Zero day with AC in Philadelphia!

After picking up a new pair of Altra Lone Peaks from an REI in King of Prussia outside Philadelphia (the shoe sales associate was totally uninterested in the fact that I was thru-hiking😂), AC and I made our way to an Airbnb in the Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia. The window of our 1-bedroom apartment overlooked an alleyway, and just across the alley was an entrance (or maybe rear exit) to a gay nightclub. Shortly after we arrived, there was commotion in the alley, and we looked out the window to see a group of paramedics carrying a (hopefully) unconscious man out of the nightclub on a gurney. The man was totally naked save a pair of tighty whities, and the paramedics loaded him into the back of an ambulance before driving away. It was quite a scene to welcome us to Philadelphia!

After our unusual introduction to the sites and smells of Philly, we visited Reading Terminal, a massive market hub of food vendors hocking artisanal grub. We procured bread and fancy cheese and made our way to a nearby park. The park was across the street from the massive and ornate Philadelphia City Hall and was also home to the city’s famous Robert Indiana LOVE sculpture. Amusingly, but certainly not surprisingly, there was a massive line of people waiting to get pictures and selfies with the sculpture. It made for good people watching. AC and I enjoyed our bread and cheese; especially a lemon and honey wensleydale we had purchased in reference to the Monty Python “Cheese Shop” sketch.

Later, we had a lovely dinner at Double Knot followed by a destination-less evening walk. We ended up in a park next to the Liberty Bell. Amusingly, we seem to keep accidentally finding ourselves at famous Philadelphia landmarks.