March 6, 1999—13 years ago—on the outskirts of a small town in Southern Mali I found myself face-to-foot with a deadly snake. The snake nabbed my little toe and the venom slowly spread through my system doing the damage it is meant to do. Eleven days later on March 17, after my foot and leg swelled to outrageous proportions—bringing searing pain that prevented me from bearing weight on my left leg— Peace Corps flew me to DC for treatment and recovery. Six months later, I returned to Mali, met the woman I now call my darling wife, and finished my Peace Corps service. (That’s the short version.)
Since surviving that ordeal, I don’t take March 6 for granted. This year, with a few vacation days to burn and several Hyatt points to redeem, my darling wife and I decided to make a run to the City of Brotherly Love. After more than 6 years living in Baltimore, we’ve talked about it often but never made the two-hour trek to Philadelphia—until this week. I left work early Monday afternoon, and my darling wife and I went to the Greyhound station and sat comfortably in plush leatherette seats on the way to Philly. (I’m sitting in a similar Greyhound bus seat on our way back to Baltimore as I write this.)
We arrived in Philly in the late afternoon and walked two short blocks to the Reading Terminal Market, which holds an impressively large collection of vendors—mostly restaurants and food stands, but also bookstores, grocers, and souvenir shops. I grabbed a felafel sandwich, but my darling wife couldn’t find anything appealing enough for her discriminating palate. We left the market and walked a mile and a half to the hotel to check in to our room and drop off our bags. We were soon back on the streets of Philly on the hunt for food. We had read about Blackbird Pizzeria on the internet and were intrigued by their vegan pizza offerings—it proved to be location a short distance from the hotel, so we walked down the historic streets to the pizzeria. My darling wife declared her slice the second best vegan pizza she’s ever had. I was out of luck because all of their selections were tomato-laden, but we shared an order of tasty french fries, so all was not lost for me.
After filling up on vegan pizza and fries, we strolled down the street contemplating our entertainment options for the night—the top two options were jazz at Chris’ Jazz Café or a concert by British performer, Estelle, at the World Café Live. Estelle seemed like the more exciting option, so we marched down the street and across the Schuylkill River to see what British pop and hip-hop looks like these days.
At World Café Live, a DJ and MC got the crowd riled up before the concert with a barrage of old school hip hop hits, so we were primed for the live music when the first opener took the stage. Bridget Kelly started things out performing three energetic songs, including one that featured her yelling “BOOM BOOM” and the crowd responding with “DYNAMITE!” Next, Luke James took the stage and swooned, swayed, and sang sappy love songs. His style was a bit over the top for me, but I give him an A for effort.
Following Luke James, the DJ returned and worked the audience into a frenzy with a rapid succession of crowd pleasers. Finally, the main act was ready. This was the final stop on the North American swing of the “All of Me” tour, and that song played as Estelle and her band and back-up singers took the stage. (The song, “All of Me,” is particularly significant for yours truly and some readers of this blog, so I thought the main act started out on a good note.) Although neither my darling wife nor I knew a single Estelle song before last night’s show, we enjoyed her set. Many in attendance were able to sing along to her songs word-for-word, but we just raised our hands in the air when told, shook our booties a bit, and clapped in appreciation.
After the show, we walked to the Chris’ Jazz Café to see whether there was still music to enjoy there. We caught the final 20 minutes of the show, which featured some great music and bit of singing, too. Finally, at close to 1am, we arrived back at the hotel.
On Tuesday, March 6, we enjoyed a relaxing day—enjoying tasty vegetarian fare at Essene Market, delicious vegan desserts at Sweet Freedom Bakery, eclectic art installations at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, late lunch at a noodle restaurant in Chinatown, and buying rice noodles and mirin at an Asian grocery store.
All in all, it was a nice impromptu trip to Philadelphia. Hopefully we won’t wait another 6 years before enjoying it again.
