Our Football Field Doesn’t Exist Anymore!

Things are able to change very swiftly at the Schuylkill River Path. Near the Art Museum and the “Sculpture Gardens”, there was a big field of grass that we once played football in. We haven’t walked on the path in a while and last Sunday when we did go, we discovered that they had put mulch all over the field and planted flowers in it. Paths run through the garden dividing it into squares but you can’t walk on them yet because they haven’t finished them. We thought it was really dumb of them to make this garden because there was absolutely no reason why they should have put it there. It was good like it was. It probably cost a TON of money to make that garden and on top of that, they ruined our football field!

by John

Our Observations of the People on the River Path

While walking on the Schuylkill River path in Philadelphia today, we made some observations on the people who walk, run, and cycle on it.

The first observation we made was that there were not very many people on the path today even though it was a really nice day. It was cool enough for a jacket, but it was still very pleasant. It turns out that most people come out when the weather is hot, which is weird because there’s almost no shade on the path.

If it is a hot day and you’re driving on the highway on the opposite side of the river, then you can see the river path on the other side. The people walking on the path look like ants from the highway. There is one line of people walking in single file going one way, and another line going the other way. It looks really funny from the highway, but if you are in the thick of it, it’s not so fun. If you get off of the path for any reason, you literally have to merge back on to the path the same way you merge onto a highway during rush hour.

One of the more annoying things about walking on this path, is that if you’re walking along and somebody running behind you catches up and passes you, they run past narrowly missing running into you, even if no one is coming in the other direction. I don’t know why they can’t move over a little bit. People on bikes are even worse. Most people on bikes move over when they pass somebody, but other times you’ll be walking along and a biker will zip by within a foot of you. Interestingly, it is the “serious bikers”, the ones with the “outfits” who are the worst. In any case, it is very unnerving and we take care to walk in a straight line so that we don’t get bowled over. I wouldn’t care if they gave me a little room when they pass me, but when they pass me like that, it is kind of annoying. So basically, many people on the path have no manners, making the stereotype Northern city person as being rude all the more true for us.

Another thing we noticed about the people who run on the path is that most of them are listening to music as they run and sometimes the volume is so loud that we can hear them approaching from about ten feet away. People on the path rarely talk to one another because they’re just running along ignoring everybody else with their eyes staring blankly ahead. There was also this guy on the path today who we thought was probably insane. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and he went to a little side path and began to dance. Maybe his music had inspired him to an unusual degree, but anyway, he soon stopped dancing and went forward about five steps when he quickly started dancing again. When he was finished, he quietly started running down the path again. Nobody even looked at him and they all continued on like nothing was at all out of the ordinary. Maybe he comes by every day and dances, or maybe everybody just chose to ignore him.

People in cities don’t seem very human sometimes. Lots of them seem cold, uncaring, unsocial, and rude. We like rural folk much better.

by Dink

Is This What They’re Famous For?

We were walking along the river path when we noticed some steps going to the river. We decided to go down them, just to see what was down there. We were walking along, and it was pretty boring, but then we noticed some posts sticking up with signs nailed to them. We went to see what they said and we found something very interesting. On one sign, we saw Ben Franklin. However, when we got closer, we saw that it read: Franklin Confectioners Sugar. The other sign said: Liberty Bell Toilet Pure Manilla Tissue aka toilet paper. We were rather shocked that Ben Franklin and The Liberty Bell had been reduced to confectioners sugar and toilet paper. Maybe they put it in a place where nobody ever goes because they didn’t want anybody to get offended.

by John

The Cosmic Cafe and the Street Vender

 

Coming down from the sculpture gardens, we decided to see what was further down the path. We found that there was a cafe called The Cosmic Cafe and a bunch of boating clubs along the banks of the Schuylkill River. The first time we didn’t buy anything from them, but the second time we went there we bought two rolls for $1. The rolls were really good, and originally we were just going to eat them, but we saw some geese, so we threw some bread to them. (Feeding the geese is illegal according to this one person and fine with another, so if a cop stops us we’ll just say we didn’t know). The third time we went, we wanted to get some rolls, but the Cosmic Cafe was out. We asked if there were any soft pretzels. Again they had none, but they did tell us that there is a street vender down the road who sells soft pretzels. We then went and bought a soft pretzel from him. It was really good, and if the Cosmic Cafe is ever out of rolls again, we’ll probably go to him again if we want some food.

by John

Art Museum

While walking on the Schuylkill river path, we saw an art museum and decided to go into it. The entryway was very grand, and I thought that the art would be very impressive. However, the art was exactly the opposite, meaning the small amount of art that we saw was terrible. Okay, to be honest, it wasn’t that bad, but it was very modern and pointless. I never got into the whole “modern art” thing and I’m sorry, triangles and squares don’t impress me no matter what anybody says or writes about them. When did art become shapes and furniture? (See our article “Sculpture Gardens”). Alright then, back to the point. The paintings and drawings in the museum were very interesting. Although I couldn’t tell what most of them were, they sure were entertaining, in a convoluted way. My favorite one was a painting of a cactus because it seemed like it was the most like actual art.

by John and Dink