Christmas In the City of Brotherly Love

Yawn. I've had a long but generally enjoyable day. Work was very early today; my shift started at 7AM, and I picked up an extra hour because two of the teenagers were fired and, of course, one of them was supposed to be my relief. (Finally fired - one's been a pain in the rear end since he was hired. Frankly, I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did.) I had a few cranky people, too, including one idiot who threw a fit when I asked him about under his cart. It's just a question!

I went straight home when I finally got off of work. After a quick lunch, I grabbed my bike and headed for the bank. I deposited my paycheck in the ATM machine and rode over to the PATCO station in Collingswood to head into Philadelphia for my first real Christmas shopping of the year.

My first stop was The Gallery Mall on Market Street in Philadelphia. It was packed with people, even this early in the season. I looked for a book for my 3-year-old cousin Faith and a movie for my brother Keefe at Suncoast, FYE, and Borders Express. I had more luck at the stuffed-full KB Toys, where I picked up a pack of the "Robot Heroes" lines of Transformers for my 4-year-old nephew Skylar. I also had luck on my next stop, picking up a present for a friend at Bath and Body Works.

Tired of the stuffy mall and wanting to see what the rest of the city looked like during Christmas, I headed out after I left Bath and Body Works. It was cloudy, windy, and cold when I hit the streets of Center City Philadelphia, but everyone seemed to be in a good mood, and the crowds were at least somewhat bearable. As I walked down Market Street, I remembered another popular holiday attraction a few blocks from The Gallery that I'd always wanted to see. I made my way across the street and over to Macy's, formerly (and still in my mind) Wanamaker's.

This store is HUGE. And I mean, massive. It's all marble and fancy cornices and architectural details, and it's been downtown Philadelphia's premiere shopping destination for at least a century. It looked a little like one of those old-time movie "palaces," and I suppose it was the same concept - a palace for shopping. Though I made the excuse to myself that I was in there looking for socks for my sister Jessa, I knew why I was really there. I made my way to the Grand Court and caught the last five minutes or so of one of the most famous holiday sights in Philadelphia.

I've always wanted to see the Wanamaker's Light Show (now the Macy's Light Show). Every year, the big old Wanamaker's Building hangs hundreds of lights in their "Grand Court" area and plays the huge old pipe organ (the world's largest) and keeps it as a display from late November through New Year's Eve. Even though I only got to see the last five minutes or so, it was still a treat that really buoyed my holiday spirits. The light show is really cool, with all those colors and those nifty little characters made entirely by lights.

Here's a taping of the show on YouTube.

(Note the "Wanamaker's." I don't care who owns it, that building will always be "Wanamaker's" to me. I remember seeing the Wanamaker's commercials and seeing the building on TV as a kid and thinking how glamorous and elegant it looked. And I wish I'd known about the Dickens Village on the third floor. I would have gone to see that, too.)

I walked around Macy's/Wanamaker's, just drinking in how posh it all was, before deciding I wasn't going to find anything for Jessa there and heading out again. The crowds were still fairly heavy, even as I made a few twists and turns and headed for the Chestnut Street Shopping District, on my way to the big Borders and FYE on the Avenue of the Arts near City Hall. Borders turned out to be busy but navigable. I found a really cute picture book for about Marie, the sassy female kitten from Disney's The Aristocats, going on a trip around Paris with her mouse friend Roquefort Jr, for my 3-year-old cousin Faith. I also made a brief stop on the second floor for some Vanilla Soda and a slice of pumpkin bread.

A brief stop at FYE yielded nothing of interest. It had been growing more and more cloudy since I left Macy's/Wanamaker's, but I hadn't really thought much of it, until I left FYE and it felt like it was raining. The street lamps and headlights on the cars I passed while crossing Broad Street told me otherwise. It wasn't raining. It was snowing...and pretty heavily, too. Nothing was sticking, but it looked lovely with all the lights and decorations. Between my presents and the bedecked streets and buildings, it really felt like Christmas as I made my way to the PATCO station on 13th Street and Locust.

I assumed it was only in Philly and would be gone by the time I made it home, but this proved to be far from the case. It was still coming down when I got off the train and out of the station in Collingswood. I had a lovely, if cold, ride home in the snow, admiring all the fancy displays in various neighborhoods in the area. I even went past Newton River Park and got to see it in the snow. The snow was just starting to stick to the sidewalks and ground as I made it home. The snow has since stopped, but there's a nice layer on my porch.

(The other big event in Philadelphia tonight was the Army-Navy football game. I couldn't figure out why there were so many people in uniform roaming the streets of downtown Philly until I remembered the game tonight. Incidentally, Navy won their 7th straight over the Army, which should make my mother happy. She always roots for the Navy. She has relatives in the Navy.)