There's so much to write about from the last 48 hours that I'm going I parse it into more manageable bites, so to speak. A trip back to my hometown, lots of great food, friends, two concerts, and some great little random moments in between.
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| The view of the Philadelphia Skyline from the Mann Center's Skyline Stage My lovely companion and I booked a room at Rittenhouse 1715, not to be confused with the Rittenhouse Hotel. This is a charming little Bed and Breakfast half a block off of Rittenhouse Square Park in center city Philadelphia. While the desk staff at lunch time are very sweet, they were a little awkward too. Charming? As we were early, the room wasn't ready yet, but we left our bag to go kill an hour while they finished it. |
Our choice of beverage while waiting for check-in was La Colombe, across the park. If you haven't seen their dove-in-flight logo at coffeeshops in Brooklyn and Manhattan, or either of their three free-standing locations here in New York now, you just aren't paying attention. This Philly-based roaster has had their cafe on 19th street since the dawn of time, and it's always been pure class.
Standing in line across from the early 1900's style coin operated refrigerating despensor for their house "Pure Black" bottled iced coffee, (put in coins, door unlocks. Grab a 4 pack holder, and fill it with bottles!) we watched a barista in vest and tie work the line. I stepped outside of my normal routine and ordered a coffee granita (house cold brew, ice, sugar, milk,) and my lovely companion ordered a bitter iced mocha. We receive our drinks at the end of the line, near the free water machine, serving super-purified room temperature, cold, or even sparkling water. (eat your heart out, Molecule!)
The mocha was very chocolatey and hardly sweet at all. (just perfect, if you ask me.) My drink was refreshing on the surprisingly sunny day as we wandered through the park, and got to sit and watch swing dancers from Lindy and Blues having a great time on one side of us, while a young couple with a banjo and tiny accordion performed at the other end of the park. Perfect way to kill an hour while your room gets ready.
Back at the hotel, our room was large, with a couple of requisite antiques, but a modern and super comfortable bed, substantial modern bathroom (rain spout shower head and wand, teak bench, etc.) and a much larger than necessary flat screen TV. The only drawback was our view of the alley behind the building, but we were really using the room as a base of operations and not as a place to hole up for the weekend. Free chocolate chip cookies in the lobby were a cute perk, and the basement cafe was as adorable as one could probably make it.
More to come in part 2
-SdJ
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