Reading Terminal Market

The previous evening ended late and today started early so it was in a bit of a cloud when Mike, Suzie, and I started on the Reading Terminal Market tour.  This was the first site I saw on the way there.

The tour itself was informative and seemingly profitable for the operator and I ran around taking photos afterward.  I’m a sucker for juxtaposition:

After the tour, we headed to Chinatown for lunch.

Chinatown

Chinatown in Philadelphia has been up until now “the place we went to eat after Grand Prixs and Pro Tour Magic events with people who were douches about chinese food”.  We ate at Lee Ho Fook’s and Warren Zevon thus played in my head during any lulls in the conversation.  The best of the four dishes was Ben’s salted squid.  It was fried, salty, and squiddy.  I never considered squid much of a distinct flavor but either the spicing or the sizing was enough for me to go “yup, that’s cephalopod”.

As we walked back to the car and jumped into stores and curiosity shops there was a man at one corner painting a picture of the intersection.  This is the fourth or fifth time that I’ve seen this in Philadelphia and, where possible, I try to take a picture of the work and what they’re focusing on.  I’ve spent more raw time in New York City and Chicago than Philadelphia and I’ve never seen this happen in either of those locations.

This shot is a tone-mapped HDR.  Normally the car sides or the sky would be respectively dark or blown out and the sun streaking across the building sides is present but not overbearing.  I am happy with it.

Eastern State Penitentiary

The final stop was after a long walk to Eastern State Penitentiary, a prison that opened in the 1820s and housed both Al Capone and Willie Sutton.  It is notable for its “recovery through silence” philosophy as well as the state of disrepair it fell into in the 1970s.  The facility is slowly being restored and we took an audio tour which was narrated by Steve Buscemi.  One can still walk around the unrestored areas and entrance is only barred to areas undergoing restoration or that are obviously dangerous.  Here’s one of the unrestored cell blocks.  For reference, the grates are about 3 feet high.

Again this is a tonemapped HDR.  I have a more striking version where I dicked with the color and contrast but it didn’t seem right to nudge what was otherwise a documentary photograph.  A side benefit of being ensconced in tons of masonry was that the facility was quite cool.

We then walked to the Art Museum steps and saw Philadelphia’s almost skyline.

Mike had driven Suzie and I into the city and was headed south, Suzie was headed west, I was headed north, and Ben was headed home.  I took SEPTA to Trevose and then walked the three miles home from there.  When I got home I was tired but not sleepy so ran a bit.  My Fitbit (pedometer) tells me I walked 36890 steps today for a total of about 22 miles today.  I believe it.

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