Perfect October Sunday Urban Hike

View southeast along Benjamin Franklin Parkway toward Philadelphia's city hall

We've visited most of our typical natural area haunts pretty frequently lately, so I wasn't particularly motivated to go to one of our "usual" places last Sunday to enjoy a perfect October weekend.  Plus, Kali awoke really late, so it was getting a bit too late to drive further afield.  Instead, I suggested to Kali that we drive toward downtown Philadelphia, park about two miles from the center, walk into town to peruse a Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen's show, and then walk back to the car.  We completed a four-mile circuit hike, got to enjoy the energy of the city, and spent a perfect autumn day outdoors.  

Kali at the craft show at Rittenhouse Square

After enjoying the craft show, we decided to walk back to the car along the Schuylkill River, which forms the western boundary of central Philadelphia (the Delaware River, of which the Schuylkill is a tributary, forms the central city's eastern boundary).  The city is gradually developing a new riverfront park called Schuylkill Banks; it has become immensely popular with Center City's burgeoning residential community.

Fitler Square Dog Park at Schuylkill Banks

The Cira Center on the west side of the Schuylkill River is the city's newest (and most unusual) skyscraper

Schuylkill Banks park; the Philadelphia Museum of Art is in the left background

The huge (and hugely popular) new skatepark near the Art Museum

Nature in Black and White

Joe Burochow's Volcano

Kali and I drove to West Philadelphia last evening for a one-night-only show by Philadelphia graphic artist Joe Boruchow.  Boruchow produces striking and dramatic cut-paper artwork, some with natural themes and some with an ironic or humorous bent.

Whitewater

Boruchow's exquisite originals are small (12" x 12", or 7" x 16"), but he enlarges them to super-poster size and affixes them to the sides of buildings throughout the city.  Last night's show was hosted by an artists' cooperative space housed in an old streetcar barn and featured posters on the boarded-up windows on the outside of the building and the originals displayed for sale inside.

 Secret

The place was hopping, and we had a really good evening--one of the advantages of living in a big urban area.