Philly Part II

Rebecca is an artsy person so we made sure to stop by a few art museums while we were in Philadelphia.  Luckily, as is the case with most major cities, there were quite a few public sculptures and pieces on display.  This was right up Rebecca's alley.  As for galleries, we viewed the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.  A few blocks from Philadelphia's historic City Hall, there was a special exhibit by David Lynch.  For those of you who don't know, and I wouldn't have either if it were not for Rebecca, David Lynch produced Twin Peaks.  Twin Peaks is a bit out there.  David Lynch's artwork is a bit out there.  Never met the man, but I'm guessing he's a bit out there.  Anyway, I'm not much of a writer but here are a few photos.

(William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, atop City Hall)

(Benjamin Franklin - Of course there'd be a statue of this guy in Philly)

(Big game of Monopoly, Sorry, Bingo, and dominoes)

(As well as chess)

(Dominoes up close.  Using the person in the background should give you a sense of how big these were.)

(Sorry...)

(You get me I'll get you back...)

(Am curious as to why these numbers were chosen for the dominoes)

(Ginormous paint brush outside the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts)

(The wall as we entered)

(Some birds of sort, not really for me)

(William Penn atop the paint brush)

(This was in the friend's of David Lynch exhibit inside the David Lynch exhibit)

(This is one of David Lynch's pieces - again, a bit out there)

(More)

(He liked to use cardboard as a medium)

(And this gem we passed quite a few times on our walks.  Not sure I'd want to assemble.)

Philly - Breakfast and Murals

One day in the middle of December Rebecca and I made a trip to Philly.  She's told me several times how much she had wanted to see the city so as a Christmas gift we booked a few nights on AirBnB and made our way east on the Pennsylvania turnpike.  The trip was a busy one as we only had a few days in the city of Brotherly Love.  It was filled with:  food, art, walking, more food, and more art.  Most importantly, and this goes into the food category, she got the opportunity to experience a genuine Philly Cheesesteak.  She's a Pat's gal.  I'm a Tony Luke's guy.  But, there will be more on that to come.  

On one of our first days she found a great breakfast spot called Sabrina's Cafe.  A quaint cafe which supposedly had good coffee.  I can't vouch, I'm not a coffee drinker.  However, the food was amazing.  I had "The Cure for Hunger" Breakfast special - Cheddar cornbread topped with hot Italian sausage, bell peppers, onions, chilies and home fries finished with a mango-melon BBQ jam.  Good.  Rebecca's breakfast stole the spotlight though.  She had "No Sanctuary" Special Stuffed French Toast.  It was some sort of special bread stuffed with sweet cream cheese, apples, apricots, candied walnuts and other yummy, tasty treats topped in a berry-honey syrup.  We easily could have shared.  Of course, we didn't.  No leftovers either...

After breakfast we made our way back towards the center of town stopping at a few murals along the way.  The city of Philly has maps with routes for the Mural Walks.  There were 2 separate routes and I believe each was under 2 miles.  So, we got to see a ton of murals (PDF of Mural Walk - Map).  So, here are a few of the photos from the day...

(Sabrina's Cafe - Best Brunch in Philly)

(There were quite a few chalkboards up inside the restaurant - rather enjoyed this one in particular)

(Part of the menu - Brunch specials)

("The Cure for Hunger")

("No Sanctuary" Special Stuffed French Toast)

(A quaint little cafe)

(Never Floss with Strangers)

(Sweet Bike Lock - too bad it didn't do much good...)

(The murals begin...)

(Animal mural outside the animal shelter)

(One of my favorites because of the extra dimensions)

(Same mural, because it was really big, at a different angle)

(Pixelated impressionist mural)

(Hot dogs and a finger pointer)

(For Fido - fun dog treat snack station we passed on our walk)

(May the Force be With You as well)

(GHOSTS EXIST!!!)

(A Family Feast)

(Just to give you an idea of the scale)

("Pride and Progress")

(More "Pride and Progress")

(Even more murals)

(Philadelphia Muses)

(Some wacky stuff on the side of a building)

(Perhaps my favorite because of the texture)

(The texture...)

Baltimore Part II

Our second day in Baltimore was pretty low key.  We woke up and headed back to Fell's Point for some breakfast.  After breakfast we went back to the boat to hang out for a bit.  Doriel decided to take us on a little cruise on his motor boat.  We passed by Fort McHenry, home of the Star Spangled Banner, cruised around a bit while Doriel did some fishing, and finished off the tour at Inner Harbor.  Here are a few of the photos from our adventure.  

(Beer car again in a little different light)

(Nice little photo as we made our way back to Fell's Point)

(Thames Street early on a Sunday Morning)

(Thought it was rather interesting the way these tree roots formed to the environment)

(Passed a pirate ship of sorts...)

(Doriel getting the boat ready for our cruise)

(Captain making sure everything is in order)

('Let the Good Time's Roll' was the name of the boat we stayed on...)

(Passed a few Navy vessels and the word big doesn't even begin to describe their size)

(Fort McHenry)

(Another shot of the Fort with part of the harbor in the background)

(More mamooth ships)

(That building is probably 2 stories tall, if not bigger)

(Old dock)

(Myself, first mate - my father, and the captain - Doriel)

(View of Inner Harbor as we approached)

(Submarine you can tour if you feel so inclined to do so while staying in Baltimore)