Trader Joe’s, City Hall, and a Cookie

If all goes according to plan, I only have about eight hours left before I depart Philadelphia. I can’t believe I’ve been here for two weeks and I will definitely be sad to leave it behind. I’m not going to lie. The temptation to stay another day (or week) is very strong. I don’t know what it is about this city but I’m definitely drawn to it – and I really can’t think of another city about which I feel the same. Perhaps Vancouver. Maybe I should try to get a green card so I can stay longer!

Anyway, as much as I like Philadelphia, I also still enjoy cycling – which is good because I still have a long way to go before I get to Florida. And, as proven with my side trip to Atlantic City, it will be good to get back on the road again.

My final day in Philadelphia was certainly more productive than my final Sunday in Philadelphia. I even found a new tourist attraction of which I was previously unaware. More on that shortly. My first task of the day was to stock up on some high caloric foods for tomorrow’s ride. For that, I headed downtown to Trader Joe’s. They had a pretty good supply of offerings including Cliff Bars, trail mix, banana chips, and of course, peanut butter.

With my food requirements taken care of I could now resume my role of Philadelphia tourist. Even though I’ve been here many times and taken many photos of City Hall, I was completely surprised to learn that there is an observation deck at the top of the tower (which is a better place for an observation deck than at the bottom of the tower). So, with my camera in hand I forked over $6 and bought my ticket to the top of the tower. The interior of City Hall has a very old feel to it that matches the exterior. The elevator to the observation deck has the same feel and is small, slow, and did I mention small? But it was also a very cool ride. I’m not sure how many people they can actually put in the elevator but there were only two other people on my particular tour plus the elevator operator. There was probably room for two more but it would’ve been tight.

The views from the top were excellent – although, this turned out to be the one day where it wasn’t sunny in Philadelphia. Fortunately, the clouds were high so they weren’t an obstruction. The observation deck is pretty small and I took all the obligatory photos I could in the 15 minutes we were allowed to be up there. I would’ve gladly stayed up longer to enjoy the views but 15 minutes was all that was really needed.

It was about 3:00 by the time we returned to the bottom of the tower. That’s when I realized I really hadn’t eaten much (ie. anything) so far today. So, with Reading Terminal Market a few blocks away, I headed there for lunch.

For what it’s worth, Reading Terminal Market was significantly less busy at 3:00 on a Monday afternoon compared to my previous Saturday afternoon visit. Lunch consisted of a grilled chicken burrito from 12th St. Cantina and, once again, it didn’t disappoint. I then headed over to the Famous 4th Street Cookie Company for a seriously overpriced (yet seriously good) black and white cookie. I only had one, but I could’ve eaten at least five more.

After devouring the cookie, I slowly wandered back home (ie. Gage & Jack’s) snapping a few more photos along the way. Even though I’ve been here two weeks, and have walked around downtown quite a bit, there are still so many photo opportunities.

My evening was spent packing everything up for tomorrow’s ride. The task I’ve been able to put off for several days could be put off no longer. In all honesty, I’m looking forward to moving on and the thought of getting to Florida is exciting. That said, I’m going to miss Philadelphia.