Why Didn't They Call?
Sometimes we miss things. Like Manisha and Preethi.
Nearly two months ago, which seems like two lifetimes ago in Blogtime, we wrote about Pennsylvania's pioneering step into the cyber-promotion of tourism with it's creation of a site where select travelers would post accounts of their road trips.
VisitPA.com is where six tourists, or groups of tourists tell of their Keystone capers, and we were hopeful to show Manisha and Preethi, billed as the Culture Vultures, a good time in Philadelphia.
We promised to take them to the Trestle Inn, which is near the paper, and where beers would not stretch the company expense account too far.
They came and went without us.
They took a three-day trip here. They got lost. They did a lot of shopping. We could have shown them better.
There is more culture in the washroom of the Trestle than they found at the King of Prussia Mall or South Street, which they pronounced the Soul of the City. Yo.
Day One is headlined: Although we both attend a top tier business school, we are both clueless when it comes to directions. (They go to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.)
... we finally reached King of Prussia Mall Plaza & Court - an enormous shopping center that has all the top department stores and much more. This was exactly what we needed to cheer us up after the drive. Our only problem now was which part of the mall to enter.
They continue: King of Prussia mall is actually made up of two malls, the Plaza and the Court, and a lot of our friends had told us that one had different kinds of stores than the other. If we had actually got to King of Prussia on time, this would not have been an issue; however, we were planning on having dinner in Philly, so we were only going to have time to shop at one. After debating the topic for several minutes, we decided on the Court, having been largely enticed by Bloomingdale's, one of our favorite department stores.
I'm getting nauseous just typing this.
They stop off at an "upscale food court" for a chicken sandwich. Then they realize that they'd need to visit the other part of the mall to hit Armani, BCBG, Bebe, Burberry, Diesel, Louis Vuitton. These were the stores we were dying to go to. Obviously, we should have done better research before our trip. Since it was already 6:00 and we still had to get to Philly.
Let's cut to the chase. They get lost. Five times they ask for directions. Finally someone sends them on the right path. They check into a hotel and go to Buddhakan. They have a great meal.
Day Two: Our Own Private Wine Lesson.
They are headed for New Hope for some more "culture."
The houses are big, lawns are huge and life runs at a slower pace. We were both surprised to find such an adorable town so close to Philadelphia.
That's us, adorable.
We read about their muffin purchases and some more shopping. Then back to Philly for sushi at Pod. Then the sort of thing happens to them that happens to us all the time. After spending some time there, we walked down the street to the Suede Lounge, where we were asked to join a VIP party and ended our night by sipping on glasses of Cristal.
Day Three: We were able to take in the soul of Philly.
They being culture-vultures, they thought they'd actually take a break from shopping and eating and take in some culture. But the Dali exhibit was sold out. So they had wonderful egg Benedict at Tenth Street Pourhouse. Now they were hungry for the heart of Philly.
Once on South Street, we felt we were able to take in the soul of Philly. We walked around for quite some time, but finally decided that we wanted to do some serious shopping. So we jumped in a cab and headed down to Rittenhouse Square. Rittenhouse Square is an upscale section of Philly that is known for great boutiques and stores. Manisha and I spent a couple hours walking up and down the streets, stopping at various stores and trying on clothes.
I'm sorry. I can't type any more of this. I'll be at the Trestle....
Ugg....my head hurts. So, "culture vulture" sums it up perfectly, they feast on the rotting,diseased meat of an animal only after all the good stuff is gone. It makes sense - they skip things like REAL restuarants (Ie, monk's, nodding head, McGillian old ale house - yes beer bias, hell, they even ditched morimoto's) real sites (historical sites, religious sites), and even stick to the Burbs (New Hope Winery sucks monkey balls - you can quote me), yet ignore the Mercer Museum, Valley Forge, or the Morris Aboretum. F$%&! that man. You can tell Pittsburghers wrote this tripe - they can't bring themselves to admit Philly (and surrounding area) is better, but they can't write anything actually good about the city.
Say hello to the future of blogging: state-sponsored corporate capitalism. Too bad no one will read them . . . I salute you for taking in as much as you did!
yeah. I even tried to post these comments in "their forum", gee, can't wait for me to get turned down on that one
Couldn't we have at least gotten Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie to do something as ditzy as this? At least they would have gotten some notice. I have to believe that the banks that floated the loans for their college eductions are calling the note on their parents right now.