Tell your tales of my native Pennsylvania.

[Ruaidhri]

^ Don't know how a tourist like myself would be expected to know about the non-name places, but see, that's why I'm in this thread.

Honestly, it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open while you're walking around the city, or driving. There are mom-and-pop pizza places EVERYWHERE in southeast PA. If they make pizza, you can probably get a cheesesteak there. If they make hoagies, you can probably get a cheesesteak there.

God, this is making me miss home. I was very sad upon hearing that Tastykake was having financial problems since they moved their factory to the navy yard. They are so poorly run.

MLB, PNC Park is very beautiful, as is Citizens Bank Park. In fact, CBP routinely wins best sports venue food awards. I mean, crab meat fries?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Mmmmm, Crab Fries. Whenever I'm there, I always get a Schmitter. You can get a cheesesteak anywhere, can't get that particular brand of unhealthiness outside of the park, though.

 

[Canadave]

Never been to PA, myself. But this song occurs there, and I've loved it since I was a kid, so that's something, I guess?

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-2-MeA9rBQ[/yt]

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Don't know how a tourist like myself would be expected to know about the non-name places, but see, that's why I'm in this thread.

Honestly, it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open while you're walking around the city, or driving. There are mom-and-pop pizza places EVERYWHERE in southeast PA.

But that's the thing - I've never been there. I'm just trying to do some research beforehand. I know people in most big cities hate tourists anyway, so I figured I'd try to blend in...

 

[Canadave]

^ Don't know how a tourist like myself would be expected to know about the non-name places, but see, that's why I'm in this thread.

Honestly, it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open while you're walking around the city, or driving. There are mom-and-pop pizza places EVERYWHERE in southeast PA.

But that's the thing - I've never been there. I'm just trying to do some research beforehand. I know people in most big cities hate tourists anyway, so I figured I'd try to blend in...

Sometimes you've just got to pick a place at random and try it. I've stumbled across some good restaurants that way.

 

[Ruaidhri]

Honestly, it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open while you're walking around the city, or driving. There are mom-and-pop pizza places EVERYWHERE in southeast PA.

But that's the thing - I've never been there. I'm just trying to do some research beforehand. I know people in most big cities hate tourists anyway, so I figured I'd try to blend in...

Sometimes you've just got to pick a place at random and try it. I've stumbled across some good restaurants that way.

Ah thanks, that's actually what I was trying to say. There's something fun about not being tied to a specific itinerary. "Oh hey, this one looks good..."

 

[Alidar Jarok]

If the desire is to not look like a tourist, the worst thing to do would be to go to a tourist trap. Pats and Genos fall firmly in this category (as does Katz Deli in New York). All these places produce good food, but you can find places equally as good without the line, expense, or hassle. That being said, Pat's soup nazi line requirements still amuse me.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Pat's soup nazi line requirements still amuse me.

Explain...

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Explanation

 

[Nick086]

I went out into my Philadelphia City tonight, altered my state of consciousness, and had a sexy guy have me vigorously and vociferously. The night sky was low, the chill bracing, and we parted contentedly. Thank the vacant gods there exist still good times in my home state. Others been to the Pretty Keen Stoned State?

You got man booty? Was he sexy?

 

[Ruaidhri]

Pat's soup nazi line requirements still amuse me.

Explain...

Of course, don't forget that Geno's put up a sign a few years ago demanding that people speak english when ordering.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Not a bad idea, that.

 

[RoJoHen]

But yes, my mom grew up in Pittsburgh, and her whole side of the family still lives there, so I have been there plenty of times.

This is suspiciously similiar to my maternal lineage.

Most of my memories of PA involve sitting in the backseat of a car, driving from NJ to Pittsburgh and being really really bored, until they finally invented portable CD players at which point I was only mostly bored.

I was coming from the other direction, from Chicago. Have you ever driven through Ohio? It takes DAYS!

 

[Ruaidhri]

But yes, my mom grew up in Pittsburgh, and her whole side of the family still lives there, so I have been there plenty of times.

This is suspiciously similiar to my maternal lineage.

Most of my memories of PA involve sitting in the backseat of a car, driving from NJ to Pittsburgh and being really really bored, until they finally invented portable CD players at which point I was only mostly bored.

I was coming from the other direction, from Chicago. Have you ever driven through Ohio? It takes DAYS!

Pfft. Ohio, the land that time forgot.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Pat's soup nazi line requirements still amuse me.

Explain...

Of course, don't forget that Geno's put up a sign a few years ago demanding that people speak english when ordering.

That's because Joe Vento is an asshole. The sign is superfluous. If you can say Wiz (or I prefer Provolone) wit, you can order. If you can't, neither place is going to give you food.

 

[Arpy]

Oh dear God, it wasn't a dream!

Okay, so I'm going through a tough time and the future's grim. I'm stressed, I'm lonely, and I reached out on impulse one giddy, sloppy night. For that sloppiness I apologize. Frankly, it worries me.

That said: http://www.trekbbs.com/member.php?u=661
Ruaidhri, scary.
Nick086, yes and yes.
Laserbeam, Pat's and Geno's are both good. They're not the best in the city, as they and about a hundred others would have you believe...in fact, you'll find that cheesesteaks are like pizza: even bad ones are basically edible, every shop has their take on them, and there are hundreds of places that make one that you'll like and hundreds that you won't. Being a tourist (no shame there) you won't know where the hundreds of places you'll may like are, but at least with Pat's and Geno's you know two, so go and enjoy.

They are sort of off the beaten path though in "South Philly". If you don't have much time, you may want to skip them and try Jim's Steaks while visiting South Street - Philadelphia's bohemian mini-Greenwich Village. Personally, I think the bread there and the meat at Tony Luke's (even further off the beaten path) together would be unstoppable. Though I haven't tried John Roast Pork, which my friend won't shut up about.

I'm surprised at all the hits the thread got. You rarely hear about Pennsylvania in the popular culture. It's passed its political and industrial glory days though it remains an Eastern powerhouse. I started planing a road-trip across the state for this summer. I've been all over and around Philadelphia. Possible stops include the battlegrounds of Gettysburg, my Alma Mater Penn State, Falling Water, Pittsburg, Lake Erie, Pine Creek Gorge, the chocolate factories of Hershey, the underground fires of Centralia, my friend's aunt's house in Lancaster to return a book lent to me last summer, and the house of "the one that got away" from my friend Robert.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

PA roundtrip sounds pretty cool. I grew up in the Philly suburbs, that's my interest here (I think there are a couple other PA people who are posting as well). I think it's a shame that Philly gets overshadowed by New York (and even Boston). It's really such an amazing, unique city, but it gets lumped into east coast large city without people ever noticing just how cool it is. Of course, these days, I think people just think of Always Sunny, but I guess that's a start (before that, it was Rocky running up the Art Museum steps).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

How is the mass transit in Philly? Is it as extensive as those in New York, Boston, Chicago, etc.?

 

[PianoWizzy]

There are two things that I assure you PA is abundant of: trees and deer.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Oh dear God, it wasn't a dream!

Okay, so I'm going through a tough time and the future's grim. I'm stressed, I'm lonely, and I reached out on impulse one giddy, sloppy night. For that sloppiness I apologize. Frankly, it worries me.

Uh, Arpy, those of us who tried to decipher your not-a-dream were a bit concerned, too. At least I was. Take care of yourself.