Cheesesteaks & Chocolate

Wanting to explore more of the US after being abroad for so long, when Labor Day came around in September, David and I looked at a map of the continental US, compared it against direct flights from Austin and places we had yet to visit, and decided to go to Philadelphia for the long weekend.  (It was basically like throwing a dart at a map, but it worked.) 

Friends recommended that we stay at the Loews Hotel in the heart of downtown Philly.  The Loews building was the first modern skyscraper constructed in the US, and housed the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society.  The bank was opened in 1932 and featured amenities like air conditioning and radio receivers, as well as luxury Cartier clocks on every floor.  The office building was eventually remodelled into a hotel, which opened in 2000.  David and I realized from the full flight and busy hotel lobby that we had just happened to book our trip during the same weekend as Made in America.

We’d been out of the states for four years, so we had an excuse for 1) not even knowing what Made in America is and 2) not realizing that the concert series was the same weekend as our trip.  Made in America, it turns out, is an annual music fest showcasing popular and up-and-coming artists.  It was started by Jay-Z, and takes place in LA and Philadelphia every summer. 

Coincidentally, Ankeeta, my college roommate, happened to be in Philadelphia for the festival, but we didn’t realize it until the night before her flight back to Dallas.  However, we were able to meet up with one of David’s high school friends, Mr. George Bickley Remmey IV.  (Or just Bickley, as he’s totally embarrassed when David calls him by his full name… in a posh British accent.)

We had dinner on Monday night with Bickley and his wife, Alice, at the Continental, a trendy diner that served up a variety of small plates from around the globe – French onion soup dumplings, Thai chicken lettuce wraps, and cheesesteak eggrolls with sriracha ketchup.  It was a delicious way to catch up with an old friend!

After checking into our historic hotel, we followed the crowds to Reading Terminal for lunch.  

I looked up ‘The 9 Best Things to Eat at Reading Terminal’ on Thrillist, and David and I went to town!  We had gator gumbo with a side of fried macaroni and cheese at Beck’s Cajun Café and split the famous reuben at Hershel’s East Side Deli.  For dessert, we devoured a chocolate chip cannoli at Termini Bros Bakery.

Our favorite, though, was the donuts from Beiler’s.  The Amish travel to Philadelphia from Lancaster County each day to sell their homemade goods and fresh foods.  And who knew the Amish were the best at making donuts?  But of course they are – they use fresh butter and cream to create perfect gooey donuts with creamy centers.  The line for Beiler’s was wrapped around the terminal, and it wasn’t hard to see why.  As David and I were savouring the snack, all I was thinking was, ‘This is the best donut I’ve ever had in my life.’  

Following lunch, we walked to Independence Park.  Once there, we saw the iconic Liberty Bell and took a tour of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Continental Congress met to adopt the Constitution.

We then spent all of Sunday exploring America’s early history across Philadelphia. 

Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn as the capital of the Pennsylvania colony.  It became the largest city in British America in the mid-1700s and played a pivotal role during the American Revolution.  Not only did the founding fathers sign the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution at Independence Hall, Philadelphia also acted as the nation’s capital while Washington DC was under construction.

William Penn sits atop beautiful City Hall,

overlooking Love park

We toured Betsy Ross’ house, where she sewed the first American flag  

Down the street from her home is Elfreth’s Alley, America’s oldest continuously inhabited street

We walked down the cobblestone alleyway to admire the traditional homes

Nearby sits Christ Church, also known as ‘The Nation’s Church’ because so many of the founding fathers worshipped there, including Ben Franklin, who’s buried in the churchyard.  

William Penn, George Washington, and Betsy Ross also attended services at Christ Church 

The cemeteries around Society Hill, a residential area in Philadelphia with picturesque row houses, are filled with Revolutionary soldiers.  An original flag with thirteen stars attached to a small, round marker indicates that the person buried beneath fought in the war. 

Pennsylvania Hospital, the country’s first hospital, sits on the outskirts of Society Hill

We stopped for a break at the Franklin Fountain – a popular, authentic ice cream parlor and soda fountain 

One of the best parts of our historical tour of Philadelphia was spending a few hours locked up in Eastern State Penitentiary.

Following the Revolution, The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons met at Ben Franklin’s home to set the international standard in prison design by building a penitentiary that would reform prisoners.  The society was founded on a Quaker-inspired concept of isolating the prisoners to help them think and repent on their evil deeds.  The inmates were even hooded any time they were outside their cells to prevent interactions with other prisoners, guards, or gaining knowledge of the prison’s design.  Visitors from South America, Europe, China, and Japan visited the prison to then return home and base their own prisons on the same structure.

Charles Dickens even visited the prison in 1842, but completely disagreed with what he saw.  He called the solitary confinement of the men inside, ‘worse than any torture of the body.’  Others agreed, and in the early 1900s, the Pennsylvania system was shut down.  

Today, the prison is known as one of the most haunted buildings in America.  Every year during Halloween, it opens its doors for Terror Behind the Walls, a haunted house experience.  Even walking through in broad daylight, we got an eerie feeling from the barren cells sealed with heavy doors, abandoned corridors, and the overgrown prison yard.

