My Mundane Life in Song...goes to Philly! or Steve Perry Litmus Test or Amish Fantasy - DENIED!

Hello readers.

It's another special occasion that merits a guest writer! This is from NR, who I visited this past weekend in Philthy, one of my favorite cities. The text is NR's, the photos and occasional commentary are mine. Enjoy!

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This weekend, the awesome Leah and D -who was celebrating his B-day- made a visit to the recently declared most overweight *AND* most depressed city in America (can't help but think the two go hand in hand...) We all lived up to both these honors by Sunday morning.

The dynamic duo arrived late Friday night after dealing with train delays; and since there was a lot planned for the next day, we headed straight back to my place for some rest and drinks. After catching up for a bit and Leah playing with the make-your-own Lego site, we called it a night. Before they could, however, Leah and D had to partake in a household tradition that I strictly enforce on all and any of my overnight guests: The viewing of the Journey DVD. Yes, Journey the band. Yes, Journey as in "Open Arms." Yes, Journey as in the band with THE greatest lead singer ever. The DVD has become a great tool to guage the level of friendship/compatability with my overnight guests. The range of reactions it gets is very wide. Either people get it or they don't. Leah and D are people I think very highly of and therefore, want their respect. So it was with some trepidation that I popped in the video. To my pleasant surprise, D was also a Journey
fan. Moreover a STEVE PERRY fan. Leah, however, was scared. Very, very scared of our, as she put it, non-ironic love for this band. Anyway, Steve
closed the night. Glorious!

The next day, we took our time getting up and after some breakfast we hit Reading Terminal Market. The market is best known for it's Amish establishments (although you can get/buy just about any kind of food that your hearts desire.) I was endeared by Leah and D's excitement of being there. The amount of goods was insane!

Pretty yellow candy that I didn't try:


Pretty orange and pink candy that I didn't try:


Leah, D and I walked around and sampled, bought and ate lots of goodies including blue raspberry licorice, flavored bagel chips, cheese and pretzels.

Preserves:


Cookie Cutter Metropolis:


Leah took lots of great pictures of the visit and wanted to make friends with a cute, little Amish boy who sold her some apple butter (we even contemplated kidnapping him.)

Potential Amish friend who sold me apple butter:


When we arrived at the market, it was slightly raining. When we left, it was
POURING. It sucked and prevented us from doing other cool Philly stuff. (Go
figure, when Leah and D decide come to Philly, the Gods of Weather
decide to screw us. Damn you, Gods, DAMN YOOOOOUUUUU!!!)

This is what most of our trip looked like:


Our next stop was the Mutter Museum. This museum is famous for housing and exhibiting medical oddities. It is a must-see if you're ever in Philly. Conjoined twins? Gross tumors? Death? Skulls? Gigantic colons? Weird diseases? Old-timey medical equipment? Done and done! This place has it all and then some! Actually, jokes aside, it really is some deeply disturbing and depressing stuff. Although they did find it very interesting, Leah and D were adequately depressed by the museum. (I'm a *fun* host!)

(Sidenote: the weekend in Philly was particularly wonderful because I got to indulge three of my obsessions - the Amish, Conjoined Twins, and Cereal!)

We left the museum, still in the pouring rain and headed to South Philly to get a bite to eat. D got himself an authentic Philly Cheesesteak from one of Philly's best sammich joints. (Twas good he said!) Leah and I decided to check out the bakery a few doors down. Oh mah gawd. Too many options and everything looked unbelievable. I got a canolli and Leah got the greatest frickin' chocolate covered banana ever (as usual, she makes the bestestestest choice.) It wasn't just any chocolate covered banana, my friends. It was a banana on a long cinnamon biscuit, with raspberry jam and creme covered in chocolate. We almost died. So rich and oh so yummy. I'm sure Leah and I could go on and on and on about this damn banana...

(Sidenote: the BEST thing about the chocolate covered banana was that it was masquerading as a chocolate covered banana. When I bit into it, I was pleasantly surprised by the amazing dessert experience that greeted me!)

So then, we went home, relaxed, listened to some tunes, watched "Strangers with Candy" and headed off to, yup, eat more food.

What I did in Philly:


We went to Jones, which specializes in upscale comfort food. Leah felt like after the hilarity that was the Mutter Museum and the pouring rain, we could all use a little comforting. Again, good call. The meal did not disappoint. Potato latkes, onion rings, dumplings, tacos, mac and cheese, dessert-themed cocktails. My lovelies, we packed in it.

Because the people at Jones did not indulge NR's celebrity status, NR looked quite noire while drinking Bug Juice:


Then, we did the unthinkable. Despite being filled to the brim with food, we ordered the dessert nachos. Oohh what's that, you say? Dessert nachos: cinnamon chips, hot fudge, brownie bits, melted marshmallow all topped with strawberry salsa. (Yes, that's you salivating.)

Dessert Nachos - yes!:


We had a few bites and started to slip into a food coma. Luckily, I managed to get us home safe. By then, the museum depression had worn off and the Philly over-eating had taken over.

(Sidenote: NR is not giving herself enough credit, folks! She is a celebrity at Jones, as she was featured in an episode of MTV's Real World Philadelphia during which she stabbed at her meal at Jones in the foreground while Willie was on a date with some boy who wasn't as cute as his boyfriend. The people at Jones didn't give her much credit for this, which prompted her to exclaim, diva-like, "Don't you people KNOW WHO I AM!??!?" Not really, but that would have been awesome.)

Sunday didn't rain too much, but one of the main things Leah and D came to Philly for was to see the Salvador Dali exhibit at the Phila Museum of Art (the one Rocky ran up the stairs at.) Alas, the tickets were all sold-out. For the next month. D'OH!

Cool or Weird Dali steps:


So, instead D suggested checking out an exhibit at UPenn's Institute for Contemporary Art. (D, by the way, knows more about the goings-on in Philly than this host. The dude knows, the dude knows.) The exhibit was interesting...but more exciting was our meal prior to it.

(Sidenote: I wouldn't even call the exhibit interesting. D called it "inpenetrable." I didn't like it.)

Folks, I've known Leah for years, and I don't think I've seen her this excited and giddy ever. Like a kid going to her first concert. Seriously, she was just *radiating* with excitement and anticipation. (It was so damn cute.) What such thing brought this on? A little establishment called "Cereality." It is what is sounds like. A cafe that serves a variety of cereal.




Leah's eyes were as wide as they could be taking in everything about the place. She got the Strawberry Fields (oatmeal made with strawberry milk and topped with strawberries.) Thumbs up. D got a blueberry cereal shake and I got Life cereal with almonds, honey and bananas. Damn good stuff. Leah took many pictures of this historic visit.

And now Leah and D's weekend in Philly came to an end. Despite the crummy weather and no Dali, their visit to the City of Brotherly Love was fun. You guys are welcome to visit ANYTIME!!! (Um, that's to Leah, not to YOU reading, I don't know you...unless Leah says you're cool. Then, yeah, it's cool, come on down! High fives.)

Guest blogging was f-u-n -thanks, Leah!

(...dammit, that stupid chocolate banana...)