Philadelphia, PA June 1, 2019

“Here lies W. C. Fields. I would rather be living in Philadelphia.”

W.C. Fields

According to Merriam-Webster, serendipity means “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for”. On this fabulous day, our second day in Philly, we experienced (and I learned the meaning of ) serendipity.

We left our lofty Airbnb on Spruce on a beautiful morning. I call it lofty, mimicking Airbnb’s description of what we can only surmise was the 5th-floor servants’ quarters of this beautiful brownstone. Luxurious stairways with beautiful wooden window sills and wood-paneled walls carried us to the 4th floor, which led us to a tight shoulder-width stairway to our humble and lofty 5th-floor quarters. As luck would have it, we would not return to our tiny and decrepit home base until almost midnight.

Rittenhouse Square

We each grabbed breakfast egg sandwiches at the Spread Bagelry and claimed a portion of a large concrete bench in Rittenhouse Square. In front of us was a statue, Billy, a goat statue with horns kept shiny from constant rubbing. As the park filled up with visitors, we witnessed some of this rubbing. Seemingly every child made a beeline to Billy, excitedly stroking his horns, climbing on his back, and patting him. As the benches filled up in the park, a steady parade of mostly white folks of all ages, on bikes, by foot, and in strollers, often walking well-bred dogs or carrying musical instruments (probably to band camp) passed by us. When we had our fill of this fascinating early morning Rittenhouse show, we decided to head to Tired Hands Fishtown Biergarten.

While searching for a bathroom, we happened upon the Septa Museum on Market Street. With my urging and a recommendation from George Hummel, we each purchased a Septa day pass (thanks, George!). It would prove to be a wise decision.

At around 10:00 we hopped on the train heading to the Tired Hands Biergarten in Fishtown. We discovered that Tired Hands would not open until noon just as Jim happened to notice that Yards Brewing was near our current stop. On a whim, we hopped off and headed down Spring Garden Street.

Silk City

Outside Yards, runners packed the entrance for a race event. We worked our way through the crowd into the brewery. The taproom did not open until 11:00 but they suggested grabbing a bite at Silk City. So what if we had just had breakfast. We headed to Silk City and enjoyed our second delicious breakfast on their patio.

Yards Brewing Co.

Back at Yard’s, we grabbed a table, a beer, and signed up for the $10 tour. This new facility is a monument to ale, a big beautiful space. Christian was our tour guide (that’s his part-time gig), he works for dermatologist at his weekday job. During the tour, I grabbed a free Brawler, one of my favorite Yard’s brewskis. I love this malty, toasty British-style ale.

On the tour, Christian suggested Love City as a next destination. Following Google’s advice, we discovered it was an easy walk.

Love City Brewing

Love City has the feel of a neighborhood bar but big. In the back, a food truck is pulled up adjacent to the back garage door, appearing from the inside to be part of the building. The bathrooms are inside a room with a long wall of coed stalls on one side and a row of sinks on the other. We sat at a wheeled industrial cart table. I enjoyed Smash It Up, an unusual saison with a peanut aftertaste.

The brewery was electric with the high energy of a young crowd plus a newly-arrived walking beer tour. We had seen that same beer tour at Yard’s earlier. I asked a random and slightly tipsy beer tourist if he was enjoying the tour and he suggested stopping at Roy-Pitz Barrel House, mostly for the food. Going with the serendipity gods, we headed to Roy-Pitz.

Roy-Pitz Barrel House

Roy-Pitz did have a terrific menu but we were especially impressed with their beer list. Many of their sours are held in foeders for 1-3 years. They were spectacular. I had an Old Jail Ale, a malty creamy brown ale on cast with a soft mouthfeel. Fun place!

We headed to Evil Genius, based on our server’s recommendation. Mind you, we still had not reached our original destination, Tired Hands. It was still afternoon and we all were still having fun but getting a bit tired. If only we had a comfortable place to sit down and take it easy, away from the hustle and bustle. The Philly Beer Week genie complied, just outside of Roy-Pitz was a small park with (and I’m not making this up), couches upholstered with astroturf. We all collapsed for a nice nap.

Fully rested, Chris, Roy-Pitz’ barrel brewer happened to swing by just as we were about to leave. We learned that Roy-Pitz has a Chambersburg connection, where much of their base beers are brewed prior to hitting the foeders.

Evil Genius Beer Company

We walked a few blocks to the Septa train, riding until near Evil Genius. While walking within shouting distance of the big crowd at Evil Genius, a man in a wheelchair asked for our help into his car. We obliged, helping him stand and watch him take one heroic step towards the hatchback of his car. He then instructed us to “just shove my legs in the car” and to DBear, “use 2 hands, grab my arm and really yank on it”. The four of us rather tipsy men managed to get our new friend into the car unscathed and his caretaker drove him off safely. Full of joy from our spontaneous good deed, we headed to Evil Genius.

Evil Genius is in Fishtown, an “up and coming” neighborhood in Philly. The elevated train that we had just ridden, frequently rattled past us as we queued up for beers. I sampled a #ICANTEVEN, a watermelon blonde ale that tasted like a sweet watermelon Jolly Roger. I nursed this somewhat refreshing and kinda weird drink and watched the Evil Genius staff frantically try to keep up with demand.

Tired Hands Fishtown Biergarten

We were all set to hop on the train to Tired Hands when Google advised us just to walk – it was only 7 minutes. Finally, after quite a long day, we reached our original destination. And it was worth it, as I ordered a mouth-watering peach milkshake IPA. We met a couple from Philly. He was almost as nuts about beer as us but he really knew Philly. When we said we would be heading home and might grab a pizza or a cheesesteak, he insisted that we go to MilkBoy across from Jim’s Steaks. We could sit down at MilkBoy and have a drink while they got the cheesesteak from Jim’s.

MilkBoy South Street

So, we headed on the train south toward MilkBoy. We got off at Market St. and walked to South Street. Jim’s Steak had an enormous line but with our new-found knowledge, we headed across the street to MilkBoy and got a seat outside on the sidewalk. Just as Rittenhouse Square provided witness to a parade of successful Caucasians, South Street offered an alternative African American experience. We ordered our Jim’s cheesesteaks from our seats and watched the show.

South Street was a madhouse, a tremendous street performance, and a circus all wrapped up into one extraordinary event. We saw a constant line of hot cars, motorcycles(both 2 and 3-wheeled, and traffic steadily parading down South street. Meanwhile, a stream of pedestrians, dressed in their Saturday night finest, walked 3 feet past our table. A talented bicyclist who “owned” the intersection continually entertained us by pulling wheelies, standing on his handlebars, or riding backward. One over-enthusiastic motorist was pulled over by a gang of bicycle cops, stopping our car parade for a good 20-minutes. Even this display of police force became part of the South Street show.

All the while, we were enjoying our Jim’s cheesesteaks wit whiz and sipping on sodas (all of us were beered out). BTW, Paul and I agree, Steve’s Prince of Steaks is still our favorite.

Heading back to home base by foot, we couldn’t resist using our day pass for one more ride on Septa. It really didn’t make sense, because we rode well past Spruce Street. This probably made for a longer walk but we did experience some more of the Septa.

We arrived at our “lofty Airbnb palace” just as the rain began to splatter on the sidewalk. Our day was a wonderful serendipitous adventure full of delicious beer and new (at least to us) parts of Philadelphia.

Cheers!

Warren