Forty days and forty nights. So far. It's an epic trip, almost biblical in its scope and duration.
And there's a lot more to come.
At this point, home has become an almost abstract concept. It seems long ago and far away. Only the road and our nomadic existence seems really real. Okay, that's a bit exaggerated, but I am feeling a little disconnected, on the float, impermanent.
Mostly I like that feeling, but then I find myself thinking fondly about home and our settled, happy life in Boise. In about a week we'll reach our easternmost point (Boston) and start heading back west. I'm not sure how that will make me feel.
After Gettysburg, we headed toward Philadelphia via our beloved back roads.
Southeast Pennsylvania is Pennsylvania Dutch territory, so-called after the early wave of German (Deutsch) settlers, not the Dutch colonists who founded New Amsterdam. This includes Amish and Mennonite communities.
When I drove through here in 1978, the Pennsylvania Dutch culture was much more evident than it is now. Back then there were hex signs painted on many of the barns and houses. Now some of the houses display stars, which are the more modernized version of those old charms.
We did see a few horse and buggy rigs.
Drivers give them a wide berth.
Some are stripped down models.
Our hotel in the City of Brotherly Love is a block from Independence Hall in the Old City.
It's in a historic building dating from 1856. Only part of the structure has been renovated so far, but it's quite nicely done.
The Delaware River is only three blocks away, so we took a stroll along the docks. The weather was perfect.
This old sailing ship is undergoing massive reconstruction.
This one has been converted into a restaurant.
The cruiser Olympia, part of Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet is docked here. It was also Admiral Dewey's flagship during the battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish-American war.
Fittingly the battleship New Jersey is docked just across the river in New Jersey.
A fireboat shows off.
We found a small, but excellent restaurant for dinner. We sat at the Chef's bar so we could watch the kitchen at work. We find the process fascinating. The staff started off slowly, but as the evening wore on the orders and the plates started flying.
We had a series of small plates, all delicious, using some unusual flavor combinations.
Mussels with a hot pepper broth and ramps.
Rare tuna with sorrel and rhubarb.
Beet salad with chicory, garlic yogurt, and raisins.
Spaghetti with hot pepper, mint and pistachio pesto.
And a wonderful maple and lavender panna cotta. I'm not usually a huge maple fan, but this was delicious.
My sister and her husband were in town for the day. They are in NY for a short vacation, and we met at the Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. The museum has an amazing collection of artifacts, most collected in the early days of archeology when taking whatever you dug up was the norm.
Looting, in other words.
It was great to see it all in one place, though.
The Native American section is small, but worth a visit. Painted shields like these are quite rare.
Camazotz is the Mayan death bat god.
I love the sleek stylization in Mayan and Aztec sculpture.
This well-preserved stele is from Piedras Negras in Guatemala.
This pediment once helped support an altar. It still has traces of the original bright pigments it was decorated with.
Goats gotta goat.
This piece from the middle-eastern city of Ur depicts a bull with a false beard (probably trying to disguise itself as a goat).
O had to stop for a snack halfway through the exhibit.
I remember seeing that gold and lapis goat in a book on archeology when I was maybe 8 or 9. I loved it immediately. I saw it much later in the British Museum, not realizing it was one of a pair. This is its twin.
This helmeted warrior was killed and buried with a queen who needed an escort in the afterlife. About sixty warriors and attendants were sacrificed for this purpose. His skull and helmet were crushed flat by the weight of the soil he was buried under.
A female attendant was similarly flattened.
A computer reconstruction of her pre-flattened skull.
The kings of Assyria were not humble.
Neither are the cheesesteak kings of Philly.
The debate continues to rage--is Pat or Geno the true king of Philly cheesesteaks? The two restaurants are directly across from each other and the old rivalry continues.
We chose Geno's, and it was good. The original formulation "wit wiz" (that's Cheez Whiz, the orange cheese-adjacent chemical paste) is gross, but delicious. But the winner is the roast pork, juicy and beautifully seasoned.
Both places are cash-only and so popular that they have their own dedicated ATMs.
Of course we had to see the Liberty Bell.
We had a fine time Philly together. We'll meet them again in New York tomorrow before they jet back to the Bay Area.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Philadelphia. It's a much more interesting and attractive town than we expected. We might be back.
City hall is immense.
I went back to visit the cruiser Olympia. I have loved this ship since I first saw pictures of it when I was a kid. I had no idea that it was still afloat.
Some of the guns are actually inside the superstructure.
Imagine the smoke and recoil in the crew's living spaces.
Two of the largest are actually placed in the captain's and the admiral's staterooms, which just seems weird.
A reminder of where the word came from.
I love this story. They knew how to have a good time in the old Navy. And look at that beard!
Afterward I walked through the Old City neighborhood. Beautiful old buildings, many dating back to the early 1700s.
This alley hasn't changed much since then.
Eighteenth-century humor. Looks like a man with everything he needs for a full, happy life to me.
P.
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