The Architectural Embodiment Of Democracy . . . And A Great Place To Gab On Your Cell Phone!

The Rose Main Reading Room at something called the “Stephen A. Schwarzman Building” . . .

Driving Through New Jersey

The New Jersey Turnpike between 7A and the Lincoln Tunnel:

When you cut through Trenton from Philadelphia via US 1, there’s one of those fantastic “stealth” cell phone towers designed to look like, say, a tree. It took a while but I finally figured out that this one is the TowerCo PA2036 Stealth Tree Tower in Morrisville, Pennsylvania:

Philadelphia And Vicinity, Fall-Winter 2009

Catching up on various Philadelphia-area stuff from the end of 2009 . . .

After shooing away skateboarders at LOVE Park, the City gave them free reign under I-95 in FDR Park:

The Dream Garden mosaic at the Curtis Center:

Elsewhere in Center City, the I.M. Pei-designed Society Hill Towers (what’s with this guy anyway, getting props for these hulking monstrosities in the middle of low-slung neighborhoods? He’s also responsible for the Silver Towers in Greenwich Village, which was recently landmarked and similarly absurd . . .). The intriguing Rohm and Haas Building. Foglietta Plaza, somewhat forgotten between Society Hill and Penn’s Landing. Welcome Park. Great meal at Jose Garces’ Amada Restaurant.

In South Philadelphia, the Holiday Inn Stadium, which is actually a lot bigger than it looks from the baseball stadium:

(The Holiday Inn was featured on an episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.)

Driving through Frankford and Kensington to visit Philadelphia Brewing Company (they have tours on Saturday and the beer is highly recommended!). In Frankford, Womrath Park, which Jen said was the site of various punk shows in the late 1990s (and which was also known as “Hooker Park” back then).

In Port Richmond, Byrne’s Tavern and Green Rock Tavern, which has a JFA paisley skateboard (check out those rail and tail guards!) that must be 25 years old . . . wow:

Jim’s Steaks in Northeast Philadelphia.

Main Street and Dekalb Street in Norristown over in Montgomery County.

Florida Gulf Coast, November 6-11, 2009

Another trip to Longboat Key, Florida at the beginning of November . . .

They were selling Yankees gear in the JetBlue terminal at JFK on the morning of November 6:

Meanwhile, flying over a thoroughly dejected city of Philadelphia:

The beach at Longboat Key. I think this is a Great Blue Heron:

There’s this great vestigial ranch house sitting abandoned among the resorts along the beach:

Hurricane Ida kicked up relatively big waves on the 9th of November:

We stayed, as usual, at the Four Winds Beach Resort. Here are pictures of the St. Mary Star of the Sea Church.

In Sarasota, Central Avenue in the Rosemary District and the Boatyard Boardwalk Shops.

We went back to the Star Fish Company in Cortez, which deserves all the accolades it gets, plus some — excellent fresh fish in a low-key setting. The Peel & Eat Gulf Coast shrimp are fantastic (we don’t really eat the shrimp they serve up in New York, so this was a treat — not trying to be snobby, just that shrimp flown in from elsewhere usually sucks — at the same time, it was really depressing to see the local Publix sell those shitty Thai shrimp rings — yuck), as are the mullet and grouper (can’t remember which is which, but I think the first is the grouper and the second is the mullet):

Long Island City, Fall 2009

The Queens West Sportsfield:

Queensbridge Park:

You’ve perhaps heard of the Little Red Lighthouse. This is the Little Red Comfort Station at Queensbridge Park:

What’s called by one local newspaper Lake Vernon Boulevard at the stalled River East project:

The whimsical Recycle-A-Bicycle Urban Garden underneath the Queensboro Bridge along Vernon Boulevard:

Other stuff: A Drive Across the Queensboro Bridge; Silvercup Studios; Century Rubber Supply on Jackson Avenue.

