeah, definitely the mutter museum!
how could i've forgotten?
If you're on Penn campus (which you should be to see Richards) then you also must, must go to the Furness Library, known these days as the Fischer Fine Arts Library. It is breathtaking and sublime. Do not miss it, and remember that it probably would have been torn down if not for the work of Venturi and Scott-Brown in making sure it was saved.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) also by Furness is also stunning, on Broad Street (the main drag) about three blocks north of City Hall.
City Hall is the building built smack in the middle of town, you can't miss it. It is undergoing an extensive exterior cleaning and is really glowing right now, it's the country's last great pile of bricks before steel frame structure took over, and its massiveness is overwhelming. Covered in sculpture. Heavy.
For cool restaurants, POD in West Philly is a trendy sushi bar, Buddakan in Old City is a trendy Asian place, and Jones on Chestnut Street is a trendy comfort food/Brady Bunch decor place. Basically you can't walk 10 feet in Old City without finding restaurants.
If you're interested in independent music history, the Khyber is the bar to go to - every band that is anything now has played the Khyber in their young and hungry days. To decompress in a real dive with cheap good food and local beer on tap, Tangier at 18 and Lombard is my hangout - don't tell anyone or it will be overrun by hipsters. A "pretty-dirty" alternative is the bar Low. A similar hipster poet cafe is the Last Drop at 13 and Pine. Cart vendors sell the best cheessteaks, no matter what anyone else says.
Walnut Street west is the shopping district with the cool boutiques. South Street east is disgusting and full of suburban Jerseyites looking to make troble, but if you need a head shop that's where to go.
You won't need a car, except if you want to go out to the Venturi Mother's House. Your feet will get you around center city, and the trolley (green line) takes you right to the door of the ICA, at the 36th St stop, then just a couple blocks walk to the Penn stuff.
That bit about the Furness Library having been in danger of demolition is an example of 'urban legend'. In the mid-1980s UofP's Graduate School of Fine Arts was running an massive fund-raising effort to renovate the building, and VSBA handled the renovations.
Spent time last week 'touring' Trumbauer 'palace' architecture of Philadelphia's immediate northern suburbs--the remains of Whitemarsh Hall, Grey Towers of today's Arcadia University, Curtis Hall-the remains of the Curtis Estate, the somewhat derelict Lynnewood Hall, Chelten House, Elstowe, and Georgian Terrace.
The great hall of Grey Towers is easily one of the best interior spaces in the Philadelphia area, a decendent of the entry hall of the Paris Opera House and a precursor to the great hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (where Trumbauer also played a role in the design). Overall, I've come to the realization that grand buildings containing great multi-story halls are a Trumbauer hallmark.
Oddly enough...
My mistake, then, Rita, although in my case it's less an "urban" legend than a "Venturan" legend, as I tend to believe much of what the man says despite others' claims of exaggeration.
Speaking of whom, the Guild House could also be on your list, e. It is surprisingly unremarkable in real life, on a rather neglected stretch of Spring Garden Street. The first time I saw it I was shocked that this icon of the history books was just so quietly existing in a Philly neighborhood.
I'll look for Great Hall Grey Towers pics on quondam soon, Rita.
hey guys, thx for the additional tips/comments. i saw the furness library back in the early 90s while there for a koolhaas lecture. vnice.
i'm sure my brother, who i'm going to visit, knows the khyber. he's a dj on wysp.
again, many thx
wagner free institute of science
models of civil war under benjamin franklin's home. an excellent public project by venturi.
oops. maybe it was wars of independence. it should be ofcourse.
'historic inaccuracy'.
sorry, i forgot one more and it is a must!
the eastern state penitentiary.
it was the first penitentiary to be built in the u.s. ... as you know the concept was derived from following the quaker's doctrine. it's an amazing project where geometry, tectonics, spatial organization, dress codes, schedules, ethics and philsophical beliefs come together in a rather coherent and, at the same time, fascist way. incredibly 'round' and oppresive ... makes you think about the limits of what a good project is ...
