Philly, Cheesesteaks & The Rocky Steps

Hey Road-Trippers,

The internet is a fickle creature... And apparently doesn't exist in Ohio, Indiana and Iowa.

Who the hell knew?

So here's what happened in Philly (pics to follow, once we get a better connection than the local Starbucks):

We left the campsite bright and early, and headed to Philly.

Magellan (our GPS) was in it's usual form, and sent us to a parking lot in the middle of the ghetto.

So we get to Philly, get out of the car, and think "holy shit... There are no people in this city"

After wandering around for a bit - and getting change in dollar coins for parking - We find a subway, and make our way down to South St. for Jim's Cheesesteak.

(amazing, btw. Highly suggest you go, and pics of the goods, sometime tonight)

We get off the subway, and it's a deserted town. Like, fortune tellers and occult stores next to giant graffiti murals and abandoned lots. Creepy.

We catch a cab for a few blocks, have the best cheesesteak in the world, and then head off - In search of the famous "Rocky Steps" & statue.

A few phone calls and a cab ride later, we get to the Philly Art Museum, take a video of Alex running up the steps, and molest a few statues.

We're figuring out how to take a group picture of the three of us, when this guy with bloodshot eyes and a Rocky T-shirt walks up to us, says "Welcome to Philadelphia, I'll take your picture" snatches the camera, and spends the next 30 minutes posing us for pics with the statue.

(We were hesitant about giving him the camera, but he was fat, and we could all out-run him)

After the pictures, we chatted for a bit. Here are some of the highlights:

"You from Connecticut? You have blacks up there?"

"(when we asked for a picture) Nah, I'm a wanted man. 50 and Eminem hate my ass"

"I can't even go to Vegas. They have my ass up against the wall like THIS"... And he mimed being prison raped.

All in all, he was a pretty fun guy.

We walked back to our car, rode a few moose statues, groped an Indian, and then Magellan (who we now call Maggy) struck again:

We're pulling out of the parking lot, in search of a gas station, and she tells us to turn down the narrowest, darkest rape-alley you've ever seen.

I doubt we would have even fit.

The detour? 40 mins down highways, back streets and side streets...

... until we end up at the exact same street it wanted us to go down.

No compromising with the robots. Terminator had it right.

After that, we headed off to Chicago (was awesome, will post about it tonight), and spent the night in Toledo.

More adventures later. Plus pics.

We're headed off to Colorado now, via Des Moines.

Iowa's treating us very well so far.


Your Well-Travelled Friends,

- Hell On Wheels


PS. Comments, man.

Comments.

We'd love ideas for the mid-west... And even the West Coast & South, when we get there.

Feel free to let us know, post some stories, or just show some love.