Philadelphia

The City that Loves You Back always surprises me. The view below is from my 32nd floor perch at the Loews Philadelphia tonight, looking east down Market Street toward New Jersey. Although I'm a Boston snob, I am really beginning to like Philly, especially its amazing restaurant scene, its gracious neighborhoods like Chestnut Hill, Rittenhouse Square, and Society Hill.



It wasn't easy getting here this morning, however. I had a 6 a.m. flight that was, without question, the most horrifying takeoff I've ever experienced. As soon as we turned onto the end of the runway, a major, blinding snow squall began to swirl around the airport, and the co-pilot even came out from the cockpit to inspect the wings and make sure there was no ice on them.

• The airline shake-up continues. ATA essentially closes down its Indianapolis hub, just weeks after dismantling its only other base, at Chicago Midway, and hot on the heels of Northwest, Southwest, and AirTran all adding major capacity to the Indy market. Song enters the transcon war from New York and launches JFK-Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, taking direct aim at the enviable success of JetBlue.

• Everyone must own Blue Merle's new song, "Every Ship Must Sail Away."

Posted by: Sebastian / Jan. 26, 2005



Minnie Driver and Philadelphia

I flew down to Philadelphia today and I hesitate to admit it, but the more I visit, the more I like the place. Bostonians--and New Yorkers, too, for that matter--are taught to detest the city as a faded relic of better, more industrial days. We like to think we are infinitely more superior than "the place that loves you back" (nee The City of Brotherly Love).

I had a long time to hang around the airport tonight before my flight back to Boston but was glad to get the chance to listen to the tail end of this conversation between a gate agent and a pair of infrequent travelers at gate A17.

Passenger: "Why isn't our flight leaving from Terminal B anymore? Is there something wrong with the plane?"
Gate Agent: "No, m'am, there's nothing wrong with the plane. It came from an international destination--Amsterdam." [that is, it had to go through customs, located in Terminal A]
Passenger (now defeated): "OK, well it's nice to know it came all the way from Amsterdam."

And for the highlight of my day, if not my year, on my return flight, Minnie Driver sat across the aisle from me in Row 1!!!!

Posted by: Sebastian / Nov. 22, 2004

PHOTOS | RESEARCH | ARCHITECTURE | WRITING | CONTACTEZ-MOI | HOME | ABOUT ME

Copyright © 2002-2005 Sebastian White | By accessing this site you agree to the User Agreement.