Philly in a week, Manhattan in a day

Tom and I visited our Pete's on the east coast: Philly Pete to see his fantastic production of a baudy burlesque Nutcracker at the Painted Lady Theater and NYC Pete to visit his Open Studio at the School of Visual Art. Booking a bnb on Airbnb with the app on my iPhone, we stayed in Northern Liberties in the bnb French Philly. We couldn't have been better matched on Match.com, we had so much in common with these wonderful people. They are actors who are very active in the local theater scene, casting directors, and they came to Peter's Nutcracker performance along with their dinner guest, a retired professor from Penn. Dave, Paul, Jessica (Paul's girlfriend), Dave's friend and Paul's friend from NYC came down for the performance as well. We also had lunch with former Woodinvillian and Peter and Cherise's sometime babysitter, Heidi (Drummond) Rose in Bryn Mawr and it was a wonderful reunion. She was also their swim teacher, my house helper, my client (Nutrasystem), and an inspiration. We visited Esther. And Peter took us, Nicola, and friends to Chifa an upscale Peruvian and Cantonese restaurant in Center City treating us all on his royalty check from sales of his book. I'm humbled by Peter's generosity. The food was amazing. Truly some of the best I'd tasted. Meanwhile, our hosts at French Philly are Francophiles and foodies and had the best collection of cookbooks, gourmet magazines, and food-related tombs I've ever seen in private collection. We visited Peter's loft that he built inside a factory just north of fashionable Northern Liberties. He's done a fantastic job and followed his plans (below) precisely. We ate a lot of good food and had a wonderful time with Peter. I'm already missing him too much.

Gate to Peter's new factory loft home.

Door leading to Pete's space.

Ceiling of entry.

Pete's original building plans. The final construction is exact to the plans.

French Philly is in the Northern Liberties area of Philadelphia and within walking distance of the central city sites. Best of all it's a new, vibrant area with lots of places to eat, drink and shop. We loved being in this part of town.

French Philly was built in the 1800's and is over 100 years old.

In French Philly's courtyard is a mosaic wall by artist Isaiah themed around wine. His art can be found all around Philadlephia both in private and public spaces.

Part of another Isaiah wall.

Pete has a separate studio for rehearsals.

Our favorite neighborhood cafe. We ate breakfast here every morning with Pete.

Scenes from the Northern Lights neighborhood.

Community garden mural.

Decking the boughs with red and white onion ornaments in the community garden.

Ornamental iron work like this post and the gate below are found all over Philly, these are in the Northern Lights area.

Lunch at Parc. Here we are sharing a plate of raw oysters with our mimosas.

Visiting the old wooden boat where Pete has his summer pirate shows in Boston, Brooklyn, Baltimore and Philly.

Lunch on the Mainline with Heidi.

Early dinner in Mannyunk with the best antipasto misto I've had and a great Puglia primativo.

No trip to Philly would be complete without a visit to Little Italy and our annual holiday purchase of fresh torrone and panetone at Isgro's combined with some cheese and bread from di Bruno's.