Philadelphia

Due to making decisions when drunk I woke up with a mission to head to Harlem, change and pack for a quick jaunt to Philadelphia. Corty's sister was driving his car back and we decided to join her. Henry spent a year there, Corty is from there and I'd never met his sister before (everyone kept telling me how much I'd love her) so many good reasons to go. Very glad I went as well, enjoyed Corty's sister as much as everyone said I would and liked Philadelphia more than I thought I ever could. For me it was almost the exact opposite of New Orleans. I expected the Big Easy to be a load of old buildings and creaking history but actually found a modern concrete jungle with a histroic district. Philadelphia, howver, I expected a modern connurbation but actually found rampant history with a small, modern business district. I'm sure it helped that E lived in the historic part of the city so I saw that bit first, but still, the overall impression was one of cosy historicism.

We got into town and met boyfriend and dog. The human constituents of our party then headed out for dinner. As a special treat for me someone had managed to organise a warship being parked up near the city so there were sailors in uniform EVERYWHERE and we sat outside a Cuban restaurant for dinner so had a great view of all of them. After an OK dinner Corty and I headed into the silent bars of Philly (apparently Tuesday night in Philly is not so hot) and drank a bottle of gin between us. This was followed by a bit of drunk driving to Pats at 3 in the monring for a cheesesteak. As Corty is a native of Philadelphia and a good friend I've heard over many years the glory of the cheesesteak and was eager the try it out. Being a contrary sort of person and definitely NOT a fan of processed cheese I was all reay to be discerning and hate it. First few bites I was impressed but not overwhelmed, about half way through I hit the sweet spot and it went from being good to one of the greatest things I've ever had to eat. The combination of steak, onions, cheese whiz and bread is something truly extraordinary. Each component as tasty and as necessary as the other. It pains me to know that I will not have an authentic one again for a long time.