Photo Journal: A Little Philly June Getaway
As Deee-Lite sang, “Why don’t we? Why don’t we…? Runaway!” I know World Pride was coming to DC, but I decided that I would runaway… to Philly!
I’ve mentioned before that post-pandemic, I lost the local group of friends that wants to head out dancing, drinking, and/or carousing, so I didn’t foresee trying to squeeze into crowded bars and standing in lines by myself being very fun.
So instead, I popped up the road a few hours to Philly for the weekend to spend time with my partner and just have a little getaway. It’s a short and inexpensive trip by train, I snagged a short term stay that was a slightly better price than a hotel room–although the company was acquired by Marriott, so who knows how long that will last?
And then just enjoyed a “no plans” long weekend in the city. I used to live in Delaware, and being that there wasn’t much to do in Delaware, we were always headed up to Philly on the weekend, so it’s fascinating to see what still exists, what’s changed in the decades since, and what I’ve never experienced before.
This time around, I did manage see a lot of things and places I hadn’t before. My first time going to Philadelphia Magic Gardens, and my first time wandering back through some old haunts and gayborhoods.
The weather held out for the most part, with a touch of rain, but not too hot out, so there was a lot of walking, but also a lot of good coffeehouse time.
Another place I’d never been was the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which isn’t that surprising. In my youth, I was far more about the nighttime trips than the daytime ones, which is a stark contrast to now because a museum is first on the list of options.
Overall, it was just a nice visit, very low key. We did some ticketed things, but both were walk-in, so no pressure. Generally I’m only in Philly for PAX Unplugged, which sort of limits how much of the city I get to see, especially with it being colder. So visiting in Spring–even if it didn’t feel like it–was a nice change of pace.
The rest of June was mostly unremarkable. As mentioned in my previous post, it wasn’t as queer as it could have been, and the situation with *gestures vaguely* reality hasn’t improved much. And in the final week of June, reality decided to give me a few gut punches, so I’m trying really hard to face July with a fresh perspective and some rebuilding on the mood and mental health fronts.
But this is just a little post and photo share about my trip to Philly, there’s plenty of time to face the horrors another day. 💖
