The World's Common Tater

If you read my last post, you know that I was heading out-of-town last week and was stressed out over the impending snow storm. The day of that post, the snow storm was heading in and Amtrak did indeed cancel some trains. I was originally rebooked on a train for the next morning, but my wife suggested I go ahead and rebook for that night and pay for an extra night in the hotel to beat the storm. I was able to rebook and headed out Tuesday night. My train was an hour late, but I made it to my hotel around midnight. It was good I did that because several people did not make it to town the next day due to more canceled trains.  I was there for the Public Library Association Conference, but I will not go in too much detail on the actual conference because I made the decision years ago that this blog would not be a library blog.

Wednesday morning I woke up early because that’s what I do. My breakfast plans were ruined because Reading Terminal Market was closed for the storm so I headed across the street to the Dunkin Donuts. It was still a mix of precipitation at that point. I waited a little while for it to turn to snow and headed out for a walk. It was cold and snowy, but I enjoyed being out of the room. I walked to Rittenhouse Square and then down to City Hall and back to the hotel.

After the walk I met some friends and we walked over to Chinatown for lunch where I had soup dumplings for the first time.

It was then time to head to the convention center for the opening speaker, Sally Yates and then the opening of the exhibits where you can pick up a lot of free stuff. In between I was able to get my favorite photo of the trip – the convention center in the snow.

The next day I had a little bit of time before my first session so I took another walk in the snow to see some of the historical area. I was able to see a little, but most of it was still closed off for snow removal. I was able to get a couple of pictures and then headed back to the conference.

I made it to Reading Terminal Market for lunch which was a good thing because that was the last time I walked in and felt like the lines were not too long. The place was crazy the rest of the week. That night I had a ticket to a fundraiser called Throw and Axe for the Stacks. It was at a place called Urban Axes and it is all about throwing axes. I was a little nervous about this. Not because of the axes, but because I would know no one at the event and was riding up with people I would meet for the first time on the ride. I turned out to be a fun night and as my daughter said when she saw the video I was weirdly good at throwing axes.

On the way back i got a decent Philly at night photo

After another day of classes, I went to dinner with an old friend. Well, she’s not old, but makes me feel old. I’ve known her since she was in 6th grade and I was an adult already. She’s now an adult and living in Philadelphia with her husband. I did not get a picture with her. I did take the below picture of a tree from the seed that was taken to the moon that we passed as we walked to the restaurant. The walk was a very nice walk from my hotel through old city. The restaurant was Chloe Byob and was the best food I’ve had out in a long time. The company was also very good. Now the tree

A few more pictures – An art piece at the convention center, the view from the top floor of the hotel(my room looked out at an office building) and another general city shot:

The next day was the last day. Two classes and then the closing session. The closing session was Hasan Minhaj. A great way to end the week.

I had a cheesesteak at Steve’s and then headed back to take the train home.

After the stress of getting there it was a good week. I was exhausted from all of the social interaction, but I learned a lot and feel good about stepping out of my comfort zone.