Yes, Franklin Court, first virtual house of the 20th century.
Eastern State was where the insane asylum scenes from 12 Monkeys were filmed, too. And they do a Halloween special event there during October.
e, your brother is a dj on the big corporate rock radio station, i'm sure he has no idea where the khyber is. tell him i said thanks for playing the same crappy music over and over all day.
e-rizzy, i know my brother is a dj on a big corporate rock station, but to assume he has no idea where the khyber is is just plain ignorant. i'm sure many of the people who frequent this site work at big corporate architecture firms, but that does not mean that's all they know and appreciate. and if you really don't like it, stop listening to it. i don't like and i don't listen to it.
OK, so I checked out these old threads about Philly and I need to ask a question, I'm looking for something specific here:
Where can I get good brunch in Philly? I mean like a "2 pm, hair of the dog that bit you, waffles and bacon and mimosas, oh my" brunch. A really fantasticly hip but yummy brunch place.
I love brunch, BTW.
Oh, and I just came to Philly for the first time on Friday for work, I'm here again and I get to come back next week. I'm a putz. I don't know what took me so long, I LOVE it here. It makes me so happy! If I find a good brunch place, I might just up and move.
Beau Monde on Bainbridge at 6 or 7 or thereabouts - I think it's 6th, a half a block west of the city's best young art gallery, Spector on Bainbridge.
Beau Monde is a crepe restaurant, the interior design is great, they make snappy drinks, and you can go either sweet or savory on the crepes, depending what your hangover tells you to do. Also have a decent little sidewalk eating space, not just a few tables dropped next to the parked cars. Very hipster but totally accessible and relaxed.
Bridget Foys at Second and South used to do a great brunch - I hostessed there 8 years ago, and at that time they had a make-your-own bloody mary bar - hot sauces galore, really fun.
There's a total meat market bar, the Irish Pub, at about 20 and Walnut. Avoid it at night. But the next morning, they have a little cafe space next door, I can't remember what it's called, that does a lovely brunch in a space that opens wide to the street with a big window.
Morning Glory Cafe also makes theee best breakfast, it's at about Fitzwater and 12 or so. However, it tends to get super crowded - probably better for a morning you manage to get up early.
If you have a car, Silk City at Spring Garden and 5th or so makes an incredible breakfast - it's a dine right next door to a cool nightclub, so you often see the club kids in there straight from the dance floor.
Oh and the fruit salad cart vendors are a blessing when you're dehydrated. Season's almost up for them, though.
OK if I think of more I'll post 'em. Where do you stay in town, I might direct you to some that are local to your hotel.
God I miss Philly. Ask me where to get brunch in Indy and I'll say "Uh, Steak 'n Shake?"
manayunk brew pub has a great sunday brunch, with live music too.
monk's.......period
aseid, monk's for brunch, or for beer? They have the best beer selection, bar none, but it's so f*ckin smokey in there you can't taste the Belgian! I stopped going there about 5 years ago. But if they have a brunch, and they can clear the air out overnight...
lb, i hear you about the smoking affecting your taste buds. i have some friends in seattle who own a bar that focuses on belgian beers. they have 50-60 beers on tap and about 200 in bottle. for that reason, smoking is only allowed upstairs, and they have a great ventilation. they also have an enclosed smoking parlor for those who want to smoke cigars.
I would give advise of great bars to visit in Philly but I cannot remember the names of any of them. Probably because I was drunk. I did live up in the Chestnut Hill area right off Germantown Ave. Myself, coming from much newer parts of the country it was interesting to live in such a historic location. Sadly the work I did in suburban Bucks county might as well have been in Las Vegas. We all have things we aren't proud of.
Hey thanks guys. I'm so excited! Proper Sunday brunch is fantastic. Especially if I can have it in a cool city. Unfortunately since I live in Cincinnati it is hard to come by.
Anybody got any favorite buildings I should see, or houses I should track down? I'm going to have the Never Lost in my rental car so I can basically go anywhere if you have an address for me :-D
PS. That means, not the usual suspects. I'm aware of all the ones listed earlier.
