Philly Part I - The Good

Despite gasoline prices that require taking out a loan in order to fill the tank, it's nice once in a while to take a road trip and get away for a few days. The missus and I spent the past weekend in Philadelphia. The main reason for a trip was a major Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We were not disappointed. Not only did it feature dozens of Kahlo's works, there also were scores of photographs of Kahlo, her husband and fellow artist, Diego Rivera, and their family and friends, including Leon Trotsky. If you're planning to be in Philly within the next couple of weeks, I would highly recommend it. The museum also featured a nice collection of French Impressionist works, exhibitions featuring Juan Soriano and photojournalist Lee Miller, and a collection of Ansel Adams photographs. The museum also had a collection of what passes for "modern art." I'm the kind of guy who wants to understand what the hell it is I'm looking at when I'm viewing a piece of art. If I could do it myself, I generally don't consider it "art." There was one so-called artwork that was nothing more than a bunch of carpet scraps piled in a heap. Another work was a string of lightbulbs curled up on the floor. But perhaps my favorite from this group was about a dozen rocks that had been placed in a circle. If that's art, then my scoutmaster when I was a kid was Vincent Freakin' Van Gogh. But, all in all, it was a nice museum. The food in Philly also was very pleasing. I had some outstanding "street pizza," a great meal at a diner called, go figure, "The Dining Car," and a fine cheesesteak sandwich at Jim's Steaks that was worth the 45-minute wait as we stood in line outside the restaurant. I know I barely scratched the surface of what Philly has to offer culturally and cuisine-wise, but what I took in was worth the trip.