I’ve been a bit busy at the start of this year, something which has been both good and bad. But spring is slowly creeping back over the midwest, and with it dreams of being on the road.
I left Delaware and headed north and east, not far. I have friends who work at Revzilla’s Philadelphia location, and since I’d never been to their retail store I was eager to check it out. Not that there was anything I really needed, but it’s fun to look. It’s more fun to hang out with friends.
First though, it was lunch time and I decided to try one of the things Philly is know for – cheese steaks.
Now, I know there is a lot of opinions on cheese steaks in Philly (a city with a lot of opinions in general), so I went tourist and tried Pat’s. It was Pat’s over Ginos based solely on the availablity of parking, which seemed as fair as any other means of choosing. Riding through the streets of Philly was fun, narrow one way roads with terrible surfaces and close pack houses that reminded me of the 20s and 30s. Not that was I around then, just what I’ve heard.
After lunch I was off to Revzilla. GearChic (Joann) was working out front, and helped me find MadSocial (Rania), who gave me a breif tour before everyone posed with Curiosity.
Rania and Joann had time for lunch, so we went to a place called Urbn (the tables clearly read Burn, but what do I know?), a favorite for them near the Navy port. I’d just had the cheesesteak, so I contented myself with a tea and cookie.
It was good to catch up with them, Rania in particular since she’d been the one to introduce me to my girlfriend Sue. After lunch it was back to Revzilla where I browsed the racks, looking at all the cool stuff that was available. If you can get to the store I recommend it, but even if you can’t they do a lot of online business. And of course, the YouTube reviews, though they weren’t filming when I was there.
After that I got back on the road. I wanted to get through New York before stopping for the night, and getting through that megaopolis was wearing on my mind. A friend I’d met back the Overland East texted a few times, wondering if I was headed to Barber for the vintage weekend, which was coming up. Alister was from Australia and on his way south, riding a KLR. We traded a few messages, my saying I was headed the other way and telling him Barber was worth a visit. I checked in just sort oof New York, not wanting to stop until I was as clear as I could be along the Alantic Cost.
It actually wasn’t that bad, though I did stay well clear of the city proper, other than seeing it in the distance. Other than that, it wasn’t anything different than any other urban riding, with the added thrill of not being sure of the route. A combination of street signs and bluetooth GPS directions got me through, where I learned there is just no where to camp along that stretch of coast from NYC to Providence. After some effort, I found a hotel that wasn’t too far out of my budget, and sent a text to Alister to say I’d made it. I didn’t get an answer.
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