With the shortest drive of the trip so far I made it to the Philadelphia Zoo by 11am. I got my ticket and got my map and set out to explore. After looking at the map I could see that this zoo was much smaller than the Cincinnati Zoo. Regardless I was still excited to be at America’s First Zoo.
I saw everything from goats to numerous different types of snakes to bear cubs. It was a great take. I even learned a few things. Number 1: I really freakin hate snakes. Even though they were behind glass I got to see some anacondas and a boa constrictor and they are both massive and massively creepy.
Number 2: This isn’t something new to me but more of an expansion on a feeling I already had. Snow Leopards are my favorite animal, but after going through the big cat exhibit today I realized that I just love big cats in general. I saw a puma and a leopard and a cheetah and they are just so cool. I very much enjoy them. Number 3: I also really like bears. This one is something that built off of my time at the Cincy Zoo. They had a decent sized bear exhibit there so I saw a Polar bear and a Black bear and an Andean bear and today I got to see two Sloth bear cubs and they were so cute. I think I like them because bears look inherently goofy when you see them lumber around in a zoo. It’s cute and funny. Granted I do understand these can be vicious creatures but in my experience so far they are adorable and so I’m sticking to my opinion. After I saw all the critters, creatures, and cats I wanted to I headed back to the car.
When I had first got into Philly, before I got to the zoo, I sent out a message on Instagram. I reached out to the two guys I met out in LA who were from Philly and asked them for suggestions on where to get lunch. After the zoo when I got back to the car I checked my phone. Dalessandro’s was what they came up with. So I punched the address into my GPS and was on my way. I got there and sat down at the counter. I got a cheesesteak with grilled onions and peppers. I happened to be sitting next to a family from Florida who also had this place recommended to them. I must say that the recommendation was spot on. By far the best cheesesteak I’ve ever had. The onions on top were sweet and perfectly balanced the saltiness of the cheese. The meat was cooked perfectly and the peppers mixed in gave it that extra texture. It was a filling sandwich and a perfect lunch. I made sure I thanked my buddies for the recommendation.
I was now on my way to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Not because I wanted to become more cultured, but because I wanted to run up and take a picture of the famed Rocky Steps. I’ll have to think about this when I get home, but I may have inadvertently made it a point to see something related to a movie in every stop I made on this trip. Anyway, I climbed the steps just like everyone else. I chose not to run because A. It was hot as hell and B. I didn’t want to drop and bust my camera and you’re positively batty if you thought I was going to leave it with some stranger in Philadelphia while I ran up them. So I walked them and then got some pictures of the Rocky foot prints at the top and the Rocky statue. After fulfilling my entire Rocky quota for the day I decided to move on to the Liberty Bell.
Driving over to the Liberty Bell I hit the first real city traffic of the trip. Yes I’m sure you all recall my trip to hell in Yosemite’s traffic, but surprisingly in the big cities like LA and Chicago were smooth sailing. Once there I waited briefly in line and again to my surprise was able to see the Liberty Bell for free. On this trip virtually nothing was free. Hell when I was at Myrtle Beach and Virginia Beach it cost $1 and $2 respectively to walk on the damn pier! That’s why you guys didn’t see any pier pictures! Because I sure as hell was not paying to walk on a glorified giant dock. Screw that. So to be able to go see the Liberty Bell and take pictures and everything for free was excellent. Granted it cost me to park, but that’s neither here nor there. Once again like I’ve said so many times throughout this trip, this was awesome. Being able to stand there and be but inches away from such an iconic symbol of American Independence was something I never thought would happen. Yeah it seems dumb because it’s only right in Philadelphia, but before this trip I was never one to get up and go do stuff so to see the Liberty Bell and everything else I’ve seen on this trip was truly amazing to me. I got some pictures on my phone and with my camera. I decided to skip over having someone take my picture. I instead just relished the moment. I watched everyone struggle to get in line and get their picture taken. I stood back and just took everything in. Knowing I had one more thing to do before packing up and going home in the morning, I made my way back to my hotel room.
I finally checked in at about 5:15pm. I brought my bags upstairs and sat down for a minute. When I was on the phone with my mom yesterday she mentioned to me that the Red Sox were playing in Philadelphia today. The stadium was conveniently like a half hour train ride away. So I decided to end this trip the best way possible. I bought a ticket at the gate for $20, sat in the literal last row of the stadium, and watched the Red Sox play the Phillies. Now don’t get me wrong, even though I was sitting with my back against the fence of the stadium doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great seat. I could see almost the entire field except for the leftfield corner (of course precisely where Andrew Benintendi jumped into the wall to catch a foul ball for out number 1 in the 9th). I brought both my Phillies hat which I’d been wearing all day and also my Red Sox hat. I brought the Phillies hat for 2 reasons. 1. Because I really enjoy being able to wear a MLB hat in the MLB stadium it belongs to. And 2. I know Philly fans can sometimes be a bit raucous so I decided not to go strolling in with my Sox hat on until I felt out my surroundings. Luckily I was in relatively friendly territory so I gleefully switched between hats all game. I took a few pictures during the game but for the most part I just enjoyed the night. It was a beautiful night. A nice breeze cooled down what was a scorcher of a day and turned it into a downright pleasant climate to watch a baseball game in. The sox jumped ahead 5-0 early so in the middle innings I went for a walk and explored the concession stands. I got some Rita’s Italian Ice, or water ice as they call it. (Why they call it that I have no earthly idea). Later on I got a couple hot dogs and a Turkey Hill Lemonade. I only mentioned specifically what type of lemonade it was because it was so damn good. Between the fruit punch and lemonade at Ben’s Chili Bowl in DC yesterday and this Turkey Hill lemonade I probably had the best 3 beverages I’ve had all trip. A quick aside so I don’t sound too insane, I had always valued a good beverage over a good meal. I’d rather die of hunger than of thirst so I appreciate a good beverage.
After filling up on ballpark concessions and watching the Red Sox finally put away the Phills I was back on the train to my room. It really was the perfect ending to this trip. It wasn’t something that was planned. It was just something that happened. I didn’t know the Sox would be in Philly the same time I was. It just happened so I went with it. For all of the planning I did for this trip there was a lot of stuff that just happened and some of that stuff was the best.
Well that’s all folks. Tomorrow I’ll be headed back to Saugus and back to reality because I’m still not 100% convinced that the last month was real. Working my way across the United States and back was amazing. This country certainly has a lot to offer and I hope I get to explore more. Thanks for following along with me. I hope you all enjoyed following the journey as much as I enjoyed telling you about it. Make sure you check back within the next couple weeks to see all the pictures I’ve uploaded once I’m home with dependable Wifi.
Joey's Great American Adventure 
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