Philadelphia Freedom: The Terminal Building Kept me Alive

The Reading Terminal Market was conveniently located right across the street from my conference. Thank God! I was thus rescued from group lunches at Chili's. The Terminal Market is like Seattle's Pike Place or San Francisco's Ferry Building - a combination of delis, meat counters, bakeries and fresh produce.

The history of the market stretches all the way back to William Penn. When Philadelphia was established the various mongers and farmers were grouped together in an area eventually known as Market Street. The open-air market eventually started to interfere with traffic so in 1849 the markets moved indoors. The resultant Farmer's Market and Franklin Market were later joined to become the Reading Terminal market in 1892.



In the 1970s the Reading Corporation went bankrupt and made plans to sell off the market. During the 1980s the market was revitalized. The trains stopped running and a new convention center brought in new crowds. The market now has more than 80 merchants.











The first place I hunted down was Hershels East Side Deli, which had come highly recommended. It did not disappoint.





Thick slices of juicy pastrami made from brisket on fresh and mild Easy Coast rye proved too much for me and I had to take half of the half sandwich to go. The matzoh ball soup was so flavorful and comforting. The matzoh ball had the texture and authenticity I have been searching for for years.





On another day I tried the meaty brisket and an Italian macaroni salad







On the way out I stopped at Bassets, which has been serving up ice cream since 1861, since 1893 in the Terminal Market. They used to churn the ice cream using a mule. Now this is the kind of American History I like.

People think these unusual savory ice cream flavors are a new fad, but in 1955 Basset made borscht sherbert for Nikita Khrushchev. That was not on the menu during my visit. On the recommendation of the lady behind me in line I ordered "Butterscotch Vanilla — Swirls of rich butterscotch laced through creamy Bassetts vanilla ice cream make a taste treat never forgotten."



I like to get pictures of smiling counterpeople handing me my food. This guy is like, "You WILL eat this ice cream. Stop taking my picture and eat the damn ice cream already."





Chocolate marshmallow

Philadelphia Freedom: City Tavern

As I mentioned, I have never been a huge fan of American History. In fact, Colonial people scare me just a little bit. Colonial ghosts just like the guy on this sign were always chasing Scooby Doo around.



Friday night I checked into my room at the Sheraton near Penn's Landing.

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I took a walk around the cool little restaurant row. I happened upon City Tavern and was lured in by menu items like lobster pie and rabbit.

It turns out this was a rebuild of the oldest tavern in the city which was home to the first Fourth of July celebration in 1777. As my luck would have it, I had stumbled smack dab into American History within an hour of landing at the airport.

When the Tavern was completed in 1773, it was one of the most elegant buildings in the city...City Tavern knew the patronage of the great and near-great of the American Revolution. It became the practice of the members of the Second Continental Congress to dine together each Saturday at the Tavern.

The original building was demolished in 1854 and rebuilt for the bicentennial in 1976. In 1994 Walter Staub took over and dedicated himself to recreating the 18th century dining experience.

Yes, I apologize, I know it's humiliating. But if you're going to wear it, I damn sure am gonna take a picture (yes, I tipped extra).



I have a feeling this is not the last time I am going to see pewter goblets.



The bread plate included Anadama bread (a molasses bread), Sally Lunn, and "George Washington's favorite rolls". The rolls were heavy and tasted like Amish Friendship Bread. The walnuts really made them.



In spite of interesting menu items like Martha Washington Style Colonial Turkey Pot Pie and Braised Rabbit, I had to pass them up when I saw the special.

Schlachtplatte: A traditional dish served to celebrate the Schlachtfest (the butchering of a pig). An assortment of sausages and smoked pork topped with crispy fried onions accompanied by Hengstenberg sauerkraut, homemade mashed potatoes and Dijon mustard.

If I have learned anything from Anthony Bourdain, it's when it's pig butchering time the eatin is good. And I was not disappointed when this immense platter of piggy was set before me



The knockwurst, bratwurst and frankfurter were made with natural casings and had a great snap. As usual, the knockwurst was my favorite. The smoked pork was very much like ham and made a great breakfast sandwich the next morning. Buried under all of the meat was a gigantic mound of creamy mashed potatoes.



It's good to know some modern niceties, like the leftovers swan, were still observed



I wandered around a little after dinner and did not forget the first thing you have to pick up when landing on the East coast...

Philadelphia Freedom

Having spent many a miserable hour studying American History in grade school, I was in no big hurry to visit Philadelphia. To be honest, Pete Townshend's guitar is more sacred to me than the liberty bell. All I really knew about Philadelphia were cheesesteaks.

My friend made fun of me as I made my shoe selections. She said, "It's not like the streets are still cobblestone". Well...



There is an awful lot of brick everywhere, which explains why all of the founding fathers were freemasons. It's not a conspiracy. They were mason masons.









The architecture is stunning







The city is into Ben Franklin in a big way



They also have a serious thing about dead policemen



True, there were lots of cheesesteaks. Or as the locals call them, just "steaks" Like this chocolate cheesesteak that I admit made me do a double-take



Now, this, I have no explanation for



I have a few tests for gauging a new city that I applied to Philly right away.

1. Do people look at you or smile as you pass?
NO

2. Do pedestrians cross on red?
YES

Just don't block the box



And then there are those weird, random things you come across in a big city

Make it Irish the Easy Way

How do you make things Irish?

So far the easiest way has been to color it green.
Until now, when Betty Crocker brings you the easiest "Irish" treat ever invented.

1. Make cupcakes
2. Frost cupcakes
3. Stick Lucky Charms cereal on top.

Magically delicious!

Rocket Fizz

Last summer a riot of neon notified Burbank that there was a new store in town and it was all about fun! Rocket Fizz is here to bring back the candy and sodas of childhood, as well as hard-to-find local products. They even have a wide assortment of obscure diet sodas.









Partners Jack Cross, whose career in the field of body shops shows in his retro design, and pizza shop owner Luke Jacobeli have created a wonderland of nostalgia.

Customers wander around exclaiming, "No way!" "I haven't seen this since I was a kid!" "They have apple Abba Zabbas!" Really, did you even know they had apple Abba Zabbas?









Cross and Jacobeli chose Burbank as their store location because in many ways Burbank is a retro town, with its ancient shops, Googie signage, and of course Bob's Big Boy.

There is a patio in the back where you can enjoy your drinks and chocolate cigarettes, and they are planning to start showing B Movies there, something to foster a sense of community in the neighborhood. Rocket Fizz is open from 11am to 9pm weekdays and 10pm on weekends, but sometimes they are open even later, which saved me from an uncertain fate last Christmas Eve.



At least he went happy





I dared three people to try to fit an entire Cherry Mash in their mouths until this guy took me up on the dare.







Oh, for the halcyon days when hobos and smoking were cool



Fun with wax moustaches