My Favorite Places in Philadelphia

People ask me sometimes if I ever get tired of Philly and honestly its a hard city to tire of once you figure out your spots. Mine are pretty normal honestly but they work. Here goes nothing.

Some of these overlap with earlier pieces I’ve written — the tennis at Strawberry Mansion, the running at Bennett’s Fairmount Running Club, the 6am solo stroller run on the same trail. Different angles, same city.

Roberto Clemente Park

Right next to where I live so I'm there most days. My kid is about 14 months old now and he loves the jungle gym — particularly the one thats clearly meant for the bigger kids. I just kind of let him go and he climbs everything. People probably think I'm reckless but he genuinely knows what he's doing. Probably.

The Rocky Steps

Speaking of the kid climbing — we go to the Rocky steps pretty often. Good exercise honestly. He loves going up and has been doing it since he was around 8 months old. One time a visiting New York Times reporter saw him climbing in a little monkey costume and took photos. That was pretty funny actually. Now when people see a tiny kid powering up those giant steps like its nothing and ask me about it I just say yeah he's been doing this for a while.

Rivers Casino

Low stakes poker is my thing. Rivers has good low stakes games and the enviroment is casual enough that I dont have to worry about the pros and grinders. I can just enjoy the game, drink a little, play some cards, and if the weather's nice I'll even walk there and leave my car at home in case I've been drinking. Last time I was there I got the soup at Mian — the Chinese restaurant inside — and it was exactly what I needed. Wish it was non smoking though. I always feel bad for the employees who have to be around that all day.

Fairmount Park Running

I run Fairmount Park trails just about every day. Sometimes with the Fairmount Running Club which does a 5 mile route out to the John B Kelly rowing statue and back. We always stop for a photo at Lloyd Hall. Its a good group. Running with a stroller is a different experience but the trail handles it fine.

Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center

Went there with my mother in law a few years ago. Just a really peaceful place. Full size classical Japanese house in the middle of the city. You walk in and it feels like a completely different world. I dont really know how to describe it other than that it just felt right. Good place to take someone visiting who you want to impress with something quietly.

Strawberry Mansion Courts

I lived a few blocks from here for 2 years so I know the basketball courts on Diamond and 33rd pretty well. I'm 5'6 and was a benchwarmer all of high school so the teens down there are all way better than me — I just kind of play along when they let me join. They dont mind. My wife and I also tried to play tennis at the courts there a few mornings which was humbling. And sometimes I play soccer over at Edgley Field number 3 or 4 with a meetup group. Good times.

Vine Street Park

The Chinese style lions with the koi fish in a little pond theme. Its a small park but I always stop when I'm passing through. Something about it.

Italian Market at Christmas

A few years ago my wife and I stood in the freezing cold for about 30 minutes outside this famous place — DAngelos I think its called — the line was out the door and wrapped around the block. We were determined though and we bought a bunch of cookies. Her parents were in town so we also got a yule log cake. Well we forgot to pull it out during the actual visit so we ended up with a whole yule log cake just for the two of us. We ate about half of it and had to toss the other half out as it was honestly too sweet.

Thats my list. Nothing fancy. Just the places that make Philly feel like home.