A Sea Of Red

Medic, Scar, this is your moment to shine.

LUConn and I will be in the city of brother to brother love at the end of the month. We'll only be staying one night, so our time is precious. We're staying at the Embassy Suites, how is the place? So where should we eat? It needs to be somewhere somewhat close to the hotel and safe (women and babies on board). Also, when I'm driving, how do I spot a Mason, they score pretty high on our driving chart (and I don't trust those little shifty-eyed bricklayers).

Tell me how to order my cheese steak so I don't get mocked. I like Steak, Cheese, mayo and bread. None of that other junk that grows in the ground.

Also, where's the best placed to get pretzels? Mallet, remember when you came back from philly and had a bag full of soft garlicy pretzels that we ate for like a month? Where did you get those?

Ok Fellas, thanks for not inviting me on your trip I think I would have been an excellent tour guide. Luconn likes to avoid me though so I understand Sounds like you are staying downtown in the Embassy Suites. If it is the downtown one, you can walk down to South Street, Penns Landing, City Hall and the Gallery Mall. If you want a cheesesteak, I would drive down to Pats or Gino's which are both in South Philly on Pulaski Ave. You can get info from your hotel on Cheesesteaks. They have little pamphlets in the lobby. I am not kidding. Ischkabibbles is a hole in the wall place on South Street and also next to Pats and Ginos. They are really good. Ordering is simple. Just say I'll take a cheesesteak with fried onions, Mayo on the roll. Don't call it a Steak and Cheese or you will get clowned badly! You may not get served (Ok at least not in my hood but in South Philly they may cut you some slack). As far as walking, you should be safe but you should always be vigilant in a big city no matter how safe it may seem. You guys should have a blast. Pretzels? Go to any street vendor or sometimes you can get them from the guys standing in the median of the street on Broad. You can get them from Wawa now too and they are great. Medic anc add some more but that should cover your food choices.

Great city...I always go there at least once a year...I will be going there the first week of August....To bad you guys are not going to be close to King of Prussia...Plenty of good places to eat over there...They have a Dave and Busters downtown right on the water...

That's pretty funny, LUconn, maybe you should make sure you know how to ask to get to the restroom as well?! You don't want to say anything off the wall.

Dave & Busters is OK, gmtm. But don't you guys have one of those in Richmond, Roanoke or the Triangle?

How about a trip by the bell, a run up the steps in front of the library followed by a cheesesteak at Geno's. That about covers it.

I know I'm nit-picking, but actually the "Rocky steps" are in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Nitpick away. Philly has never been one of favorites but that run was actually very cool.

Philadelphia Soft Pretzel factory....

you can see them making them...

there was another one call federals i think too...

pats and gino's were where josh's uncle took us...phenominal..

I trust there will be pictures in FlameFans shirts forthcoming from Philly.

I'm up and down the east coast quite a bit, and I know Philly inside out.

For starters, are you guys staying at the Embassy Suites at the airport or are you staying at the one in center city? If you are at the airport, then you're going to have to grab a cab. If you're in center city then you can grab a SEPTA train or bus.

Forget about Pat's or Geno's. It's all a bunch of unneccessary hype. The locals will tell you to go to Tony Luke's. They definetely have the best cheesestakes in town. They are located on E. Oregon Ave, near the old stadiums. Also, they have great pork and sausage sandwhiches as well: tonylukes.com

Chickie and Pete's on Packer Avenue, near the stadiums, is the top sportsbar in town, and it's ranked #2 in the country as far as sports bars go. You have to try their crab fries--awesome: chickieandpetes.com

The Atlantic City boardwalk is just a mere 45 minutes from away from center city via the AC expressway. If you're feelin' lucky, you may want to take a bus over to The Borgata and experience the land of Donald Trump for yourself: theborgata.com

Again, I know most of the east coast cities pretty well. So, feel free to PM me, if I can assist you further.

paradox wrote:
Forget about Pat's or Geno's. It's all a bunch of unneccessary hype.

yeah and micheal jordan is overrated

That's right. We nailed them both

In Philly, you can say whatever you want about Michael. Just be careful not to use Sonny Hill's name in vain

LUconn wrote:Tell me how to order my cheese steak so I don't get mocked. I like Steak, Cheese, mayo and bread. None of that other junk that grows in the ground.

Also, where's the best placed to get pretzels? Mallet, remember when you came back from philly and had a bag full of soft garlicy pretzels that we ate for like a month? Where did you get those?

Hmm, mayo on a cheesesteak is not the norm. It usually comes with or without onions. There is such a thing as a chessesteak-hoagie that has lettice, oil, tomotoes, and possibly mayo. You may want to go for one of those if you still want mayo.