Al Capone spent his first prison sentence at Eastern State Pen for carrying a concealed, deadly weapon.  He spent his year behind bars in luxury compared to other inmates.  He had furniture, oriental rugs, and even a radio.  Pep the Dog is another notable prisoner.  The poor pup was sentenced for murdering the Pennsylvania governor’s wife’s cat.  He was even assigned an inmate number and had a mug shot taken.

On a lighter note, David and I also visited West Philadelphia, where the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was born and raised.  Our bus slowed as we approached the playground where he spent most of his days, chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool.  When I mentioned to some friends that we were headed to Philly for the holiday weekend, they asked what we were going to see and do.  I told them besides going for the history and cheesesteaks, we were going to check out the basketball court where Will Smith got in one little fight before moving to Bel Air.  ‘You know that’s not a real thing, right?’ was the response I got back.  So I am happy to say that in fact, it is a real thing and I saw it and took the picture to prove it!

After taking in the sites of Philadelphia for a couple of days, we decided to head outside the city to visit the Amish and (most importantly) Chocolate World in Hershey!

The small town of Hershey, PA is about 90 minutes outside the city.  David never deleted his Zipcar account after coming back to the states, and we were glad he didn’t, because finding a rental car company with extended hours on Labor Day is impossible.  Zipcar is inexpensive and everywhere, which made it incredibly convenient.  We found a car parked in a garage a few blocks from our hotel and booked it for the day.

From the moment we arrived in The Sweetest Place on Earth, our mouths started watering.  We could actually smell the chocolate as we drove into the adorable town! 

Even the street lights are shaped like Hershey kisses 

The old factory is still there, while construction for a more modern factory is undergoing a few blocks away 

We saw the house that Milton Hershey built after finally succeeding with his candy company, and learned about his vision for a place where his employees could have fun outside of work, which led to a huge amusement park adjacent to Chocolate World.  We also learned of Hershey’s commitment to helping underprivileged children.  As he had no kids of his own, it was his dream to help other children, so he built the Milton Hershey School and gave his entire fortune to it.  Today, Hershey is one of the wealthiest private schools in the world, and serves nearly 2,000 children.

Besides the tour of the town of Hershey, we also went on a tour of the factory to learn how our favourite candies like Reese’s peanut butter cups and Mounds bars are made.  From there, we took a lesson in chocolate-tasting and then made our own, personalized candy bars.

On our way back to Philadelphia, we stopped in Amish country for dinner.  We ate at a farmhouse called Good n Plenty in Lancaster County.  The menu consisted of country staples like fried chicken and honey-baked ham, with sides of butter noodles, mashed potatoes, fresh-baked bread with whipped butter, and pickled vegetables.  It was a simple, home-cooked meal.  For dessert, they didn’t have any donuts so we had the local favorite, whoopie pie.

As we drove back to the city, we couldn't help but notice all of the signs for the surrounding towns…  Intercourse, Fertility, Virginville, and the best one of all – Blue Ball.  Who came up with these names?  Was it the Amish, or someone poking fun at the Amish?  Either way, it made for an amusing car ride.

Before flying back to Austin on Tuesday, David and I took part in the cheesesteak challenge.  We had already tried Jim’s Steaks on South Street a couple of days prior, and that was pretty dang good, so we were excited to compare Pat’s vs Geno’s. 

Pat’s King of Steaks invented the cheesesteak back in 1930 when Pat Olivieri decided that instead of making hot dogs at his hot dog stand, he was going to try something different.  He grabbed some chopped meat from the butcher, cooked it on his grill, and combined the meat with onions in an Italian roll.  Years later, customers and employees alike suggested he add cheese.  Today, a traditional cheesesteak is considered chopped steak and cheese whiz on an Italian roll.

Thirty years later, Joey Vento decided to start selling cheesesteaks and figured he would open Geno’s Steaks where they were already eating them – across the street from Pat’s! So Pat’s and Geno’s are literally across the street from each other, at the corner of 9th and Passyunk in South Philly.

David and I first stopped at the original, Pat’s.  To avoid overeating, we decided to split one sandwich at each place.  At Jim’s, I preferred the original, which was just steak and cheese whiz on the specially-baked bread.  The steak at Jim’s was fresh off the grill, which made it super tender and moist.  However, they did not put enough cheese on my sandwich, which made me sad.  I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, and asked for a simple steak with double whiz at Pat’s.  That’s what I’m talkin’ about!  However, the steak wasn’t as good as Jim’s... the meat was bland and chewy.  Even though I only had half a sandwich, by the time I finished all that cheese, I was too full to eat another half at Geno’s.

David was ready for a second helping, though, and ordered another sandwich across the street.  He asked for the steak sandwich with provolone and grilled onions.  Unfortunately the grilled onions were undercooked, and the taste of raw chopped onions overpowered everything else on the sandwich.  So our winner of the cheesesteak challenge was neither Pat’s nor Geno’s, but Jim’s! 

I gained four pounds over Labor Day weekend because of those damn sandwiches.

No joke.

To work off some, but apparently not all, of those calories, we booked it to the Museum of Art to run in Rocky’s footsteps.

David and I returned back to Austin not only weighing a bit more, but with more knowledge of American history, and we are looking forward to continuing our domestic travels to get to know the US even better!