A Whirlwind Tour of Philly + Triumphant New York Return

So it's the final day of the roadtrip. Wow. I woke up in D.C., drove to Philly, and saw a few folks, then headed up to New York, checked out my new apartment, and went out to Ben's surprise party.

(The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. I need a picture of something that said "Baltimore", and this is what I got.)

(Once I started seeing signs for I-95, I realized I was close to home.)

(Lincoln Financial Field, or "The Link", home of the Philadelphia Eagles.)

(Broad Street, Philadelphia's version of Broadway, with City Hall front and center.)

(Rittenhouse Square, the closest thing Philly has to Central Park.)

(The Comcast Tower, Philadelphia's tallest building.)

My friend Julie Wertheimer was having lunch right around the corner from where I was headed in Philly, so I picked her up and gave her a lift. She tells me that Philly just isn't the same without me. She didn't actually say that, but it would have been pretty cool if she had.

(Sabrina's Cafe, which is apparently the best brunch spot in Philly that I never knew about.)

(Julie and her sister Sam.)

I then went to meet up with my friend Taylor DiGravina, a PhD student at Penn, whom I know from Order of Omega, the Greek "honor" society at Penn. She showed me her place and then we went on a very, very abbreviated tour of West Philadelphia/University City, where Penn's campus is located. The next 15 or so pictures were snapped in the span of about 20 minutes.

(One of the few people I still know in Philly who doesn't have responsibilities on a Friday afternoon.)

(If you ever visit Jeremy Lerman in Washington, D.C., don't let trust his advice on parking spots.) 

(The Westward view from Taylor's apartment.)

(Memories...)

(Huntsman Hall at The Wharton School - The most unnecessarily awesome $140 million building ever.)

(Pottruck, my gym for 4 years.)

(Hemo's on 38th and Walnut - Best Food Cart in the city. And I am a more-than-qualified observer.)

(Penn's AEPi house - Gamma Chapter.)

(Koch's deli, a legend.)

(Koch's deli, inside.)

(Saad's Halal on 45th Street. The best food that 99% of Penn Students never knew about. I discovered it on one of my runs through West Philly senior year.)

(The Greek Lady and I shared something very special.)

("The Deck" at 4100 Locust St., my home senior year.)

(Allegro's Pizza, adjacent to my old Frat house. Many slices and beers were consumed within this establishment.)

(Penn's freshman quad, my home in 2003.)

(You know, that other school.)

(Drexel's main building is actually a pretty nice piece of architecture.)

(This bus stop ad was "out there" to the point that I had to take a picture.)

Then it was time to head to Aramingo Avenue, the neighborhood of my very good buddy Jay McCarrie, a soon-t0-be third-year law student. Jay took me to his local pub for some fine fare, and we did a lot of catching up. Since this was my very last stop before returning to NYC, it became very surreal.

(My buddy Jay, wearing his stupid Phillies hat. It makes him look fat.)

(The Memphis Taproom, one of Philly's finest spots for a pint and a bite.)

(The bottle list.)

(What's on tap?)

(The last of the roadtrip craft beers - A Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace and a Russian River Brewery Blind Pig.)

(One final installment of wings before I go back.)

(Oyster Sandwich and Hangar Steak.)

Finally it was time to hit the road and cover the final 100 miles back to NYC. They went by quickly, but I was stubborn enough to drive with the top down the entire way, even though there were a few thunderstorms on the journey. Upon returning to the Hertz, I unpacked my belongings and was picked up by my new roommate Sam Benen, who took me to our new place on West 31st.

(The best sign I've seen in a month.)

(A fully-loaded exit.)

(Farewell, sweet prince.)

(The new roommate expresses his joy upon my return.)

(The view on a cloudy day.)

(The new place, barely furnished.)

(The open kitchen gets me very, very excited.)

(Nothing gets the night going like a few glasses of scotch in an empty apartment.)

(The first houseguests.)

Finally, it was time to head out to Ben's surprise birthday party at The Village Pourhouse, an East Village watering hole where sobriety goes to die. I saw a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while, and it was a great way to return to the good old city.

(A few of the boys.)

(The surprise.)

(The sucker and the mastermind.)

I'll be writing one final post soon. I can't believe I'm back.

D.C. Dinner Party

Whew. It has been quite a night. This is going to be a captions-only post. All you need to know is that we had quite a get-together tonight.

(My victims.)

(Luckiest man alive.)

(This is what happens when you have five wine glasses and six dinner guests.)

(Udon Noodles, Bok Choy and Assorted-Other-Vegetables-That-Seemed-Like-A-Good-Idea-At-The-Time.)

(Soy Sesame Sherry Baked Salmon with Scallions and Ginger.)

(I figured this was a good picture to take while I finished baking the salmon.)

(Dinner is served.)

(Jeremy's pants got tight when he saw the dozen Krispy Kreme donuts Dan brought for dessert.)

(My buddy Rich arrives just in time, as if we needed another bottle of wine. At least this one was good...)

(People talking about stuff.)

(10:30pm update: Five empty bottles visible. Two people visible.)

(11:30pm update: Seven empty bottles visible. Two people visible.)