Since you have a car, you might try Valley Green Inn in Wissahickon Park. It's only a couple minutes outside the city, via a beautiful scenic drive along the river, but feels like it's in the middle of the woods. They do a lovely brunch, but it's kind of a dressy/family event place, NOT a place to roll into bleary-eyed with your hair a mess and still wearing last night's smoky/beery clothes - in other words, don't do The Walk of Shame into Valley Green. Do that into Tangier at 18 and Lombard - but call them first to make sure they still do brunch (Tangier was my neighborhood good-food dive until 6 months ago...sigh.).
I wonder why (Hurricane) Rita hasn't weighed in yet?
It's because I'm busy pondering the prospect of Hurricane Rita and reenactment.
And just because Philadelphia is a great place for gossip, Bridget Foys, the young woman who the restaurant is named for, behaved like a real jerk this past spring as she abandoned her (so-called) friend and flatmate in Brooklyn. My museumpeace assistant from 2001 was friends with Bridget since 2001 as well, and their move together to New York this time last year sunsequently ended all that.
The only place I've had brunch in the past few years is indeed Silk City.
I'd go to Bryn Athyn and see all the overwhelming architecture there:
Bryn Athyn Cathedral
Cairnwood
Glencairn
etc. http://www.quondam.com/03/0269.htm
Or go the Bryn Mawr and see insirational architecture there:
the quondam Bryn Mawr Hotel by Frank Furness (now the Baldwin School, across the street from...)
Kahn's Erdman Hall at Bryn Mawr College
all the Mitchell/Giurgola buildings at the American College
[I had brunch somewhere in Bryn Mawr around this time of year 16 years ago.]
You know, no one from the internet has ever visited the origin of www.quondam.com at 5233 Arbor Street.
Next time I'm in town I'm comin' to Arbor Street, Rita!
Then I want to see the bar where your friends nearly tore your first edition IKEA catalogue to pieces in their desire to get a glimpse of the new furniture paradigm circa 1985, was it?
Sorry to hear about the young Bridget's fecklessness.
WonderK the places lining Rittenhosue Square's east side also probably do a nice brunch, but too fancyschmancy/hipster for me.
morning glory diner. mmm, get the scrapple and grits.
if you go to bryn mawr college to check the kahn dorm, be sure to see the new rhys carpenter library also... it was featured in the mags a few years back, and is a very nice project.
just realized lb beat me to the morning glory props. well that validates my thought of the place the few times that i've been while visiting philly.
e, you're right - morning glory is the best breakfast. Those huge biscuits, and the coffee in the stell mugs, and gritsgritsgrits...plus super cute waitresses and snappy decor. It deserves to get praise from both of us.
i'm not a big fan of grits but it sounds good anyway. As long as they serve until 3 it's fine by me.
lb, the best I could do is guide a tour of what "once was" in 1985. Like a full John Wanamaker department store (where I bought my first answering machine back then). Which reminds me of a now long gone restaurant Apropos on South Broad Street across from the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, because that's where I had brunch after I bought my answering machine.
In some ways, Philadelphia was a different place twenty years ago. Even IKEA isn't where it first was anymore.
I think I've only had scrapple once in my life so far.
Liberty Bell is on point with most of her suggestions. However i would just add to the list you should prob. check out vinoly's kimmel center on avenue of the arts(although philadelphians hate it). i am not sure what your style or likes are but just go exploring around olde city or northern liberties area there are some artsy things like first friday you might like.
oh my gosh, when I was there last week I "stumbled upon" the Kimmel Center and went in like a kid in a candy store. Very fun. Went up to the top deck which gives you some really great vertigo, and makes for good pictures as well. I heard they have some interesting issues with that roof when it snows.....
I would recommend going over to POVER’s on the square. Great BURST Pontage, if that’s your thing. Tell you what, if you’re looking for great service, POVER’s is the place. Never heard any complaints, never had any. Now, ask about their “lower†menu. That’s the thing. Get’s them extra GOOD and ‘sperimental. Like the Metabolic Sampler. That’s new, right? A whole course of stuff. They tell you the ingredients through illustrated food chain diagrams. Very NOVEL and SUGOUY. Go to POVER’s and then skip over to the luck trolly on 3rd.
