The Best American cities that you'll ever learn from aren't the ones with fancy restaurants, hip spots or tourists but ones that wear their scars like badges of honor. 

I love Philadelphia. As a kid born in concrete and steel without a tree to gaze upon, my parents often sent me to stay with family members in the East Coast triangle: Boston, New York, and Philly. 

I have had so many fond memories visiting the city of Brotherly love during wrestling, sporting events, and just being with old friends.

As a kid, my good friend Jonny who lived in Waretown, NJ (before moving to Boulder, CO) drove my brother and myself to the Spectrum for the Hogan era of WWF and later, Asylum Arena for ECW. Like stupid kids who wanted to leave a good looking corpse and a sincere love for redneck ballet, We took pleasure antagonizing the fans by rooting for the villains.

One of my many memories includes using table napkins to make into a turbin as I always rooted the Iron Sheik and standing for the Soviet Union national anthem. Glass bottles, bodily fluid from who knows where would be flung at us from every direction. We would come home from a wrestling match cut from shattered glass, our clothes reeking of sweaty ball sac. As kids we prided ourselves like we stared death in the face. Who knows, maybe we did. 

The old court house built into Veterans stadium in the early 80s was another exclusive Philly feature. During Giants-Eagles games it would be filled with beligerent drunks charged with assault and battering police officers, fellow fans, and Santa Claus. To wear a NY Giants jersey at the old Veterans arena was the equivalent of a Black guy showing up at a KKK cook out with some food and lighter fluid. It wasn't a matter if you were going to be fucked with, it was a matter of how many teeth you would be missing by the end of the game. 

There was a lesson learned in all the youthful stupidity. The lesson is, being hated and threatened by 10, 100, 1000+ people in an arena will force you to grow a backbone. Not being bullied into doing something I might regret came in handy as an adult during which, I would have to make night after night, unpopular/right decisions during my career in the Medical Profession. 

I may not be popular but I always make the tough decisions that I can live with for the rest of my life. 

Heed the words of South Philly native James Rhodes, "Tony, I'm not the friend that will tell you what you want to hear. I'm the friend that will tell you what you NEED to hear." 

Join us as we get down and a beat down in good ol'Philly. 

Itinerary 

0900-1100 Meet in Hoboken, NJ near the PATH on 4th and Clinton in front of the parking structure near the hospital. Travel time to Philly is roughly 2 hrs with favorable traffic. 

1130-1230-ish to 1300 Eastern State Penitentiary

1300-1400 Geno's Steaks

1400-1430 Liberty Bell

1400-1530 Einstein's Brain at The Mutter Museum: College of Physicians

1600-1800 Race Street Cafe 208 Race St for food and beers. 

1830-1900 Group photo in front of the Rocky Statue 

1900-2130 Back to the Big Apple