You can get a soft pretzel or hot dog on any street corner in the downtown area. All corner venders sell the exact same soft pretzel. You can get the garlic ones at the pretzel factory. The pretzel factory has franchises all over the area. A franchise is supposedly set to open soon in Richmond, VA.

Since it's summertime, you may want to venture down to South Philly and try some of the Itialian water ices.

Also, if you have time to sightsee, I'd reccomend:

1. Independance Hall (where the signing of the constitution took place)

2. Christ Church (Franklin, Washington, Adams, ect sill have their names engraved in pew)

3. The Dolly Madison House (where the first flag was made)

If you're into colonial history, Philadelphia ranks right up there with Boston and Williamsburg.

Well, enough said. Enjoy you trip. And remember it's about 5-10 degrees hotter in a city during the summer.

Nick's Roast Beef - 16 S. 2nd St. - Consistently ranked best cheeseteak in Philly.
Order "cheese with" .
Mayo is never ordered on a cheesteak or hoagie. Ever.

Tony Lukes - Front & Oregon, 2 blocks from stadium/arena complex. Order the roast pork sandwich.
The counter person will ask 'Wit Rabe"? Answer no.

Head over to Main Street in Manyunk and spend a great evening walking next to the canal.

Same thing on South Street from the river north 12 blocks.

Pat's and Geno's are for tourists but Geno's is worth a visit.

Federal Pretzels are the best.
The Federal bakery is in south Philly.

Dave and Busters? GMTM you remind me of Michael Scott from the Office when he talked about going to a little local Pizza joint in Manhattan that he loves to go to when he is in the big city and then the camera pans back and he runs across the street to Sbarro's For the record, King of Prussia is a great place to go if you guys get a chance. GMTM is really partial to the California Pizza Kitchen up there (Another Michael Scott moment I guess). Trust me though guys, you will have a blast in the City. Take Paradox's advice on the Colonial history too. Philly has just as much to offer as Boston and Williamsburg in those areas as he said. Man I wish I was there. This thread made me go out to MoJo's for lunch (Cheesesteaks) and Wawa for a soft pretzel. Richmond is great man. I love it here . We even have Rita's Waterice here and my guy emails me when Wild Black Cherry is made. BTW you guys have to get some Ritas Waterice in Philly! That is a must do right up there with the Liberty bell, the Art museum steps and soft pretzels and cheesesteaks!

paradox wrote:Also, if you have time to sightsee, I'd reccomend:

1. Independance Hall (where the signing of the constitution took place)

2. Christ Church (Franklin, Washington, Adams, ect sill have their names engraved in pew)

3. The Dolly Madison House (where the first flag was made)

If you're into colonial history, Philadelphia ranks right up there with Boston and Williamsburg.

Well, enough said. Enjoy you trip. And remember it's about 5-10 degrees hotter in a city during the summer.

I think it is actually the Betsy Ross house that has the Flag. Dolly Madison made the snack cakes

You can't go 5 blocks without passing a Rita's in Philly

Scar is correct, it is the Betsy Ross House.

All three of those attractions are a short distance away and conveniently ocated on the east side of center city.

you could also do the Philly Zoo, Franklin Institute, or the Round House

I'll let SCAR or FlameDad explain the last one.

definitely recommend Penns Landing or Manyunk

also recommend you skip Pats/Genos

make sure you swing into Wawa for your Tastycakes

Dolly Madison made the snack cakes

Scar knows his desserts.

Pats, Geno's is easy to get to. Not my first choice for cheesesteaks but for Tourists it makes sense. I have a place called Pagano's that I can almost guarantee you the sandwich will be too big to finish in one sitting. It is at the northern tip of town where I grew up in West Oak Lane just south of Cheltenham Ave on Ogontz. It is in da hood but it is really not dangerous (at least not in the daylight ). If you guys get bold and want to take a drive make sure you drive down 18th and Stenton ave so you can see one of the 2 houses I grew up in. Another sight if you go to the northern part of town would be Ogontz ave and Summerville Aves where you'll see Central High school. Bill Cosby went there, and they filmed the movie Invincible there. The other house I grew up in is in the background of so many of the football scenes and I learned to play football on that very field. We used to climb the fence to play...And Yes get a Tastee Cake, Chocholate Jr or butter scotch Krimpets are my favorites. I love having Wawa here because they also carry those products.

SCAR wrote:If you guys get bold and want to take a drive make sure you drive down 18th and Stenton ave so you can see one of the 2 houses I grew up in.

Is this not going to be on the tour maps?