A short weekend in Philadelphia

The week had gone by amazingly fast. Stepping out from a boat on Monday, only to be leaving again on Friday was pushing it a little at work, but thanks to the early start of the holiday season I managed to catch up on all what I needed to do in time for our noon departure to Philadelphia. Well, noon departure was the plan – it said so on my nice outlook invitation that my partner sent me. But of course, we did not leave the house before 2:30. Someone was late – again.

Traffic on the beltway and I-95 was not bad at all. We only had some traffic slow down toward the entrance to Philadelphia. For some reason, the GPS decided to take us through the “scenic route” of south Philadelphia before hitting our hotel for the night: the Doubletree Philadelphia Center. I have stayed in the hotel before on a business trip to Philadelphia, and I was not impressed with the service that time. However, because of the Hilton Q4 Promo, we will switch hotels and get one free night certificate which I am planning to use for the W-A in New York later this year for my birthday trip. So I figured how bad one night could be, considering the price was right (even with the $25 parking fee).  

I was surprised to see that the service was improved tremendously. Following a little mix-up at check-in with our breakfast coupons (which was not really the hotel fault – they only prepared voucher for one person, as I always book for one person even when my partner joins me as part of the Hilton “spouse stay free”), we were upgraded to the full breakfast menu (as Hilton Gold only continental should be given). The room we had was furthest away from the elevator, according to my profile, but had a very strange layout. It was on the small side, but totally adequate for one-night  stay.

Standard DoubleTree room

We met a friend for dinner at the White Dog Café. While the food was not cheap (nor terribly expensive) it was excellent. Clearly, one of the best meals I had ever had. It was so good we came back the following night for late night snacks as well. If you ever in Philadelphia it surely deserves a try. Service though was a little confused and unfocused (such as brining food items at the wrong time), but the food quality surely made up for that.

The reason we went to Philadelphia was that my partner’s son dance troupe was performing, and it was a good chance to see the show close to home. We’ve met with son that evening and hit the local bar scene for a while before calling it a night.

The next morning, after our full breakfast (don’t get excited, a typical hotel fare and nothing to write home about – I would not pay for it), we drove the leisurely 5 minutes drive to our next hotel – the Hampton Inn Convention Center. Parking at the hotel is on a close by lot (at the end of the street). Check in was fast and courteous. It seems that they were really happy to have us in the hotel, and it was not a fake enthusiasm – something one rarely see these days in a five-star hotel, not to mention the Hampton Inn. Warm cider and Philly’s Pretzel were offered as well as a welcome package, including water and some snacks. The room was a standard Hampton Inn room – nothing more but nothing less than expected.

We took a leisurely stroll to the Independence Park and even got tickets to the Independence Hall tour in two hours time. We took the time to see liberty bell and walk around. The tour was interesting and informative, though the building itself is nothing to talk about, as many of the buildings of the time are. We rested in the afternoon and then met our friends that were also coming from DC and went to see son’s performance. I am not a big fan of modern dance, and the last time I’ve seen a show, I was bored to my teeth, but this performance was extremely good, and I have enjoyed it very much.

The next morning we all met at Hawthornes for brunch. It was a very popular place, and he waited about 45 minutes for a table. Brunch was good, but nothing spectacular. I would come back here, but not sure if I’ll wait next time. A quick tour of the Italian Market followed (skip it, nothing wroth while), before we took the 2:15 hours drive back home.

In short, it was a really nice weekend in Philadelphia. I would consider doing it again.