Philly trip

I'm finally getting around to sharing the pictures of Dan and me visiting his sister in Philly!

We went to a baseball game,


tried Philly steak sandwiches,


checked out the parks,

wandered through the most amazing art museum I've ever seen,


took an embarrassing duck tour,
ran the Rocky steps,



and ate at the Jamaican restaurant from In Her Shoes, one of my favorite movies!

Dan and I went off by ourselves one day and discovered "The Magic Garden," a house and labyrinth of a courtyard entirely covered in elaborate murals from broken dishes, bottles, doll parts, bicycle wheels... any type of junk you could find in a salvage yard. There are no words for how creative, weird, and, yes, magical this place is! My picture don't do it justice:


The outside wall:

A passageway in the courtyard:

Artist Isaiah Zagar left no place un-decorated. Even the ground was a masterpiece:
We spent about two hours walking around the approximately 1,500 square feet place, checking out the murals that dealt with themes such as peace, politics, sexuality, and dreams.



At the end of our visit, the artist, Isiaiah Zagar, happened to walk in. He kind of looks like a thin Santa Claus, with the same jolly twinkle in his eye.

Photo from here.

We tentatively walked up to him and started to compliment his work, to which he just grinned and stuck his tongue out at us in a playful way, like an elf, before answering. He's definitely as kooky, vibrant, and fascinating as his work. I mean, how creative does he have to be to turn trash into an entire beautiful, new world? As we walked through the basement later, there were photos of him creating his murals... sans any strip of clothing. This guy's anthem is "Free to be you and me".

Hope you enjoyed your virtual tour of Philly with us!