Last time I was in Philadelphia was in 1990 for a middle school field trip. There’s some great history there that I’d like to go back and see. But not now.
I was last there on July 4, 1998. I had made a promise to my soon-to-be-ex-wife (How could I be such a sucker?) that I’d help her move outside of Princeton, NJ, where she’d gotten a job. My idea was to exorcize the demons of the marriage by physically relocating her from northern VA to Jersey. A cathartic effort on my part. It cost me a relationship with a well-endowed Virginia girl who thought I was going for a last one-nighter (which I was NOT, BTW - she dumped me the next day, thinking I was somehow tainted by the ex’s bitches brew) and got a blown-out knee lugging furniture up stairwells in the process. I remember coming down I-95 and seeing the fireworks going off all around me, and thinking of how much history was being celebrated that night. I also remember pulling into a truck rest plaza in the U-Haul just before midnight on the DE/MD line, literally dragging my stiff leg behind me, grabbing a big jug of Gallo Blush off the shelf, and one-hopping it to the cashier. He looked at the clock, looked at me, and decided to take pity on my poor, grimy, crippled self and rang it up at exactly 12:00 AM. I got back to NoVa around 2:30 AM, propped my bad leg up on the coffee table, and drank until I couldn’t feel my leg - or her - anymore. It’s the only memory on NJ I ever want to have, ever. In life.
I took 3 different trips to PA this
year.The virus closed down many things
but I was still able to see some stuff.
At one point I was in Valley Forge and
saw the historic park.Amish country,
Pittsburgh, Poconos etc.
My first trip I was near Philly but riots
were going on.Later I was passing through
Philly on way back but Constitution
Ctr and other historic buildings
were closed due to virus.You could
see the Liberty Bell from outside
but that was about it.