My wife and I visited Philadelphia, Pa. Needing to be down town we booked the 7th street bed and breakfast. The Big difference I noticed right away was the care and attention we got from the host from how to unload the car without a ticket to the Where to park. He (Steven) was just great, he treated us like long-lost family come into to town to stay. He gave us directions to dinner. As a couple that is vegetarian we were delighted to discover that with in half a block is one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the whole town. We visited with him then walk the 1/2 block and did not have a reservation but they found room at the bar for us. We had a marvelous dinner with portabella mushroom appetizer and the main dish was delicious. This is very significant because as vegetarians when we travel, we find the world is keyed in and prepared for the meat-eater. A true vegetarian does not want a portabella mushroom grilled on a grill that just grilled a steak.
The vegetarians and the vegans all know this but I wrote that just for you meat-eaters. In the past we have traveled 20 miles to get a good meal or just gone to the local grocery and did what we could. A great night’s sleep in a quiet neighborhood was followed by a simple breakfast. Steven knew that we are vegetarian and had soy milk and yogurt ready to accommodate us. The walk to my wife’s conference was just 5 blocks easy walk and very pleasant. Once I dropped her off I found the liberty center and walked around down town (old town) Philadelphia in the bright crisp early morning for about an hour. Since I was up early and started before the bus did I walked up to china town and checked around there before the bus started running. Then I hopped aboard the Phlush bus for the last day of its yearly schedule and traveled out to Fairmount Park for the regatta. Sculling teams were in town from all over the east coast for the competition. This made a very pleasant morning and the day warmed as I traveled around Philadelphia. I am not a fan of the art museums, I was a tile setter for 9 years so historic locations like the Taj Mahal would be fascinating to me, but honestly something on canvas has never held my interest.
This city has a rich heritage in the arts. What I noticed is the pace is a little slower than New York city. I like the way the city is laid out and the planning of green areas. We are staying near Society Hill and south street. So I have walked all over center city and Chinatown and the convention center areas. Lovely city great quiet neighborhoods. Washington square is a place I walked through almost every day and I really like the energy around this portion of the town.