Reading Terminal Market
After a wonderful New Year’s Day in Philadelphia attending the Stout Festival at Monk’s Cafe and watching the Mummers Parade followed by dinner at Alma de Cuba, Therese and I looked forward to an equally enjoyable January 2nd. But we heard that the snowstorm was on its way sometime in late afternoon, so we decided to get out of town before things got too messy. Nevertheless, we were determined to still get in some more Philadelphia fun before we left for home, starting with lunch at the Reading Terminal Market.
Reading Terminal Market is one of the most interesting indoor food markets I have seen. All the neon signs announcing the various kinds of food available from different vendors, and the vendors’ signs as well, make it a very attractive venue. And all the different kinds of food available – yes, cheesesteaks, but all kinds of other good things like ribs, German sausage, deli sandwiches, fruits smoothies, fresh produce, and on and on – make it quite an impressive place. And the fact that it is all on one floor makes it, to me, very user-friendly. As large as it is, after walking through it just a couple times, I felt like I could navigate very easily.
For my lunch, I chose a nice turkey sandwich from Hatville Deli.
Then for dessert, I was delighted to discover that Flying Monkey bakery offered a vegan whoopie pie! It was scrumptious! I didn’t look too hard to see if they had any other vegan/dairy free offerings, but as you can imagine, it was great finding such a nice dessert!
Before we left Reading Market, we picked up some bratwurst sandwiches from Wursthaus Schmitz, along with curry ketchup and Bavarian susser senf (sweet mustard), to eat on our way home on the train.
Then we were on to our first sight for the day, to the Curtis Center in the downtown historic area, to see Maxfield Parrish‘s “Dream Garden.”
Therese is a big fan of artist Maxfield Parrish, and I love his work as well. But this Dream Garden, a 49 by 15 foot mosaic designed by Parrish and executed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, is extraordinary. Though it is a mosaic, with floodlights shining on it, to me it looks like stained glass, with light shining through it. I am so glad we made a point to enter the Curtis Center lobby and see the Dream Garden. I have been to Philadelphia several times before, and never even knew it existed!
From the Curtis Center, we walked down Chestnut Street, past Congress Hall (where our Congress met from 1790 to 1800), Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written) and Carpenter’s Hall (where the First Continental Congress met in 1774).
Finally, we arrived at the Benjamin Franklin House Museum. It was not possible for historians to reconstruct Franklin’s house in Philadelphia, but there on Chestnut Street is where it stood, so above-ground there is a simple frame to show where the house stood, and underground is a museum dedicated to one of our most amazing Founding Fathers.
The museum seems to be aimed at school-children – there are numerous displays teaching people about Franklin, his time, and his many inventions and occupations. For example, there is a computer touch screen where you can select blocks from a printer’s set to spell out your name, and then see the result printed in the middle of a book frontispiece. I had a little fun with this:
Printing exercise at Franklin House Museum
As we walked in a general westerly fashion, back in the direction of our hotel, the Embassy Suites, we could feel the temperature dropping – the storm was definitely coming. We did stop along the way at Love Park, named for its sculpture by Robert Indiana, to admire the sculpture and try our hands at an appropriate selfie.
Selfie in Love Park
Then it was on to the Embassy Suites to pick up our luggage and taxi it over to 30th Street Train Station to get on our Amtrak train and head home. As we rode north on the train in the growing dark, we could see streetlights revealing that the expected blizzard had in fact begun. This wasn’t the first time I have visited Philadelphia in the winter – and it may not be the last – but I will say this: while we had a great time, next time I come to Philly, I hope it’s the summer.
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