RRT Part 2: Chicken Cheesesteaks and Philadelphia Idol

Kiddies exercise their bill of rights outside the Constitution Center

My second stop along the RRT was trickier than the first. For one, I've never been to Philadelphia and had no idea what to expect.  Also my relatives in Pennsylvania live more than an hour away from the city, which required me to do some planning before I went downtown (heaven forbid).

Although I didn't feel any brotherly love in terms of employment, I did have some quintessential Philly experiences like:

• Taking a bus tour around the city with a very enthusiastic, booming tour guide named Ernest
• Learning that Philadelphia's City Hall boasts the highest statue atop a building
• Eating an authentic Philly Cheesesteak (okay, technically it was a chicken cheesesteak)
• Realizing that Benjamin Franklin will always be the original American Idol in Philadelphia; Sorry, M. Night Shyamalan and Danny DeVito
• Seeing the boat in which Vito Corleone traveled to America in The Godfather Part II

The cheesesteak master shreds my chicken-onion-cheese mix

I was able to rule out Philadelphia as a prospective candidate— chalk it up to gut instinct and some unfavorable similarities to a certain metropolis in South America...

Still the trip was a success: I'm one stop closer to finding my ideal spot, and I had a wonderful time visiting with family I hadn't seen in years.

Next up: Surviving the New Jersey Turnpike: A Southerner's Guide to driving in the Big Apple