Today we are driving up to Philly for an overnight stay at the Marriott on Market St. This trip will mostly consist of finding some good cheesesteaks, what ever other restaurants we might find, and a little site seeing thrown in along the way.
I was up first, as usual, so I did a little searching on line for maps and places to eat. Thanks to all the TB's that have reviewed different places in Philly; got some good ideas on where to go now! After I fixed us both some pancakes and bacon for breakfast, we showered and got ready for the 2-1/2 hour drive north to Philadelphia from Annapolis. It's actually an easy drive up I-95, as long as the traffic isn't too bad.
Well, I guess I jinxed myself.
The main enterance of our hotel.
Just a few minutes north of Baltimore, we pasted a large highway sign letting us know there was an accident ahead and all lane were closed. Yep, all six lanes of a major highway which follows the entire east coast from Miami, Florida to the Canadian border in Maine closed down! Well, there was nothing we could do now but sit and hope they opened the highway back up soon. Good thing Lena pack some snacks and water for the trip J It wasn’t long before I saw a Maryland State Police Medivac helicopter fly over headed to the accident scene. Now I knew this was a bad one and hope everyone involved would be ok. About 20 minutes later, the medivac helicopter flew back over headed towards Baltimore and one of the best trauma centers in the country.
Random street in Philly
It wasn’t to long after that and the highway opened back up and we were on our way.
We arrived in Philadelphia around 2:00 pm, about an hour later than we thought we would. We found our hotel and parked in front so we could go inside to check in. We were greeted outside by an employee who helps with the luggage and parking. He asked if we needed help with our bags, and if we wanted to use the valet service. We first said yes, but when we said we didn’t need the car during our stay here, he suggested we use the parking garage across the street because it was $10.00 cheaper than the hotel. So, after going inside, checking in and settling in to our room, I parked the car in the garage across the street from the hotel.
Now it was time to go find us some lunch.
We started walking south and headed towards two very well know cheesesteak places in South Philly, Geno’s and Pat’s. Walking the 20 or so blocks from the hotel was nice. It got us away from the bustle of the city and the normal touristy places and into the local neighborhoods. Small tree lined streets, brick rowhouses, empty schoolyards; the 30 minute walk was very nice and quite.
As we approached the corner of S.9th Street and E. Passyunk Ave, we saw the two places we were looking for. We walked up on Geno’s first, and the line was a bit longer than the line across the street at Pat’s, but we decided to do Geno’s first. It only took about 10 minutes for us to get to the window to place an order. Since we had other places on our list for tomorrow, I ordered just one cheesesteak, fries and a soda from Geno’s, we found an empty table and split the sandwich between us.
Lena and me in line at Geno's
Then, we walked across the street and got in the short line there. Good thing we didn’t spend to much time at Geno’s, because just as we got in line at Pat’s, a tour buss pulled up and a large group of teenage kids got off and in line right behind us! Wow, good timing on our part! It was only 5 minutes in line at Pat’s and I ordered the same here, one cheesesteak, fries and a soda. We found an empty table and ate it all except for half the fries. Even though I like the fries at Pat’s better, I was full! Lena said she like the fries at Geno’s more, along with the sandwich. I also thought the cheesesteak at Geno’s was better, even though you got more meat at Pat’s. The cheesesteak at Pat’s was a bit “chewy” and even though I asked for no onions, “wit out” when you order, there were still a few in there.
Now that the taste comparisons were completed, we walked back towards our hotel, but using a different street this time.
Me ordering at Pat's
You never know what you might find strolling through the neighborhoods. We arrived at the hotel and Lena was a bit tired, so she took a short nap while I updated this blog. I then took a walk outside and around our hotel to get a few pictures as the sun was starting to set.
It is now a little after 8:00pm and we needed to start thinking about dinner, but were having a hard time deciding. I wasn’t hungry yet, but I knew I would be soon. We went down to the hotel lobby, looked over the menu for the restaurant there, which did look pretty good, then talked to the Concierge for suggestions on something close. Neither one of us was up for another 20 block walk at this time. At first I was thinking sushi, but Lena wasn’t up for that, and I didn’t want a full seafood meal, and neither one of us wanted anything spicy, so Mexican and Indian were out, so we decided on steak.
Another ramdom side street in Philly.
He suggested a place just two blocks down the street called The Capital Grill. He called and made a reservation for us, but also asked if they had béarnaise sauce on Lena’s request. They actually do not have it mentioned on the menu, but said they could make it just for her. Wow! now that is service!! So, with very easy directions in hand, we were off. Hmmm, more meat! Didn’t we eat enough “steak” already today?? Oh well, this would be much different, and a bit more elegant.
We arrive about 15 minutes before our reservation time, so after giving our name to the hostess, we sat at the bar and I ordered a glass of wine. Just as I was served my wine, our table was ready. The meal and the staff here were amazing!! Everything was done just right, including Lena’s béarnaise sauce, and this made for a perfect end of our day.
Tomorrow I think we’ll check out the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, but we’ll see how the crowds are.
Lena and me at The Capital Grill.