The North Recreation and Interpretive Area of Gantry Plaza State Park is one of our new favorite spots. Every week we’d head down there after work to hang out. A series of pages from those days, which I’ve posted all in one chunk. First, trying to capture the moon setting over Lower Manhattan from the North Recreation and Interpretive Area of Gantry Plaza State Park on August 25, 2009:

Watching what seemed to be a recent graduate’s picture being taken for a portfolio of some sort at the North Recreation and Interpretive Area of Gantry Plaza State Park on September 1, 2009:

The setting sun and some pictures of the Pepsi-Cola sign from the North Recreation and Interpretive Area of Gantry Plaza State Park on September 8, 2009:

Just when they open the park, more work, this time for a children’s play area in the North Recreation and Interpretive Area of Gantry Plaza State Park, from October 6, 2009:

Four Wongs (And One Yee Li) Make A Night

Back in October, BATC friend Mary organized a duck tour of Manhattan’s Chinatown that included some of her favorite low-budget spots for roasted duck and Peking duck. She called it a duck tour — we’re calling it a Duck Walk. We visited five (!) places in about six hours: Big Wing Wong, Hoy Wong, Big Wong, Hsin Wong and Yee Li.

Big Wing Wong Restaurant, 3:40 p.m.:

Hoy Wong Restaurant, 4:33 p.m.:

Big Wong Restaurant, 5:11 p.m.:

Hsin Wong Restaurant, 6:10 p.m.:

I’ll take this as an argument for eating out more often:

We needed a break after Hsin Wong, so we took a short walk and visited Mei Dick:

Yee Li Restaurant, 8:14 p.m.:

Mary asked us to rate the places. Here were my notes:

• 1. Yee Li — though [this came at the end of the night and] we were stuffed, I think this may have been the best, plus [we liked the] floppy fish [which writhed on the ground near the tanks in front of the restaurant after getting dropped by one of the chefs]
• 2. Hoy Wong — [A local] favorite, right? I kind of agree . . . though the server may have extra beered us to inflate the check
• 3. Big Wing Wong — hard to remember, but I recall comparing this halfway through and thinking it was solid
• 4. Hsin Wong — then again, Hsin Wong (friendly server, right?) was pretty good, too — maybe switch with Big Wing Wong (or is that wong to say?) [Ed note: Ugh!]
• 5. Big Wong — if memory serves, this was saltier and not as fatty

I later learned from something called “Yelp” that Yee Li is apparently owned by the same people as Hsin Wong, which could account for some of our difficulty differentiating the different ducks.

Bonus points go to Yee Li for their useful “Mr. Wipes”:

No clue how you’d pronounce “Lrmgobao” toilet tissue:

Also at Yee Li, this fortune that I’m still trying to figure out:

So many places insist they don’t use MSG — then you see something like this on the street outside:

I believe this is known as the universal symbol for “happy ending”:

Historic Philadelphia Jail!

A visit to the Eastern State Penitentiary in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia back in October:

Al Capone’s well-appointed cell, restored to what it looked like when he had a stint there:

Some of the facility has been restored, but sections such as Cellblock 12 retain their dilapidated Romantic charm:

Nice views of Center City from the Exercise Yard:

September 26-27, 2009

Out to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania for the Bloomsburg Fair . . .

September 26, 2009

Drove past the Meadowlands Sports Complex on an accident-related detour and saw Giants Stadium one last time:

Because of the detour, we couldn’t figure out how to get to Tick Tock Diner in Clifton so we tried a new one, the Versailles Diner on Route 46 in Fairfield.

The Pine Brook Motor Lodge in Pine Brook, New Jersey on the way to Interstate 80:

The Bloomsburg Fair:

Didn’t notice the hilariously snippy comments in the flower arrangement competition in the Horticulture Hall the last time we went to the fair:

We of course overindulged in pit beef and pierogies:

And then there’s the livestock:

And poultry and rabbits:

And an exhaustive Russ Berrie Figurine collection in the Arts and Crafts Hall:

Slept at the Pine Barn Inn in Danville.

