A Two Part Adventure

Being a big kid is lame. I realized this on Friday because I had it off and no one else did (or all my teacher friends were traveling for Easter). Gone are the days of college, grad school and roommate when you were guaranteed that someone would be available for an adventure. I did was any self respecting girl would do and ventured out on my own (hey mom!). That night when I showed Mr. Lawyer my beautiful photographs he was convinced to come on a Saturday adventure with me (read: I bamboozled him into doing something outdoorsy). I suggested exploring around the Art Museum and going down to the river to see some sculpture. He countered with doing the 8 mile (well 8.56 mile according to one sign but really, who's counting at that point?) loop of the Schuykill river trail, never one to back down from a challenge I agreed. Saturday morning we were off! Little did we know that once you factored in walking from our apartment to the trail head and all my zigzagging for photos it's really more like a 10 mile hike. Best quote of the day from the boy: "This road seems so short when you're driving at 60 mph." Truth. From 10 to 1:30 we were off conquering the Schuykill! My face is a nice toasty pink, I'm walking like my Grandpa and sipping an extra tall gin and tonic with a straw.

It was awesome.

I have chronicled these two adventures with the following photographs.

I started in the park near our apartment but I always read in that park and wanted a change of scenery. However I did manage to snap these "Sky Bloom" pictures that I have been wanting to take for weeks but I never had my camera on me.

 The sky is always so blue around here!

 I ended up at the fountain because I love it. With the sound of the water you can pretend you're at the lake or beach. So I set myself up and got busy with my book. Then two lovely vagrants (if they were hobos, they were very clean ones) plopped themselves down on the bench next to me and struck up a conversation. I am obviously reading a book but that doesn't stop Will and his friend, who reminisce about Florida (my response: so what are you doing up here then? his response: guess I'm dumb then), his 16 and 17 year old kids who he would love to dispatch of, and various other small talk topics. Will offers me a piece of gum which I politely refuse because it's probably roofied and they eventually go on their way, after 10 minutes (!!), to "make that money" which I assume means panhandling. However, they were very polite and never asked me for money. What a difference a year makes! When I first moved here my hand would have been on my pepper spray but now I'm all "oh, crazy drunk hobos. Chill." (Dear Parents and Grandma: I was in a nice and populated area with the occasional police officer. If I was in a sketch area there would have been pepper spray and I would have gotten up immediately.) Ironically after my lunch date with Mr. Lawyer we saw the two of them talking to other random people on the street!

 So my nice little cozy reading spot was ruined and I went on to find a bench where I would be undisturbed by above mentioned vagrants. Do you know where that bench is? Inside the courtyard at the Rodin. It's also very pretty there.

 Oh so pretty.

 Then I wandered to the Art Museum in search of a Street Meat Truck to snag a hot dog but alas, there were none at the Art Museum.

 I want these fish fountainheads for my tub.

 Let's not forget the super shiny Joan of Arc!

 An odd mix of old and new.

All very inspiring right? Which leaves us with Saturday Morning!

This sexy Viking greeted us at the start of our lengthy journey.

 Of course I couldn't resist more "Sky Bloom" pictures because I can't get over how blue the sky is all the time. Sometimes I would kill for a cloudy Syracuse day just so I wouldn't feel guilty about staying inside!

 Everything was gorgeous.

 There is a TON of sculpture hidden all over the first part of the trail, a lot more than we realized from just driving by. Also, he hates having his picture taken so I always have to sneak it.

 The opposite of "Sky Blooms"....um, "Sky Death"?

 White Sky Blooms!

 This is my absolute favorite sculpture on this path (although the Viking was pretty sweet). I always see these guys when we drive on Kelly. From far away they look like little hummingbirds.

 An interesting composition of bridges: Old, Really Old, and New.

 I snuck a picture by leaning out over the river! He was not happy.

 And intriguing convergence.

 Falls Bridge! The point where we cross the river and head back home!

 Top hand: We are here! Second hand: Our apartment!

 The view from the Falls Bridge

 Sweet Shadows and Pretty Railings.

 Bridge Graffiti 

 Drainage Waterfall!

 Yet another interesting composition of bridges.

This is where we stopped for our picnic. The Wawa just happens to be on the way to the trail. So we picked up some hoagies for a snack.

 Saint George and the Dragon

 Cool calcifications on the bridge.

 The city! So close yet so far.

 Boathouse Row!

 Which inspired us to grab this at Ikea! We had been wanting something cool for above the bed but the problem is real art that big is expensive and our bedrooms is sunny alllll day and would fade the crap out of anything. Kev saw this at Ikea for 50 bucks so if it fades, it fades. Plus it's Boathouse Row! He wanted something Philly related. So our adventure ends with this monstrosity strapped to the roof of the car because it's too huge to fit in it (and his damn back seats don't come down) and us holding on to it through the window while driving through the ghetto, South Street, Washington Square, Rittenhouse (I felt so judged), and finally up to our place because we couldn't drive on the fast roads. Totally worth it though.

Good Adventures.