Reading Terminal

What do you get when you cross an "East Side Jew" sandwich maker, Asian fishmongers, South Philly Cheesesteak Nazis, German Poultry cutter-uppers, a cute Amish girl selling you Scrapple, and a four year old dead-set on somehow obtaining Sour Patch Kids? The Reading Terminal Market, of course! Once a train terminal, the building space has been turned into a one-of-a-kind, very impressive melting pot of a marketplace. We spent our last day in Edgewater Park taking the light rail from Burlington Center to connect with the high speed line in Camden to bring us into Center City, Philadelphia.

This was my third visit to Philadelphia, and I really enjoy the city. My favorite part, of course, is the statue of an ominous William Penn, standing high above the buildings, extending a "welcoming hand" to his city. But, if you look at the statue from the back, his "welcoming hand" looks like something else, and it appears he is peeing all over the Philly skyline. My second favorite part, though, is the food.

Philly is famous for its cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and processed meats (and I mean "processed" in the most endearing way). George and I were quick to pick up some "Scrapple" from the Amish family's stand. Scrapple is delicious both for its unique flavor and its brutal honesty; the good Philadelphia and Lancaster County people pull no punches about what lays inside this meaty masterpiece (think "crunchy frog" for all you Monty Python fans). They don't try to cover it up; they are very forthright, through the name, that what SCRAPple consists of is whatever "doesnt make it" into the sausages. But I think it is quality stuff!

We had a great time together, checking out coffee roasters, amazing seafood stands, bakeries, and delis. Is that how you spell delis? Amanda and I took our lunch from "Herschel's East Side Deli," which was a Jewish delicatessen that provided me with, undoubtedly, the best corned beef Reuben sandwich I have ever had. The corned beef was real thick slices from freshly cooked brisket--it wasnt "cold cut" style. Good Herschel was kind enough to give us a piece of his pastrami while we waited as well. Equally impressive.

Uncle Bob was our "fearless leader" as he helped us navigate through the (what I thought was confusing) public transit system consisting of the light rail and high speed line. But hey, I'm a Boston boy . . .

Everyone took something home, whether it was green tea chai from the "spice terminal," fresh coffee, scrapple, Amish fruit butter, mint sauce . . . .and sour patch kids. Unfortunately for Aunt June, they sold no shoes or pocketbooks at the Reading Terminal, and we consoled her during the trip home to Edgwater Park.

A long day, but a great time to all be together for one last time before we left early this morning to come home. As you can see from the pictures, Emma was conked out, mostly from the energy she spent trying to cajole her mom to sit next to her and pop-pop on the train. So tired was she, in fact, that I had to carry her into Carollo's--the sublime Italian restaurant where we ate our final meal together. Sally got "Chicken Francese" and I got "Chicken Saltinboca," and I have never seen portions that big--not even at Vinny T's I am shocked to say!

A very memorable, healing, and love-filled visit for all of us. It is so wonderful to be with family, as corny as that sounds. But it really is. We're already looking forward to more family visits--the zoo in the fall, and the Kranthony's next weekend . . .