Philadelphia

After dropping off Zach and Matt at the airport near Hartford CT, I meandered through CT and NY to finally stay at a KOA in the Poconos about 2 hrs north of Philadelphia. I slept in late and didn't get to to the city until around 11 am. Rain started almost immediately. I parked the van near the old city and hooked up with a walking tour, then browsed through the historic neighborhoods in the pouring rain until around 5:30, when I found Eulogy Belgian Tavern featuring hundreds of Belgian beers. The food was ok, too :) I stayed there watching the rain and trying to decide where to go next and got to know some of the other people at the bar.

A whole group of people had come in after their company picnic and turns out they were in the sourcing systems dept for GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals. (That's precisely where I was at WaMu.) It was a fun group and we talked shop and about my van and travel etc for a few hours, then a few of us went for cheap Indian food. I ended up crashing for the night on a sofa of some guys who live in the "gay-borhood" near 11th and Linden. It was very tidy, and I got a nice hot shower and coffee in the morning with and directions to a nearby cafe for breakfast with wireless. It was a bit surreal, but I feel that I got to see more of real life in Phila than you get from the $14 costumed-character tour.

City of Brotherly Love -- indeed.

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