Today I will eat four different sandwiches and live to tell about it. It is glorious.
In order to make it through the day, we are splitting sandwiches amongst the three of us for the first two stops, then just Scott and myself for the last two after we drop Megan off at the airport. Our day, Megan's last, starts in the Reading Market, home to many great eateries but none more important or greater than Tommy DiNic's. Tommy himself is there and recommends we get the roast pork, half with sweet peppers and half with broccoli rabe, all with sharp provolone cheese. We sit at his counter and enjoy this simple, yet beautiful sandwich for breakfast. A few minutes later, sandwich consumed and us ready to depart, we begin an hour long conversation with a lawyer sitting next to us eating on-the-house roasted hot peppers from a cup that ultimately involves himself (name not recalled), two more lawyer friends (all in suits, one probably very important), Tommy, and Tommy's grandson (age 9, maybe).
We talk about school, politics, sandwiches, immigration, life, road trips, salsa (brought over by one gentlemen who insists we try it by the forkful; we do, it is very good, and quite hot), places of residence, career ambitions and family. An older man (80ish), newspaper folded underarm, walks behind the counter, hands Tommy a penny he says he owes him from yesterday, grabs a cup, pours himself coffee and leaves. Everyone knows Tommy, everyone loves Tommy. The lawyer went to college with him and says "these kids are doin' what we shoulda done when we were their age, Tom". And he's right. Moments like this are why. There will be a time 30-odd years from now when Scott Lee is sitting at my counter, eating his namesake sandwich, telling kids like us to make sure they hit DiNic's when they are in Philly.
Before sandwich stop number two, we decide to take in some culture, Philly style. This means prisons and statues of beloved fictional characters. Eastern State Penitentiary, our second such landmark on this trip, convinces me it is the most interesting prison in the country outside of Alcatraz. It is the model for all modern penitentiaries in the country, has a self-guided audio tour narrated by Steve Buscemi, housed Al Capone, and looks like a castle - what more do you need?
The Philadelphia Art Museum is a beautiful building and is home to some fantastic pieces, including a special late Renoir exhibit. We go see the Rocky statue and climb the stairs out front instead. Impressionism has been around since the 19th century, it'll be here later; we are on a sandwich schedule.
Round two is the first of two cheesesteaks, Jim's Steaks. Going traditional, we get steak, onions, Cheez Whiz. It is everything I had hoped for and more. The line is rightfully out the door, the tables upstairs rightfully packed. As we are only a month out of business school we note the price of a plain sandwich is $6.70 and the price of one with Cheez Whiz is $7.45. The sandwich builder uses one spoonful of Cheez Whiz per sandwich, from a giant can of Whiz undoubtedly obtained wholesale. If memory serves me, Cheez Whiz costs negative $6 per can because it is so awful and not a real foodstuff, which means they are making infinity profit margin on the addition of Whiz. Brilliant business model.
It is time for Megan to depart us for Boston and we oblige before eating two more sandwiches. She was a trooper throughout and will be missed. Enjoy the lobster in Maine. Our gas mileage improves with the subtraction of 97 pounds.
After sweating in out in I-95 traffic we make it to the controversial home of the original Philly Cheesesteak: Gino's and Pat's. Originally we had intended to do a side-by-side comparison of both, but found out Gino's is a racist establishment and we decided to boycott. They have a sign by their order window that reads, "This is America, when ordering speak English" and recently held a rally in support of AZ bill 1070, raising money for the legal defense. Gino's staff is also supposedly incredibly racist and owner Joey Vento is on record saying if his customers order in any other language, he'll give them Cheez Whiz on bread. He also has this monstrosity of a facade on his shop. Please join us in never eating at this horrible place. We eat at Pat's only and it is a fine cheesesteak, no need to look further than this place for the original.
The last stop on the tour of sandwiches, Sarcone's, is just up the street in the Italian Market. They make us the best hoagie I've ever had, period. They own a bakery a few doors down that provides the bread, bread that sells out regularly. The meat is well seasoned, the toppings fresh and perfectly suited. We are full, we are content.
Yes, we do eat dinner and it is just as delicious as anything we had today. Dessert though, that is a rare Philly treat. Take a look.
It's called a gelati and it is made of layers of soft serve and shaved ice called water ice locally. I've had something like this in Vancouver, B.C. last year and it was almost as good as this. I will be opening one in AZ in short time, stay tuned.
Scott Lee and Mike Ham's Philadelphia Sandwich Rankings and the Meghann Glavin Highlight of the Day (official):
1. DiNic's
2. Jim's Steak
3. Sarcone's
4. Pat's King of Steak
That's it for Philadelphia, PA. It's real late here, so apologies for any typos, I'll edit TBD. Tomorrow is DC/Baltimore and Camden Yard.
Tomorrow's Agenda
Route: Philadelphia > Washington, D.C.
Estimated Distance: 137 miles
Estimated Time: 2 hours, 46 minutes
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