I'm a little behind on updating you about my awesome Fourth of July weekend, so I have to hurry up and finishing writing about it before this current weekend is over (otherwise, I've lost my window).
Last Saturday I met up with a friend that I'd met in Cannes, and we walked around downtown, taking lots of pictures (he has a nice camera that I got to use-- I need one of those!) of Love Park, the Comcast Building (their tallest building, with a giant LCD screen in the lobby that covers an entire wall), and a really cool theater with an inside roof garden/patio.
Love Park
Reflection of City Hall
That giant LCD screen in the Comcast Building...
Watching the World Cup from a store window and making predictions.
That awesome inside roof patio
After walking around downtown for about an hour or so, we drove to South Street, which is this awesome street that just might be one of my favorite places in Philly. The street is a super eclectic mix of upscale shops, tattoo parlors, art galleries, sustainable everything (clothes, water bottles, dishes) stores, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and locally-owned clothing shops. There's lots of vintage everywhere-- on customers and in stores.
The Wish Wall, found in the awesome Big Green
Earth Store was made of paper in a honeycomb
pattern, and people could write wishes on slips of
brightly colored paper, roll them up, and put them on
the wall. I think it was a fundraiser for something.
Down some random alley... there seemed to be mosaics everywhere.
Art is the center of the real world.
Our first stop on South Street was at Jim's, the cheesesteak place that my friendly van driver from the airport had recommended as the place to get a truly authentic Philly cheesesteak. As soon as we saw the line out the door and around the corner, we knew we'd come to the right spot. But it was worth it to me (maybe not to Julian though), so we waited in line for about twenty minutes to get our food. I wanted a cheesesteak. It was on my list of things to do.
The verdict: SO WORTH IT! Maybe I was just hot, tired, and starving (in which case, all food tastes good), but that cheesesteak was amazing. Worth every bit of wait. I got the classic version-- meat, cheeze wiz, and grilled onions. Soooooo goooood. Makes me want to go back and get another one.
Then after cheesesteaks, we stopped in this super narrow three story store right next door that was full of Mexican pottery, art, trinkets, and clothes. It was a pretty eclectic little mix of things. There were a lot of pots, mirrors, painted jewelry boxes, and those little statues of skeletons that celebrate the Latin American Day of the Dead holiday.
And then... the best part of my day. Maybe the best part of my weekend.
We found Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. And it's AMAZING.
To quote it's website, "Philadelphia's Magic Gardens is a folk art environment, gallery space, and nonprofit organization that showcases the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar."
*this photo courtesy of Julian
This place is too beautiful (and I took too many pictures of it all) for me to smush it into one post. Expect more soon.
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