Joe THE's Drive-By Tour of Philadelphia
Joe needs a ride, and will give you the grand tour on the way to the course.

by Joe THE / DiscLife.com
June 4, 2001

I don't have a car. I did have a car when I moved to Philadelphia in March of 1994, but as a "returning-to-school" student, I knew that I did not have the bank account to keep it. It was just over seven years ago when I got rid of my Oldsmobile Delta 88. It's been easy getting around the city without a car, but a bit tougher when it comes to traveling to tournaments. Luckily, I've found some awesome people here in Philly who've been more than accommodating in getting me to tournaments. (Thanks Dave, Geoff, Frank, Chris, JGB, Phil, Greg, John and anyone I may have not mentioned.) Now, living in South Philly since the Fall of 2000, I have to say that it's a bit tougher to get to the course since I'm further away than I was when I lived within a 40 minute walk of the course. So, I would like to extend an offer to anyone who wants to come to Philadelphia to play our course, Sedgley Woods: If you swing by my house and pick me up, not only will I show you our little section of the disc golf universe, but I'll also take you on Joe THE's Drive-By Tour of Philadelphia. It normally takes about 10-12 minutes to drive to the course from my house, but, by taking the tour, it will add about 15 minutes to that ride, and you'll be able to see some of the more famous sights in the city.

We'll start the tour in South Philly, just a couple of blocks from where I live. In Philadelphia, every New Years Day finds a parade in town put on by the Mummers. I can't really adequately explain what Mummers are, but I live in the heart of Mummer-land. It might be easier for you to go to the Mummers website for Philadelphia. For the first part of our trip, we'll go by the Mummers Museum, where the history of the Mummers if found, along with costumes and instruments used by different bands throughout their history. And on we go.

Our next visit on the tour will be to drive through the Italian Market at 9th and Washington Streets, just a few blocks West of the Mummers Museum. The Italian Market is an outdoor market several blocks long, where you can purchase meats, vegetables, fruits, spices, coffees, etc., or stop to get a hoagie or cheesesteak. It was featured in the first "Rocky" movie…you may remember him during his run, when he cruised through the Italian Market on his way to finish the workout by running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which will also be a stop on our tour.

From the Italian Market, we'll make our way East to 5th Street, then take 5th Street to Market Street, where we'll cruise right by Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell on our left. I imagine most, if not all, of you reading this will not need any information about these two places of interest.

We'll make a left onto Market Street, leaving the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall to fade behind us, and at 8th and Market Streets, we'll see on the left our Disneyland Park! Well, actually, it was supposed to be a Disney-themed attraction, but after getting a humongous hole dug (we're talking a hole as big as ˝ a city block that goes down about 20 feet), the project was cancelled for some unknown political reason, so we're left with a big hole. But, mice live in holes, so I suspect that maybe Mickey is hiding out somewhere in the mess.

Continuing West on Market Street, we'll come upon City Hall, which is located in the exact center of Philadelphia. It's the largest municipal building in the country, and is a really cool structure. Work on the building began in 1871, and was not completed until 1901. On the top of the clock tower is a 37-foot, 27-ton bronze statue of William Penn, an early founder of Philadelphia. Many other smaller statues adorn various parts of the building, including statues of Native Americans, Swedish settlers, mother and baby, etc. Other global references are also part of the decorum with the continents being represented along with the elements (water, fire), and much much more. This is one place you'll want to come back to tour. It's also been seen in the Bruce Willis-Brad Pitt movie "12 Monkeys," though it had been dressed for the part: covered in vines, dirtied up, and with lots of animals running around it to depict an uncertain future for mankind. Currently, a massive external cleaning of the building is underway as the city gets ready to celebrate the 100th birthday of the building on June 23, 2001.

Just across the street from City Hall we'll now be passing Love Park. What is Love Park? Well, I know that most of you have seen the "Love" statue in pictures, stickers, t-shirts….it has the "L-O" on top of the "V-E." Well, the statue that spawned this "Love" logo is in the park across from City Hall, and it's located in a small city park. The park is mostly just a place to chill out, and is used by skateboarders and roller bladers for it's steps, railings, and concrete barriers. It's too bad the city considers kids of all nationalities who get along to be "criminals" just because they're skateboarding. The cops are always chasing the kids from Love Park. Jeez….let 'em stay for cripes sakes… they're not causing trouble, and they're all getting along. Let them skateboard!

In the background of Love Park, looking West, is JFK Parkway, at the end of which is the Art Museum. We continue on by catching the Parkway, and driving right towards the Museum. This is also another really awesome-looking building, and well worth visiting (just not during the Drive-By tour!). The building is made of Minnesota dolomite, giving it a light brown shade. It houses over 300,000 works of art, and is adorned with many statues on the outside, Greek columns, and has a beautiful azalea garden in the back. Of course, the steps in the front (East side) of the building are the ones that Rocky ran up when he completed his run that also took him through the Italian Market. As a matter of fact, at the top and center of the steps are Sylvester Stallone's (aka Rocky's) footprints in concrete, so you, as a visitor, can stand where Rocky did as he was jabbing both fists in the air at the end of his run. And yes, if you want to stop to run up the steps singing "Gonna Fly Now," I guess we can stop... the course is only a couple of minutes away.

From the Art Museum, we're going to go up Kelly Drive, make a right, cross over Girard Avenue, make a left at the first traffic light, and there's our course on the left. YAY! We made it. And now you've gotten a quick glimpse of Philadelphia's cool places to visit all while heading over to play disc golf. Hope you've enjoyed the tour. Now, let's go out and golf, quarter skins, from the long tees. Good luck, welcome to Sedgley. Oh, and thanks for the ride.

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