Famous Philly Chessesteak
Ok, so if you are looking for a place to eat a cheesesteak the way it’s been done since 1966, this is a place you have to try at least once. They say this is the place that first put cheese on the steak sandwich, but the people at Pat’s across the street will disagree.
There are plastic picnic tables outside on the side walk to sit at, if you are lucky enough to find one empty, and you will have to stand in line to place an order through a little window. Make sure you know what you want before you get to the window, because they don’t have time to waste waiting for you to decide. The traditional way is saying what kind of cheese you want and then either “wit” or “witout” meaning with onions or without onions. So, if you want one sandwich with cheese wiz and no onions, you just say “one wiz witout” Once you order, pay for, and receive your cheesesteak from the first window, you move down the counter and order fries and a drink from another window.
This is far from a being a place with fun friendly employees, and courteous service, but that’s not why we came here. We came to have a cheesesteak from one of the originals.
Geno's
One wiz witout from Geno's
The Original Cheesesteak
Pat’s King of Steaks has been around since 1930, and the founders, Pat & Harry, are credited as the 1933 creators of the Philly Cheesesteak. Just like Geno’s across the street, this is a no frills place and you order from a small window and sit at tables outside on the sidewalk. There is always a line, so be ready with your order when you get to the window. In my opinion, the steak here was a bit chewy, but very tasty and I liked the fries here at Pat’s better than at Geno’s. The steak at Pat’s is chopped, where the steak at Geno’s is not, so I enjoyed the sandwich at Geno’s better, and the bread was very good too! There is not much meat used at both Pat’s and Geno’s, but Pat's did seem to give you more, and it’s the way it was first served many decades ago.
If you are in Philly and want to try the original, give Pat’s a try and make your own comparisons.
Pat's King of Steaks
One wiz witout from Pat's
Lena tring out a cheesesteak at
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Affordable luxury in the center of it all.
What a surprized to find a very nice place like this, so close to all the historic sites, as well as shopping and many restuarants at such a good price! One night here was only $135.00 US, but no meals or parking are included. Even thought the address is Market Street, the main enterance is off Filbert Street. I believe there is another Mariott in Philadelphia, but it is much farther away from the sites, so be sure you book this one.
The only issue I had with this hotel was the bed. It was way to soft for me. I did sleep good, but maybe that was because of all the walking we did while we were in town, and the two glasses of wine I had during dinner :) I prefer a much harder mattress to sleep on. Our room was a nice size, not to big, but enough room for the two of us to move around. The bathroom was large with plenty of counter space. The shower was nice, but could have used a little more water pressure. We had a room on the 19th floor, but there are multiple elevators to use and they all move quickly.
We didn't get a chance to see the pool, which is on the 7th floor, or any of the other amenities they have to offer. We did use the restuarant for breakfast, which was very nice, and the Concierge to find a place to eat our first night there. He was so helpfull, and even called ahead and made the reservation for us.
Every employee we had contact with was polite, helpfull, friendly and a pleasure to interact with! If you are looking for a place in downtown Philadelphia, this is the place to stay. We will definitly come back here again!
Market Street enterance
Filbert Street enterance
The front desk in the very large
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The king size bed in our room.
Our room
The large bathroom
The hotel bar which is almost pa
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The hotel restaurant just off th
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Dresser and desk in our room.
Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate!!
ATTENTION ALL CHOCOLTE LOVERS!!!!!
Named one of the 10 great places in the world for chocolate by USA Today, if you are ever in Philadelphia, you must visit this café! Located at 1317 Walnut Street, they have everything from simple chocolate candies to various flavored cakes along with hot and cold chocolate drinks. This is a true café, so they have more than just some of the best chocolate ever. They have many types of coffee’s, teas, and fruity drinks they call Naked Coolers which is just juice and fruit…refreshing, delicious, and healthy.
One of their web sites, they seem to have two, www.nakedchocolateonline.com has good information about the café and the owner, along with the addresses to their three locations, and their other web site www.nakedchocolatecafe.com shows many pictures of their yummy things they have to offer.
Once we finally decided on what to have, we placed our order for three of their desserts and one frozen drinking chocolate. While we were waiting for our order, the person in front of us got something we didn’t see in any of the display cases. I asked about this delicious looking cake and was told by the nice girl behind the counter about a few other things they had to offer. It seems one of the display cases was not working so the items in it were available, just not on display. Good thing one of the regular customers ordered that and we saw it. Of course, we had to get one too, a flourless mocha fudge cake that is!
In the corner of the café, there was a corner couch with big pillows and a large round table, so we sat here and enjoyed our drink and one of the cakes. The drink was so rich and yummy, as was the mocha fudge cake, we were in heaven! We ended up taking home the first three cakes we ordered because we were so full. I think we were both going into a chocolate coma
All the employees, and the customers in the café, all were very friendly and this is a nice cozy place to sit, relax and enjoy time sitting with friends, or meeting new ones.
We highly recommend a visit to Naked Chocolate Café if you are ever in Philadelphia…even if you don’t like chocolate, but who doesn’t like chocolate!
The front of Naked Chocolate cafe
