Weekend Update (Finally)

As you may have noticed my Monday morning Weekend Update is actually my Tuesday evening Weekend Update – which means double work for me as I’ll still have to do my Tuesday update.

The short version of my weekend would be, “Weekend was good. Ate lots. Met great people. Didn’t take as many photos as I should have.” Of course, the short version has never been my strength so let’s move right on into the long version.

Saturday morning was completely uneventful. So, we’ll skip that. Early in the afternoon I wandered around Philly again and ended up back at Reading Terminal Market – which is a great place but, as you might imagine, more than a little busy on a Saturday afternoon. The temptation was to get another burrito like the one I had the other day but I opted to go for my first Philly Cheesesteak – well, my first one on this particular visit to Philly. I know, I know – not a particularly riveting update thus far. I don’t make the news I just report it … hmmm … actually, I guess in this case I do sort of make the news. Ok, I’ll try to do better.

Saturday evening I went to a movie for the first time in over three months. The movie was “Boyhood” and it was okay. The movie took literally 12 years to make because the story chronicled the boyhood of the lead character from age 5 to 18. The premise was better than the movie but not the worst movie I’ve ever seen.

Sunday was a little bit more eventful. There was a Rock n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon on Sunday morning – no, I didn’t run it. I’m not that crazy! But I did go over and check out the activity. The looks of some of the people who had just finished the run weren’t exactly the type of thing you’d put on a poster to encourage running. There were some pretty exhausted looking people. I can’t imagine doing a 1/2 marathon. Then again, I can’t imagine running a 5k either.

Walking a 5k seems much more reasonable, so that’s what I did Sunday afternoon. Not as part of an official event but to get some lunch. For all the times I’ve been to Philadelphia, I’d never been to the original purveyor of the Philly Cheesesteak. It was time to change that.

The Philly Cheesesteak originated at Pat’s King of Steaks, so that’s where I headed. At this area of Philadelphia there are actually two restaurants, directly across from each other, that feature the Philly Cheesesteak. The second restaurant being Geno’s. Apparently it’s an on-going debate as to whose cheesesteaks are better.

Since Pat’s was the original, I decided to go there. My order was a provolone cheesesteak with onions – and I have to say, I was stunned by how quickly it was served. The long lineup moved quickly and when my time at the window came I ordered like a true Philly native – well, I’d like to think I did, even though I’m quite sure I didn’t. It should be noted that there are very specific rules to ordering a Philly Cheesesteak at Pat’s – not unlike Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” episode. There’s even a sign outlining the rules in no uncertain terms – with a note at the bottom indicating that you shouldn’t worry if you mess up the rules, you can just go to the back of the line and try again. For what it’s worth, I didn’t see anyone sent to the end of the line while I was there. Anyway, from the time I placed my order to the time I had my meal in hand couldn’t have taken more than 11 seconds.

I don’t know if it was an elevated level of hunger from a lack of breakfast and/or the 5km walk but Pat’s cheesesteak definitely hit the spot – although, truth be told I thought the bun was a little chewy. But the shaved beef was great and the onions and cheese were delicious. I wasn’t disappointed in my decision to go with Pat’s. That said, I was a little curious as to what Geno’s had to offer. Adding to that curiosity was the lineup at Geno’s that was about twice as long as the lineup at Pat’s.

As I’m sure you guessed, curiosity got the better of me and, despite having just finished a cheesesteak about five minutes earlier, I found myself in line at Geno’s.

It didn’t take long to figure out why the line at Geno’s was so much longer – the service is much slower. That’s not to say that it was slow but it certainly wasn’t the fast moving experience that Pat’s offered. There also wasn’t the same list of rules to follow when ordering, just a simple sign in the window which read, “You’re in America. Speak English.” So I did. Once again I ordered a provolone cheesesteak with onions. I figured I had to order the same sandwich if I was going to make a fair comparison (although I was tempted to go with the Cheese Whiz version).

The biggest difference in the sandwiches was the meat. Pat’s was shaved and chopped up, while Geno’s featured thin slices of beef. I think I preferred Pat’s. However, Geno’s seemed to have the better bun. And as we all know, the bread can make the sandwich. So, while both were good, I guess I have to give a SLIGHT edge to Geno’s. But then again, maybe not.

I returned home (ie. my friends’ place) around 4:00 – just in time to help set up for a barbecue. Clearly, the theme for the day was meat. And lots of it. The BBQ itself was a real BBQ – ie. not propane powered. That, of course, meant real charcoal and real fire making. Of course, real fire making is generally show, requires a lot of blowing and perhaps a little lighter fluid to help things along. In the end, we had fire – and ribs, and sausages, and more.

The “meat” theme of the day turned into a “meet” theme when friends of my friends arrived and I met Chris, Nick, and Sarah (hmmmm …. not sure about the “h” but I’m going with it). I would say the meal was a great success and enjoyed by all. Plus, during the evening I learned that Pat’s NOR Geno’s offer the best Philly cheesesteak – apparently it’s Jim’s (as per Chris). Or D’Allesandro’s (as per the guy that came to fix the stove). I also found out from Nick about a guy who made a movie about a cycling trip from Alaska to Ushaia (southern tip of South America). The guy in question did the trip on a tandem bike and left the second seat vacant for anyone who wanted to join the ride along the way. What a great idea! (You can read more about it in Nick’s comment on a previous post).

Had I been thinking, I would’ve taken some photos of the evening but clearly I was too busy feasting. The feasting eventually ended with a heaping serving of cookies n’ cream ice cream. Does it get any better than that? I don’t think so!