Philly Wanderlust

I 100% see the logic in looking at Valentine’s Day as a cliche, non-important holiday. But we use it, as so many other couples, as time to hang out and enjoy each-other’s company anyway. We go all out most years, and this year we made it a weekend endeavor, combining various, somewhat local travel excursions. Matt did the planning, and it was nothing short of wonderful.

On Saturday of Valentine’s weekend, Matt surprised me with a day trip to NYC. Sadly, I inadvertently unplugged my camera battery charger, so I was left to be strategic about how often to both turn on the camera and to take any pictures. But in moments of bliss when it was worth the risk of an entirely dead camera battery, these were the photos that I took:

To me New York is now bagels, long walks, tea rooms, books, wine & beer, and romantic Italian dinners.

We returned home late Saturday night and took the next day to relax at home by ourselves. On Monday, the adventures proceeded as we took the morning to enjoy Reading Terminal and the afternoon to enjoy a new neighborhood (new to us, not new overall): Fishtown!

I’ve brought my camera to Reading Terminal many times, but become frustrated at having to maneuver through large crowds, which has ended my enthusiasm for photographing anything. So when we arrived around 9am on a Monday, I felt much joy at having the freedom to photograph whilst in a good mood! (No crowds whatsoever.) So we started by ordering crepes for breakfast:

We then walked around and grocery shopped for a meal we’d be making that night. Reading Terminal provides high quality meat and offers just about any type of food you could want. So we bought our groceries, returned them to our refrigerator, and headed out again for Fishtown! We were delighted to find it a 20-minute ride by public transit.

Fishtown turned out to be just what we’d hoped. We walked,

read insightful words,

enjoyed some mural art, 

visited two thrift stores, a coffee shop,

Soup Kitchen (2146 E Susquehanna Ave) for a light lunch,

and topped off with a visit to the Barcade.

We will be back. And if we return with the same itinerary, we will not be remiss.

A perfect weekend.

(Here’s the after product of the food we bought at Reading Terminal:)

Valentine’s Day may be cliche, but we do not mind one bit.