Monday, August 19, 2013

Field Trip to Philly

Last week I had my last visit to the hospital for three months.  It was just time for a scan to make sure my radioactive self was getting back to normal.  Mr. Lime, Isaac, and I decided to make a day of it since the appointment was early in the morning and we had the rest of the day.  I took Boom-boom along.

Our first stop was at Reading Terminal Market for a bite to eat.  This place makes me all sorts of happy.  Where else will you find Amish families selling baked goods, preserves, and fresh meats across an aisle from a sushi chef?  There's obviously an abundance of Pennsylvania German foods but there's a wide variety of other ethnic cuisines available as well.  Organic produce, quality breads, and be still my heart, CHEESES!  There were multiple cheese stands but Mr. Lime and I fell in with the artisanal crew who let us sample several cheeses.  After weeks of no dairy I splurged on some very expensive and very delicious cheese as a way to celebrate the end of my treatment.  Excuse me a moment while I savor the memory.....mmmmmm....


My other way to celebrate was to go to the Mütter Museum in order to see a multitude of medical oddities.  During the course of my treatment it was discovered that my thyroid was quite unusual....like one of four in the last century unusual...so I thought going to see other medical weirdness would be an appropriately warped way to celebrate the end of treatment.  It's not set up as some sort of side show exploiting folks with afflictions but was established as a manner of augmenting and furthering the education of physicians.  I also thought Isaac, whose favorite subject is anatomy and physiology, could be lured to a family outing if he got to see jars of gangrenous limbs and preserved body parts.  We also beheld such wonders as an enlarged human colon which looked like it couldn't possibly fit in a creature smaller than an elephant, an ovarian cyst the size of two soccer balls, a 7'6" skeleton, and a vast collection of skulls.  There was also an interesting exhibit drawing correlations between possible origins of folk tales as related in Grimm's Fairy Tales and human deformities.  I quite enjoyed that part. The museum does not permit photography.  Those of you with more sensitive constitutions may thank me now.  Those of you interested should definitely make it a stop if you ever get to Philadelphia.



After the museum we still had time to wander because we had paid an exorbitant parking fee and I intended to get some degree of its value out of it.  We walked around the city with Boom-boom, much to Isaac's chagrin.  He hates when I have my camera because I make too many stops.  Mr. Lime has learned to accept it.  In fact, we noticed this reflection of one building in the surface of another at the same time and he wanted to make sure I didn't miss it.

 We made it to City Hall after several blocks of wandering.  I had to visit Billy Penn.  I wanted to take a picture of one of us shaking a fist here so I could say we CAN fight city hall but no volunteers were forth-coming.















Across from City Hall is a sculpture park with this work "Government of the People" by Jacques Lipchitz.  It's a messy business, not unlike the sausage-making in the market, eh?
Nearby is Love Park with the famous logo.
Across the way the road leads to the Art Museum, one of my favorite places.
Eventually we headed home passing the Pennsylvania Railroad.  Monopoly anyone?
Finally, one of the other things I adore about Philadelphia is the proximity of old to new.  I'd never want to see the beautiful old architecture completely demolished and removed but time does march on and new things come along.

As my life moves on from here I want to remember to keep the best parts of my old self and ways as I move on in what I am considering a new start with new chances and as I try to make the most of that.


15 comments:

Rob said...

What, no pics of the Rocky Balboa statue?! What sort of Philly sightseeing/photo journal excursion is it without honoring one of the greatest Philadelphians of ALL time?! It's right there at the bottom of the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art! You could pretend that you had some high brow purpose for seeking out the museum. I'm verklempt...

joeh said...

A great town that makes me think of only one thing

CHEESESTEAK!!

Secret Agent Woman said...

You had me at artisinal cheeses.

My kids just expect that we will make frequent stops for me to take photos.

stephen Hayes said...

I've yet to visit Philadelphia and must make a greater effort to get myself there.

Bijoux said...

Thanks for the tour! I'd love to read about the correlation between the Grimm Brothers and deformities. Fascinating stuff.

Kat said...

Mmm, cheese. Being a Wisconsin girl I am kind of a cheese snob, you know. ;)
I would actually love that Mutter Museum. That sounds fascinating. And just gross enough to engage my boys. hehe
No doctors for 3 months! HURRAY!
Continued prayers for your healing!

Craig said...

We always knew you wuz one in a million, but four in the last century. . . well, isn't THAT special. . .

And, with Kat, praying for your healing. . .

Leave It To Davis said...

You sound like you had a lovely time....and yes, thank you for not having pictures of the deformities. Not sure I could look. Although, one of our blogging friends has cancer of the tongue....and now, tonight, I found out a friend of mine at work found out her mom has cancer of the tongue. Strange thing is, neither of these women smoked or drank. I looked up cancer of the tongue, and there are some graphic pictures in Wikipedia that I did manage to look at and NOT lose my supper. I do feel for these two women....and they, along with you, will continue to be in my prayers until I hear you all are in remission!!! Hugs to you and your new start on life...may you live each day as if it's your last...but may you not only live, but ENJOY 50 more years!!!

Commander Zaius said...

"Government of the People" by Jacques Lipchitz. It's a messy business, not unlike the sausage-making in the market, eh

Yeah, enough that if I watch over 15 minutes of news I get a headache.

Hilary said...

Sounds and looks like it was a fine day. I hope your scan result was as well.

(not necessarily your) Uncle Skip said...

I've been to Philly a couple of times.
But I have only seen the highlights (Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross' house, Independence Hall, and a sidewalk pretzel stand).
I must visit again sometime when the only agenda is to see the sights.

Daryl said...

i love philly, i love reading market .. i am impressed with the specialness of your former thyroid .... maybe someday it will be in that museum! cheese!

lime said...

rob, you sound like mr. lime and isaac! one of my great pet peeves is all the people who go to see the statue and have no idea it's next to an art museum full of masterpieces. gah!

joeh, cheesesteaks are another wonderful thing about philly!

secret agent, oh i think you and i could do considerable damage together at such a stand ;)

stephen, i'd greatly encourage it. i am of the opinion that every american with the means to travel should make a pilgrimage to philadelphia and to boston for the sake of seeing historical sites at the very least.

bijoux, some of the connections were a bit of a stretch but still a fascinating way to present the exhibit.

kat, thanks so much for your prayers during this time. i so appreciate it. if you ever get to hilly do see the museum. it's a weird little gem.

craig, yeah, tell me about it....why am i not surprised by the stats? and thanks for the prayers.

davis, i appreciate those of you who understand it takes some time to PROVE i am in remission even after treatment is done and the ongoing prayers. thanks.

beach bum, you and me both!

hilary, it was a lovely day.

skip, i hope you have a chance to come back this way.

daryl, i don't expect my thyroid to end up at mutter because it's in fox chase's biosample repository for research.

Suldog said...

I've always wanted to visit the Mutter. I've seen it featured on a few TV programs and it seems like a place I could spend all day in. I don't think MY WIFE is quite as enthused, but I'm sure she'd make the trip even better with commentary.

~Tim said...

I always love it when you use Boom-boom to take us along.