Norah and I arrived in Philadelphia in the late afternoon, just in time to check into our AirBnB near Little Saigon/Passyunk Square and meet our friends. We were excited to spend a long weekend in Philadelphia with a group of our good friends from the Hudson Valley. Thursday night was chill - we had dinner at Sophie’s Kitchen (Cambodian food), walked around the Italian Market (reconnaissance for our return the next day to make some purchases), walked by the tourist famous Pat’s and Gino’s, and got cannolis at King Cannoli.

To kick off Friday we got disturbingly informed at the Mütter Museum at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. From their website: “America’s finest museum of medical history, the Mütter Museum displays its beautifully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a 19th-century “cabinet museum” setting. The museum helps the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body and to appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease.”. This is certainly a unique museum with exhibits ranging from “huh, interesting” to “OMG!”. Out of respect for the individuals in the collection, no photography is allowed in the main museum - so no pictures memorializing the mega colon.

Despite some of the OMG! moments at the Mütter Museum, we still had an appetite for lunch and had Roman pizza at Rione. We admired the brownstones as we walked to the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk near South Street Bridge. We walked about 1.5 miles to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and we were absolutely thrilled to discover an Italian Ice truck there. We were pretty hot by the time we got there and we descended on the truck like a swarm of locusts. We had a nice break in the shade with our ice and cold drinks and were ready to tackle the steps, a la Rocky.

Next was our moment of zen at Shofuso Japanese House and Garden. From their website:

“Designed by architect Junzo Yoshimura, Shofuso was built in Japan in 1953 using traditional techniques and materials. It was shipped to New York and exhibited in the courtyard of the Museum of Modern Art in New York before moving to West Fairmount Park in 1958. This historic site and museum includes a hill and pond garden with a tiered waterfall, island, and koi fish, a tea garden featuring a traditional tea house, and a courtyard garden leading to a bathhouse.”.

This was a perfect spot to spend an hour on a hot afternoon - we fed the koi, checked out the tea house, and found a shady spot to sit and discuss our dinner plans. We decided we would shop at the Italian Market and have charcuterie for dinner at the house (it was nice that our house was within walking distance of the market). We had fun picking out cheese, salamis, pastries, fresh fruit, and other goodies and had a delicious dinner at our AirBnB. We survived the heat and had a fun day in Philly!