Today we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city. We began by taking the Jersey train into Philadelphia, we heard one of the largest organs in the world, we saw where American coins are minted and we ate at Reading Terminal Marketplace. Can you get any more Philadelphia than that?
I love public transit: it’s cheaper than driving a car into town, it relieves the stress and we didn’t have to find any parking. Did it take a bit longer to get to our destination? Yep, but it was all worth it. 2 days ago we drove into town on 3 different Interstates, across 20 different lanes of cars, faced rush hour traffic in downtown Philadelphia and paid $20 for an underground parking spot. Today we drove about 5 miles, parked the car and took the train into town for $6.00 each round trip. Whew. Tomorrow we’ll do the same thing. Do I look like I’m dressed for a cold windy day in the city?
We started with fresh warm donuts from Bieler’s Bakery in the Reading Terminal Market. Reading Terminal Market is every office worker’s dream: a place with a plethora of food, lots of activity and places to eat quickly with friends. Two days ago, I had made sandwiches at home for our lunch and we had wandered through the market marveling at all the choices. It’s one of those places that you wander around, everything looks so good but your stomach is only so large, you have only so much time and your budget is only so large. How to choose? It begs the question: if you had only one meal to eat, which of the food stalls in Reading Terminal would you eat at? Hint: I’m not eating at this booth.
On one corner is an Amish meat market with fresh ground beef and t-bones 2” thick, on another is a deli serving premium meats and cheeses and homemade bread, on the third corner is a Louisiana emigrant selling muffelettas and po-boys while the fourth corner has jerk chicken with Bob Marley softly playing in the background. Every aisle has an Amish bakery with young hands frosting the freshly made donuts while old hands are manning the counter. Ice cream, fudge, assorted candies and cookies lining counter tops.
And, oh, my the fish markets. Red snapper staring up at us from their bed of ice, lobsters swimming in their pool, on top of the counter was a tray of crabs on their backs - live and obviously unable to move. You can choose your own live crab for lunch.
I always wanted a ‘glutten-free’ treat. Ain’t gonna to eat no gluttens.
Several of these places are institutions: Dimics with its roast beef and pork sandwiches. Later in the day, when we were eating a late lunch, we saw them put the ‘Sold Out’ sign up covering their menu board. Bielers, an Amish bakery still had their lines for the fresh warm donuts but some of their bread was on sale since they closed at 5:00.
Finally, Gary and I had chosen what we wanted for lunch. Gary had the turkey dinner 1/2 plate special: turkey, gravy and two sides - he chose dressing and corn. I chose the 1/2 turkey sandwich with honey mustard, pickles, lettuce, onion and tomato on rye, the softest moistest rye I’ve had in a long time. (Don’t think for a moment that I got that much meat - I had a lot but this sandwich is false advertising.)
There are several areas to eat; the tables are long and narrow and the people watching is excellent. On our left was a young Gonzaga college student originally from Philadelphia showing her boyfriend from Seattle around Philly. When they left we visited with a father and his 17-month old son eating salmon and rice.
However, I’m so taken with the Market that I’ve forgotten to tell you about our day in the city.
Here’s one of the quintessential sights in the city - any city. How long did he work to get his car into this spot? And, yes, he actually had to maneuver into this spot. We saw him make his last little jockey into the spot, get out and put his money into the pay machine.
And, if you think that the angle skews the distances between the cars, check this out.
We’ve spent two days on the history that took place in Philadelphia. Today, we’re just going to wander. But, after our day’s donut, we wanted to visit Macy’s to hear the organ concert - from one of the largest organs in the world. But, here’s a question for you: we’re all familiar with the price tag but was the first to use it?
John Wanamaker was the first to use a price tag. I wonder how it was done before. Actually, most clothing was made at home and in small shops. Wanamakers was the first American department store (there were several in Europe) and in a large department store, price tags are necessary.
He was also the first to have electric lights, the first store with a telephone and - get this - the first store to use pneumatic tubes to transport both cash and documents. Remember those? We had a store in Fort Dodge, IA that used those. I loved to see them whiz on their way. Wanamaker also guaranteed his clothing and allowed his customers to return their purchases for a cash refund. He also treated his employees differently than most: he offered health care, recreational facilities, profit-sharing plans and pension. No one else offered these to their employees. He also invented ‘White Sales’ and other themed sales such as ‘Founders Day’ sales.
He had a bronze eagle in his main store and customers used to say ‘Meet me at the Eagle.’ Pretty spectacular eagle, all in bronze and with amazing detail in the feathers.
But what we went to see was the Wanamaker Organ with its 28, 604 pipes in 463 ranks. (I’m not sure what all that means but I’m thinking that it means that it’s BIG.) It has 6 separate keyboards as you can see in this picture. This particular organ was famous for its orchestra-like sound, coming from pipes that are softer than usual. I was surprised to listen. I’m sure that this organ can accelerate into that bombastic sound that often comes form organs. But the tunes we heard we much softer, almost a jazz-like quality. The sounds were softer and more melodic.
There are two concerts every day, one at noon and one at 7 pm. We wandered in a bit before noon, enough time to look the ‘concert hall’ over. 7 stories high.
Next on to the mint.
‘After the birth of their child, an Episcopal priest, wearing his clerical collar, visited his wife in the hospital. He greeted her with a hug and a kiss, and gave her another hug and kiss when he left.
Later, the wife's roommate commented: "Your pastor is sure friendlier than mine.’
Anonymous
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