Okay. And then after you hit POVER’s and the luck trolly, why not go to HOICE! It’s a new freakin’ place that just caters to you, friend. Now, you like friends? Sure you do. HOICE has friends. HOICE has plenty of great STUFF and friends and just general type of ambient and nice quality stuff. EXPERIENCE a candle on every table. EXPERIENCE a menu held to a clipboard with a durable, contemporary rubber band. EXPERIENCE a steady stream of happy patrons wearing cutting edge clothing. EXPERINCE HOICE. Philly’s best.
Now get ready to go elsewhere. Move into the Philly streets and think of everything in terms of metabolic re-enactment. You’ll freak out with thoughts like, ‘that place used to be here and now this NEW place is here.’ It will feel like a super and original new insight. And you’ll get real excited with the possibilities. But now is the time to calm the hell down. Because we’re going to get a bowl of that famous PHILLY CHOWDER! Over at Max’s!
collartim, your use of Caps confuses me.
liberty bell, I loved Beau Monde, BTW. Excellent work! A lovely day in Philly, all in all.
Of course I had good company too (I wonder if he'll see this)....
SEE HOLLERTONIX - !
Low Budgeeeeee / Diplo
That's right: SEE HOLLERTONIX. Also this: EXPERIENCE HOICE.
Toys/Duplo
I take it all back. Everything. Don’t go to HOICE. Don’t bother with POVER’s, either. Here’s what I really recommend: Don’t go to Philly. Ever.
It used to be that Philly was all I thought about. I dreamt about that city. I dreamt about how one day I would finally get out there, make it my home. All of that was before I knew how a city can ruin a man.
I took the trains out through Malveston, Perkinsville, Hanover. First day, I landed a job at a filling station out by the docks. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make ends meet. Found myself a little rat hole out by Stanton Bridge. It needed some repairs but not too many. After a couple months, I had it fixed up pretty good. I guess you could say I got along well enough. That’s until the shipments went south. The dock captain ratted-out some union boss and half the labors guys got sent packing. That included me. They say a hard day’s labor can cure all ills. Try tellin’ that to a bunch of hard scrabble dock men and ex-cons down on their luck. They find other ways to make it work.
You don’t what you’re capable of doing just to survive until you’ve got nothing left. You’re not sure if you’ve got what it takes. That’s when the city turns against you. The dealers, crank addicts, petty crooks, they’re like a cast of nobody’s just waiting to pull you in, to make you one of their own. They come out of the back alleys and whorehouses like sharks to the feed. And you learn what it takes. You learn real fast.
Oh, and Wonder K, about the Caps. If the notes are all lower case, they don’t go on the drawings. Notes in all Caps go on the drawings. I hope that clears it up for you.
WTF?!?
It appears to be a band, WonderK. I've never heard of them but then I know nothing about music, so no surprise.
That’s right, WonderK, WTF. Not how one usually thinks of old Philly, is it?
Also, just to set the record straight, I don’t run with that pack anymore. Those guys can throw shaving cream canisters into volcanoes all day, for all I care. Or hop lava streams. It’s none of my bee’s wax.
From: Janice L. Booker, Philly Firsts (Philadelphia: Camino Books, 1999), p. 108:
In 1750, two days before Christmas, Benjamin Franklin mistakenly attached the apparatus he used for his lightning experiments to himself instead of to his intended victim, a turkey. The jolt knocked him to the floor. We don’t know how many turkeys Franklin electrocuted and cooked in his experiments, but he did declare that, when prepared by this method, they were “uncommonly tender.†He wrote in his notebook that it took a lot more voltage to kill a turkey than a chicken.
--excerpt from A Quondam Banquet of Virtual Sachlichkeit: Part II, p. 306.
Philly named "Next Great City" by National Geographic....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092800302.html
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