Car free Sunday 2

Car free Sunday doesn't necessarily involve the bicycle. Sometimes, it involves the feet, which was the case today. Today's quest was the Iroquois sculpture that was recently erected at Eakins Oval near the Art Museum - OK, the one that Rocky ran up in the movie. No, I didn't do the run - that's for tourists. I live here.

Lucky for me, the bus runs out in front of my place, so I can make my way to and from the city without moving the car - provided I make it back in time. There is a 9pm curfew, or else I'm finding a room somewhere in Philadelphia.

My quest was easy to find, since it's kind of big and red. It's out there in a little plot of ground north of the Art Museum.

Since there wasn't much mystery in the day's outing, I decided to make the rest of it rather mundane by comparison. Lunch at The Independence Brew Pub, followed by a stroll through the Reading Terminal Market, conveniently located across the street. Marisa has many more interesting stories to tell. Mine are rather humdrum. The woman in front of me at Mueller's Gourmet Chocolates wanted "a fourth of a pound" of something, whereas most of us would have asked for a quarter of a pound, as I did of the salted macadamia's. She seemed a bit confused as to the way the confections would be handed out, wondering if there was a box or something. Finding that there would be no box, she requested a single chocolate-covered pretzel. Anyway, visit Marisa's blog to find many more interesting stories from her. It's a good read, and it provides an insight to the tiny things that make Philadelphia such a great city.

Stop by the pub and have an Independence Ale. For some nice produce, stop by the market.

Bus travel involves patience. The woman who got on with me traveled 2 miles for $1.35, and got off to go to her job at Acme. For the time she spent waiting for the bus, she could have walked to work for free, but who am I to question logic? Another guy on the bus appeared to fall asleep and "lose" his cell phone. He needed to get off in Woodbury, which was sad because he missed his stop by a state, a bridge and five towns. A nice bystander offered to call his number.

"It's 609-395-68888," he said, which we immediately recognized as being too many numbers.

"It's all eight's after the six," he told us. The Samaritan dialed, after which we heard his voice mail appear. Who'd-a-thunk that the phone stealer wouldn't pick up the phone? Well, who'd a thought that a guy would be drunk and asleep on a bus at noon? Go figure.

For much of the day, I wandered around. Finding the Irish Pub on Locust that was a great place for one of those dark, sweet Irish beers (who'd have thought?) Some nice people from one of those bottled water companies were handing out free water in Rittenhouse Square, and I never turn down free.
After wandering my way out to the nether regions of the Art Museum (no, I told you, I didn't do the Rocky run) I had a couple of hours to kill until my 9pm bus left for home, so I found myself in the TGI Friday's near Logan Circle. Who'd a thought I would find such an interesting cast of characters at a chain joint? Go figure.

In addition to our aspiring comic/bartender, we had the interesting couple (she on her third marriage, he on his second) who became more interesting as the Cabernet flowed. Let's just say that if you happen to be near The Laff House on South Street on Wednesday nights, stop in and give Josh some support. Be prepared to stay, however, since the open mic performers don't have a schedule.

Suffice it to say that I got on the last bus headed home at 9pm and lived to tell the tale. It's times like these that I am glad I don't have tons of disposable income, or I'd probably be posting this from a hotel in Philadelphia wondering how I would get home on Monday morning.

Maybe next week.