Philadelphia, PA

Not the best fit for me, unfortunately. It's praised as a top city for millennials but it's too much for me. Three big grievances about this city which I admit other cities struggle with too but overwhelmed my impression of the city of brotherly love.

1. Parking – the most common government employee you’ll see in Philadelphia is definitely meter maids. In our 12 mile walk around Philly, we must have passed at least 3 per mile throughout the day, half of which were actively writing parking tickets for folks parked on the street. I understand the need to maintain control of parking in a city, but the solution in Philly seems to have become a parasite for well-meaning parkers. We avoided any tickets, but it made me want to walk in front of the meter maids with a roll of quarters to help a brother out.
   
   
2. Tolls – Philly is hemmed in by rivers with two major bridges connecting the city to New Jersey across the Delaware River. Travelling across these bridges costs you dearly at $5 and $8 for the two bridges so more than the Uber ride! It’s like a trade tariff between Pennsylvania and New Jersey or a wall made from fees. We paid the tolls once and quickly figured out how to skirt around them but drive a bit more too.
   
   
3. Liquor laws – I thought the Southern states had some odd blue laws but Pennsylvania may take the cake. Pennsylvania has some of the strictest liquor laws in the US with odd laws for sales beer, wine, and liquor not consumed at a bar or restaurant. There’s a state run monopoly for liquor and wine sales and you can’t really buy beer by the six pack and can only buy it from certified bottle stores in case quantities.

 
Grievances aside, Philly is a big city with a giant down town area and dense suburbs of tall townhouses. Many townhouses are getting modern face lifts with big windows and brick and wood exteriors. The city had a lot of diverse food offerings and cafes and bars on every other corner. The city also seemed pretty active through the drizzle and big winds. Unfortunately, the winds also whipped up all the trash on the streets so you had to be careful not the get an old newspaper to the face and sunglasses were helpful for the debris. The historic sites were very cool but like the Liberty Bell, seemed to be struggling a bit with disrepair with out of order bathrooms, stalled construction, and bake sales to bring in extra cash. Granted it’s also the off season for tourism until the weather warms up for the summer.
 
All in all, we had a great time wandering around and met some very friendly people at the restaurants and markets. The food and access to cultural events far surpasses what you can find in smaller cities like Raleigh and Atlanta but I’m thinking the big city mouse life is not a good fit for this country mouse!