JDPFu.com 2025

I slept in a little today since I’ve had a sore throat the last few days. Up for a nice home-cooked breakfast from Lia of eggs, Indonesian noodles and an apple, before getting on the road.

A few toll bridges and paid turnpikes later ($12 total) and I was entering Philadelphia hunting for the famous Art Museum where Rocky was filmed. Close parking opened up for me on the far side entrance, not the main big entrance. Today was pay what you like day at the museum – I paid the normal price.

That price was cheap for what it included. I stayed until closing AND didn’t make it to the two other buildings included in the entry cost. Rodin, Picasso, Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh, Renoir, and others. We aren’t talking about a single painting or sculpture here, but entire rooms filled with each. There were over 20 Picasso’s – unprotected, just hanging on the wall. None of them had laser protection, but I suspect each was bolted to the wall and had a pressure sensor.

Besides the famous artists, there were galleries of middle-age art, weaponry, Chinese, Japanese and India art. Then there was the modern art collection. I snapped a photo of a picture that Mom and I discussed a few days earlier – the slightly off center blue square on a white background. Oddly, the guard said that room wasn’t to be photographed. I’d asked at the front desk if photography was ok and was told it was – without a flash.

Hunger forced me to leave – it was closing time too. I wanted to get a photo of the Rocky steps, but it was raining too hard to get to the bottom and face back. In fact the view of the skyline from this location earlier in the day was just a little hazy, but now hardly anything could be seen at all. I quickly walk to my car and get soaked.

Anyway, it was a long day and I needed to find my hotel, Conwell Inn, and get situated for the night. With google map and directions in hand, I start out. What should have been a 30 minute drive turned into an hour+ view the city tour. Google Maps provides approximate distances between turns, so you get a good idea when you’re getting close to a turn. I missed a turn fairly early near the Art Museum and ended up at the capitol. It was one-way street after one-way street. Seems 3 streets all head in the same direction, not every other one as in most cities. I ended up on Broad Street going in the right direction, and when the W Berk Street turn distance came up, there was no street to turn at. There was Berk Mall – into Temple University – a walkway. I kept going all the way out to 71st street and found a place to park and look over my maps. None are detailed enough, so I head back down Broad Street. This time, I find a few of the streets a little earlier in the directions and start following them again, correctly from that point. The mileage places me at Berk Mall again for the turn … again, no place to turn. I’m thinking this is a joke hotel setup by Temple University students to get credit card numbers. I call the reservations phone number and he talks me into the correct parking. It is in the middle of Temple University and there is no W Berk St to turn down. In my rush to book the hotel and get on the road, I didn’t bother to get the directions from the hotel web site which were fairly clear on the hidden nature.

Since it is a college area, summer, and Sunday, none of the food stands surrounding the hotel – and there are many, many of them – are open. I chose this hotel because it was not in the city center and didn’t have $26/night parking, but was on a subway line. The campus police station is in the same building as the hotel. Just one block away are some slums, so I’ll be staying on Broad Street when walking. Oh, and parking is $12/night.

Tomorrow will be a day of Independence Hall and central Philadelphia tours.