Cheesesteak in South Philly

While exploring southeast Pennsylvania earlier this week, my daughter Cheryl and I ended up in Philadelphia. After a visit to the Liberty Bell and other downtown sights, Cheryl said she wanted to follow up on determining the best Philly cheesesteak sandwich. She had seen an challenge, probably on the Cooking Channel, about dueling sandwich stands, Geno’s and Pat's King of Steaks in south Philly. So we headed out walking from downtown – past South Street and through the Italian markets to cheesesteak central – Genio’s on one side of 9th Street and Pat’s on the other.

Not knowing which to choose we assessed the situation and determined that the line was longest at Pat's. So it was off to Pat’s where we ordered up a steak with wiz, mushrooms, and peppers (Cheryl said that wiz was the only authentic way to go). You order and pay for your sandwich at one window and then proceed down to the next one for drinks, fries and such. It was around 1:00PM on a Tuesday afternoon and not an empty table in sight … so we waited and snagged one as some folks were finishing up. It was an awesome and delightful artery clogging sandwich, I must admit.

When we finished, we walked across the street to Genio’s – and wouldn't you know it, we decided we would never know which was the best unless we tried both…so we ordered another…identical to the one we had just consumed.

It didn’t take our jury of two long to decide the verdict – hands down it is Pat’s King of Steaks!

Ben's Chili Bowl - A Washington Institution

Saturday evening, after a wonderful day of shooting photographs in the Adams-Morgan area, Springer and I headed to the U Street Metro and found ourselves at Ben's. Well, truth be told, I had been talking about going to Ben's all day long. Yes, there is a line around the block to get in - and yes, that's a streach Hummer limo parked outside, actually there were two of them. Ben's is an experience - and the chili dog was pretty darn good too!

Oregon Ridge Hike

This morning Oregon Ridge Park (Baltimore County, MD) held their annual pancake breakfast featuring locally made maple syrup - what an awesome beginning to a wonderful day of hiking. The group today numbered probably 60 or 70 hikers - we split into two groups to minimize our footprint and impact - and to make for a more manageable group photo!

We hiked four miles or so along the Oregon Ridge trails - probably not enough to offset all that maple syrup - but it was a wonderful day to be outdoors - the weathers was about 70 degrees and gently overcast.

Winter Wonderland

It's early March. We had somewhere between 4 and 5 inches of snow on Monday. It's cold here in Maryland ... I really miss Florida!

The Lincoln Cottage

About three miles from the White House, on the grounds of the Soldiers’ Home, is the newly renovated Lincoln Cottage. During his presidency, Lincoln spent considerable time at the cottage where he would go with his family to escape the heat and humidity of Washington summers as well as the burdens of the presidency. The cottage was used by several presidents of the time, much as Camp David is used by contemporary occupants of the White House. Since its use as a presidential retreat, it was occupied as general officer's quarters and more recently as office space before undergoing a significant restoration to its former Lincoln period style. It was designated a National Monument by President Clinton in 2000.

The story goes that Lincoln would spend his days at the White House, his so called “Iron Prison,” and travel by horse to the cottage for the evening. Even in those days there was concern for the safety of the president, but he had no bullet proof carriage and indeed not much protection at all as the traveled to and fro. It was at the cottage that he received guests, mingled with the soldiers camped on the lawn and in the general area, watched the funerals of the fallen at the nearby national cemetery, and pondered… He found refuge at this cottage, wrote a famous proclamation, and weighed the wages of war.

The cottage is open for tours and is under the care of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Happy Birthday Abe

Remember the song from "Hair" ... Abie Baby - well here we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. In the back of my head - running non stop all day -was "Happy Birthday Abie Baby, Happy Birthday to you..."

Last week, while scouting out some potential new adventures, I happened on Lincoln Park (also known as Lincoln Square). It's a few blocks from Eastern Market, east of Capitol Hill. One of the highlights of the park is this sculpture, The Emancipation. So, in honor of the Abe's birthday, I thought I would post a photo of the sculpture in Lincoln Park.

This sculpture was dedicated on April 14, 1876, the eleventh anniversary of Lincoln's assassination. It was commissioned by the Western Sanitary Commission of St. Louis entirely of funds contributed by emancipated slaves. The first contribution, five dollars, was made by Charlotte Scott a freed woman from Virginia. The slave in the sculpture was modeled after Archer Alexander, the last slave to be captured under the Fugitive Slave Act.

It is a lifesize bronze sculpture. The sculptor was Thomas Bell; the architect was Major O. E. Babcock. It is located in Lincoln Park on East Capitol at 11th Street NE, Washington, D. C.

Margaret 001

This is Margaret.

She was sitting on the side of H Street (Washington, DC) waiting for the Chinese New Year day parade when I happend to pass. I came back and for the entire parade I sat in front of her as the dragons danced down the streets and children played and bands of exotic instrments marched. It was a wonderful parade.

When it was over I asked her name and if it was OK for me to take her picture. I was thinking of the 100 strangers project and how perfecte she would be. She agreed to the photo and we enjoyed a few minutes of conversation - actually she was so happy that I had taken time to talk to her and I was so warmed and delighted with getting to know her if only for a few minutes on a busy street corner. So Margaret was posted as the first of my 100 strangers. She's not the first person I have photographed for this assignement, but the first I have posted. Others, for various reasons, I have chosen to keep as my own.

Margaret is a special lady.