September 27, 2009

For breakfast, ate a Cheesesteak Omelette at the New Bloomsburg Diner (mmm):

Drove through Catawissa on our way to Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg:

Rode on The Phoenix and Twister roller coasters, two wood-frame thrill rides at Knoebels:

Here’s what The Phoenix is like:

Rode on the Skyway up to the top of one of the hills in the valley there:

Bought pumpkins at Richard’s Scattered Acres Farm Market just down the road from Knoebels:

Drove through Mt. Carmel on our way to Centralia to see the Underground Mine Fire steaming at the surface of the abandoned town:

Ate fantastic pumpkin soft serve at May’s Drive In in Ashland, Pennsylvania:

Made it to the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton, New Jersey on the way home for dinner:

Arizona, September 16-20, 2009

September 16, 2009

Ate at a couple of new places — America’s Taco Shop in Central Phoenix (named for its proprietor and not necessarily the country), Cyclo Vietnamese Cuisine in Chandler, Angel Sweet Gelato in Chandler and got drinks at SideBar in Central Phoenix.

September 17, 2009

A trip out of Phoenix to Jerome and Prescott via Black Canyon City and the Black Canyon Greyhound Park, which was a dog track and not a dog rack:

Then the World’s Largest Kokopelli in Camp Verde:

Through Cottonwood, then up the hill to Jerome, the old mining town that was resurrected as a tourist destination. The Main Street is quaint, its Upper Park is a nice vantage point from which to take in the scene and there is surprisingly good wine to taste at the Caduceus Cellars Tasting Room, founded by the lead singer of Tool (no kidding!). You can also try the Caduceus wines at the Jerome Grand Hotel’s restaurant, which has really nice views of the Verde Valley:

We returned to Phoenix via Prescott, stopping by Whiskey Row across from Courthouse Plaza and getting a drink at one of its older saloons:

There are a lot of old motels on Gurley Street as you’re heading out of town and the road through Prescott Valley illustrates the sprawl still happening in the exurban Southwest:

Back in Phoenix we ate a late dinner at Hanny’s in Downtown Phoenix. A cool example of a repurposed space downtown, Hanny’s the department store closed in the 1980s and fortunately was never gobbled up by real estate speculators:

September 18, 2009

Ate at Gallo Blanco in The Clarendon Hotel — again, nice to see Phoenix using/reusing old spaces instead of always tearing down and building up. The Clarendon Hotel has a bust of journalist Don Bolles in the lobby. A quirky Phoenix historical footnote, Bolles was murdered by a car bomb in 1976 while investigating organized crime in Arizona. Kind of weird to think that that happened in Phoenix — you associate that kind of thing with other places — Chicago, New York, I guess Russia these days. But when you’re visiting, stop in at the Clarendon (it looks good now!) and check out the memorial to Bolles:

Christown Lanes is a bowling alley with a great 1960s look:

Someday, maybe not any time soon, people will start to take a closer look at 1980s boom-style architecture like the Security Title Plaza building on Central Avenue:

I read that Circles Records & Tapes in Downtown Phoenix finally closed in December:

September 19, 2009

Photographing sunsets is a compulsive and addictive behavior:

Some remnants of Downtown Phoenix:

September 20, 2009

A Diamondbacks game at Chase Field:

September 8-14, 2009

I always liked the view from the rooftop parking garage at The Shoppes At Northern Boulevard, otherwise known as the place where there’s a Chuck E. Cheese on Northern Boulevard:

The Employees Must Wash Hands sign at the Forest Hills Trader Joe’s is funny, and a departure from the usual generic version:

St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan has been in the news a lot lately. The 60s facade of its 36 Seventh Avenue building is charming, for a hospital:

The whimsical birdhouse-type contraptions at McCarthy Square in the Village don’t look as if they’re Parks Department-approved, and that’s a good thing:

Another iteration of a Barneys ad on the side of the building next to the Tiles For America display in the West Village:

The Ace of Cakes guy was at the Beard House:

The Tribute in Light from a corner of Long Island City:

Maxwell’s in Hoboken:

On the way back from Hoboken, I noticed an ancient paint “ghost” under about 250 paint layers on the 7 train tracks in the 5th Avenue-Bryant Park subway station. It’s not there anymore (or it is, just under a new layer of paint):