Today we took a mini-trip to Philadelphia. We didn't really have a plan, but it was a sunny day and we had nothing else to do. We started out around Chinatown where there was this weird parade-ish thing happening. We watched for a while: it involved a couple of dancing dragons (or so we thought -- we looked it up later and they are actually lions) in front of shops, then a bunch of fireworks. Oh, and lettuce. Apparently, it's part of Chinese New Year.
Then it was off to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. Unfortunately, my favorite stand appears to be gone (I miss you, Mexican place!), so I had some disappointing duck. Mr. HP had a really nice pork sandwich, and I had an awesome coffee to make up for the duck. I do love the Market. I always feel like I should buy a stack of baked goods and cheese and fresh seafood. Instead, we just walked by the Cookie Company and took in the smells of fresh cookies.
We then walked to the American Institute of Architects, which has the best gift shop ever. Books and wire miniatures and funky cards and sock monkeys. I found a wallet that seems about perfect. I know it won't be, but, for today, I am pretending it is perfect. It's a "taxi wallet"! I don't know what that means either, but it's red and lovely. The real reason we went to the AIA was to see a display of neon signs that Mr. HP read. Yay! Lights and stuff. There was also a model of Philadelphia and tiny, weird houses.
We next walked through this park with super-huge game pieces and a statue of Frank Rizzo. I took lots of pictures of pretty buildings, which always makes me happy. I sometimes forget how beautiful Philadelphia can be. We then went through Love Park; neither of us had been to Love Park before, which is kind of surprising. We watched the skater kids for a while, then went to the Comcast building to watch this weird video display (definitely more Mr. HP's thing).
Although it was cold, it was really nice to just walk around the city. It's one of my favorite things, just seeing what happens. Fireworks, good coffee, skater boys, a good day.
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