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Jun. 30th, 2004 02:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
saoneSince I wasn't able to take a laptop with me to
Philly, I'm still in the process of playing catch up
with emails, and lj, and sleep. Need lots and lots of
sleep (I've been getting about twelve hours a night since a got home. Am still tired). *g*
The Good:
Carriage ride - Really the best way to get around the
city. Cars stop for horses. *g* Saw most of the
historic sites like Independence Hall, Carpenter's
Hall, Society Hill...
The architecture - Piladelphia is really a gorgeous,
gorgeous place. There were so many huge, elegant old
buildings, and such amazing brick and stone work. Of
course, we saw most of the really impressive stuff
while we were zooming around trying to find our way
back to the hotel, but that's something to be covered
in the bad section.
The view - Very nice. The river to the left, and
Society Hill to the right. Of corse, an eight lane
highway was right down the middle, but we tried not to
look straight ahead.
The people, for the most part, when they weren't
behind the wheel - Very nice, helpful, polite. In
previous trips north I had encountered quite a lot of
rudeness, so I had steeled myself for more. But, I
admit it, I was wrong. Most Philadelphians, when
they're not driving, are really friendly people.
Hmmm, maybe it's just Marylanders who suck? ;)
The Philly Zoo - Saw two giant turtles having sex.
Well, technically, saw a male turtle mount a female
turtle, and work extremely hard at getting his rocks
off, while the female turtle kept eating and did her
best to ignore him. Was greatly amused.
Now, for the BAD:
The traffic - 2 hours to get around Washington going
up, and 2 hours to get around Washington coming back.
So, maybe I get the traffic going up. We were on the
Maryland Beltway at about seven o'clock on Wed. I
suppose that could have been the tail end of rush hour
(though, that's one hell of a 'rush hour'). But we
came back on a Sunday, and it took 2 hours to travel
30 miles. On a Sunday! Grrrr.
The signage, or lack there of - Evidently, they don't believe in marking roads properly in PA, or things are just *really* well marked here in VA. We got lost every single time we ventured out from the hotel. Well, maybe 'lost' isn't the right word, after all, we knew where we were, but with all the one way streets, and creatively worded highway signs we had no idea how to get where we wanted to go. One night, while trying to get back to our hotel, we ended up in Camden NJ. As we were crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge, mom and I both went "Well, shit!"
The taxes - $22 a day for the room. $3 a day to park the car. Now, I understand that room tax is nothing new, all hotels do it to some extent, but $22 a day?! Come on. For that amount of money, we should at least have gotten extra soap or something. I also find it incredably ironic that Phillidelphia, a linchpin of the American Revolution, taxes the shit out of you. I seriously thought about buying some tea bags and dumping them in the river.
To sum up, I'm very glad to be home. *g*
Philly, I'm still in the process of playing catch up
with emails, and lj, and sleep. Need lots and lots of
sleep (I've been getting about twelve hours a night since a got home. Am still tired). *g*
The Good:
Carriage ride - Really the best way to get around the
city. Cars stop for horses. *g* Saw most of the
historic sites like Independence Hall, Carpenter's
Hall, Society Hill...
The architecture - Piladelphia is really a gorgeous,
gorgeous place. There were so many huge, elegant old
buildings, and such amazing brick and stone work. Of
course, we saw most of the really impressive stuff
while we were zooming around trying to find our way
back to the hotel, but that's something to be covered
in the bad section.
The view - Very nice. The river to the left, and
Society Hill to the right. Of corse, an eight lane
highway was right down the middle, but we tried not to
look straight ahead.
The people, for the most part, when they weren't
behind the wheel - Very nice, helpful, polite. In
previous trips north I had encountered quite a lot of
rudeness, so I had steeled myself for more. But, I
admit it, I was wrong. Most Philadelphians, when
they're not driving, are really friendly people.
Hmmm, maybe it's just Marylanders who suck? ;)
The Philly Zoo - Saw two giant turtles having sex.
Well, technically, saw a male turtle mount a female
turtle, and work extremely hard at getting his rocks
off, while the female turtle kept eating and did her
best to ignore him. Was greatly amused.
Now, for the BAD:
The traffic - 2 hours to get around Washington going
up, and 2 hours to get around Washington coming back.
So, maybe I get the traffic going up. We were on the
Maryland Beltway at about seven o'clock on Wed. I
suppose that could have been the tail end of rush hour
(though, that's one hell of a 'rush hour'). But we
came back on a Sunday, and it took 2 hours to travel
30 miles. On a Sunday! Grrrr.
The signage, or lack there of - Evidently, they don't believe in marking roads properly in PA, or things are just *really* well marked here in VA. We got lost every single time we ventured out from the hotel. Well, maybe 'lost' isn't the right word, after all, we knew where we were, but with all the one way streets, and creatively worded highway signs we had no idea how to get where we wanted to go. One night, while trying to get back to our hotel, we ended up in Camden NJ. As we were crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge, mom and I both went "Well, shit!"
The taxes - $22 a day for the room. $3 a day to park the car. Now, I understand that room tax is nothing new, all hotels do it to some extent, but $22 a day?! Come on. For that amount of money, we should at least have gotten extra soap or something. I also find it incredably ironic that Phillidelphia, a linchpin of the American Revolution, taxes the shit out of you. I seriously thought about buying some tea bags and dumping them in the river.
To sum up, I'm very glad to be home. *g*
