Fun in Philli

The good news is I'm finally doing a post... the bad news is I'm sick. The last few weeks have been insanely stressful with me wrapping up residency, travel, doctor appointments, car repairs, soccer games, NBCOT preparations and just life in general. I'm still not sure if I'm done with my portfolio which is my last component for graduation... but I'm not going to worry about it. I've decided to just let it go, things will fall into place, they always do. So here goes my Phili blog.

On Wednesday I headed to Nashville to catch a flight to Philadelphia for the AOTA conference. I was quiet surprised to see one of my professors there... and then more students and professors.. I knew for sure that a few of us were on the flight but I had no idea it was going to be an all out "field" trip. Our flight was delayed by a hour due to weather.

Some of the 2nd years

We arrived in Phili and the weather sucked. Pretty sad that we went from a sunny day in TN to a gloomy day in Phili but we made the best of it hopping a shuttle to our fancy Lowes Hotel and then went on a little adventure to get something to eat. We all know when I'm hungry I get angry.... which we refer to as hangry. We pretty much ate at the first place we got to and then explore the city a little more... this is when I saw something that made me very happy. Can you guess what it was?  It was a 7 - 11. I haven't had a Slurpee in over a year... I was sooo excited! On our walk back towards the hotel we finally ran into my seat buddy and best friend from the OT program. Can't believe it's been almost a year since I've seen her too.. Crazy. Before bed we hit up the bar and this is where my good luck continued and I got a free strawberry milkshake.

City Hall

Oh thank heaven for 7-Eleven

Reunited!

Waiting for drinks.

Cheers!

The next day I attempted to go to conference but the class I wanted was full... I roamed around the poster presentations and finally gave up. I walked around the city a bit until my roomies were ready to explore. Around lunch time we met up and had big Phili chese steaks, saw the liberty  bell and the Constitution museum. Our evening was spent in the expo center where we set on picking up as much free stuff as possible... which turned into us eating heavy hor d'oerves.  Sara and I hit up the bar again for a night cap and then off to bed....

Breakfast

Poster Presentations

Found this neat braille toilet locator.

Liberty Bell Line

US Ment

Law Books

This is ALL the sign said...

Inmy happy place drinking a Slurpee

Night Cap

Friday I again attempted the conference. I attended one session and then went exploring. This is where things get fun.

My adventure started with a Slurpee and then I hailed a cab (which I'd never done on my own) and went out to the Eastern State Penitentiary. It was awesome to be in a place I'd learned about in school. It opened in 1829 and is one of the most famous prisons in the world. Due to the Quakers ideals of rehabilitation they used isolation and labor to rehabilitation. The building was to be silent so the inmates could repent. The design of the penitentiary kind of looked like a wagon wheel, seven celblocks radiated from a central surveillance area, and each prisoner had his or her own cell, with running water, flush toilet, skylight and exercise door. The skylight was key so light could get in from heavy and the honest work (labor) would lead to penitence.  This prison was open until the 1970's had had many famous prisoners including Al Capone and a dog named Pepe.

Pepe the prisoner pup

Al Capone's Cell

The Hole, I thought the color turned out really weird and creepy.

Death Row

The outside

From the penitentiary I walked to the Benjamin Franklin center, took a couple of pictures, asked for a good local place to eat and then went on my way.

Lunch was at a large deli with many different food options and I ended up with a massive baked potato loaded with veggie and cheese.

I had two more important stops to make while I was exploring. I hit up the Mutter Museum which I've dreamed about going to my whole life. Sadly, I wasn't able to take pictures and the museum was much smaller than I thought it would be but it was a fabulous experience. In a way it made me feel closer to my dad and uncle Kip. I love medical history and  I love oddities.. combine them together and you've got the mutter museum. Needless to say I of coarse walked too far and ended up in the sex district briefly but quickly figured out my flaw.

Triple X movie theatre.

Mutter Museum

Last on my tour list was Edgar Allen Poes house. I took the subway and then walked what seemed like 2 miles. It was weird when I finally got there because the door was locked and in a printed label it said, knock once. I thought, wow that's weird, but as I was standing to what I assume are the projects I just did it in hopes of not standing outside too long. I hate looking like a tourist. That's my number one goal when I'm in the city... look like a local. Anyway a park ranger let me in and was super awkward and since I was the only one there he was like, well I guess you can start with this video... and he shut me in a dark room to view about Poe's life. When I came out there were 2 old women in the building with me... but his weirdness continued. The building itself was pretty nice but I'm still not sure it was worth the hike I took to get there.

On the way back I called my buddy Mark to which him a very happy birthday and it ws then that I got a little nervous for the first time. Two large black men walking by over heard me saying "how are you" and one responded "I'd be better if I was talking to you" and then he continued to tell me and turn around that he was serious.... after the 2nd turn around I turned myself around to walk a different direction. I couldn't help but laugh and think about how nasty I was at that point after jaunting all over the city but in the end I think it was just the usual city BS, I just happened to be taken back since I was alone.

Back at the hotel I showered and then headed over to the expo to get more swag. Finishing up our expo trip we decided to go to dinner and after a little debate a walk over to the oldestpub in Phili we ended up at McCormick's. It was good and it was there that we ended up with a free Creme Brulee. Hannah had work to do so Sara took a bit of a walk, while I enjoyed a Slurpee. As we approached City Hall we heard music... it felt like we were at Universal or something. The music was dramatic and lights were being projected all over the building. We stood in awe and then ended in Boarders where we found a great book in the self help area.

Yummy and free

Massive boobes and nipples

Saturday I was convinced I would have a great day at conference because it was "tech day". Turns out tech day was a cluster f*ck. I couldn't even get to the people/exhibitors I wanted to see. What a waste but if I hadn't gone I wouldn't have heard the expo people yelling "excuse me, Pokemon is that way". I spent the rest of the time that the expo was open, picking up junk and even finagled a free Tom Tom... I sware Phili was good to me. After some dinner planning drama, I ended up doing some shopping, meeting more helpful people and finally found the Puma store so I could buy a bag to bring all my expo shit home in. Sadly, it was like a monsoon out there... and after sitting under an overhang close to the homeless people and being hit with an umbrella I hailed a cab and went back to our hotel before we headed out for dinner.

All these peole were hoping they had won a NBCOT book... I happened to be hoping soo too.... I  didn't win.

I did win some BioFreeze

We met up with all the 3rd years that were at the conference at an Italian restaurant and I have to say this was by far the best an most therapeutic part of my whole trip. I miss those ladies. It's hard going from seeing the same people 5 days a week for basically 2 years and then nothing......

I woke up on Sunday with a sore throat. I'm wasn't too surprised. I spent hours walking around in the rain and playing in the dirty city for days, exploring historical sites.... but I was hoping it was just allergy.

That is a squarl doll in this mans pocket...

I really did enjoy my trip. I was disappointed in conference but I almost feel like exploring the city by myself was a rite of passage. I've really only been to Orlando and Nashville alone... but it's different because I live there. I also was really glad to get away and get to see some of my favorite OTD ladies.