Where Have All the Children Gone?
It started with an email from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, an invitation of sorts. It asked if I would like to go to Philadelphia to see Burn the Floor. Which, uh, Philly? Not my favorite place. (Understatement of the year right there.) And Burn the Floor? Whazzat?
The email continued to explain that it was a show, essentially ballroom dancing on stage, and was sort of like Dancing with the Stars or So You Think You Can Dance. Oh, hai, I can't say that is quite up my alley, but it is absolutely a potentially winning concept in Alexis' book.
So, this past Friday, Alexis and I boarded a plane and went to Philadelphia. In some people's worlds, the idea of flying solo with a 4-year old would be right up there with a trip to the dentist or getting smacked in the head with a sledgehammer, but my kid is a dork. A crayon-loving dork.
That's all she did the entire flight. She listened to music on her iPod and colored. SUCH A REBEL.
(She is available to train your kid on how to act while flying for the low, low price of $1 million.)
So we made it all the way to Philadelphia without anyone ripping their hair out and then spent an afternoon just hanging out. Fortunately, I really like my kid because we spent hours walking around downtown Philly and shopping and eating and then a little bit of time trapped in a hotel together as I attempted to convince her to take a nap. She was having none of it because, of course, hotels are better than playgrounds. But still, even without a nap, she was really, really good.
As I was sitting there looking at her not nap, it dawned on me. I had not seen a single other kid ALL FREAKIN' DAY. I'm completely serious. We walked all over the downtown, ventured into dozens of stores, even ate dinner at Applebee's of all places, and saw no kids. Is downtown Philly some sort of kid-free zone? Did I break the law by taking Alexis there? Were all the kids at a meeting in the suburbs plotting how they will take over the world? Should I be scared?
Eventually the only child in all of downtown Philadelphia and I needed to head to the show, and this is the part where I need to make you go over here to read about that because of ads and conflicts and blah, blah, blah.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Reader Comments (6)
We've been to Philly quite a few times and it is NOT KID FRIENDLY. Which is problably why we hardly ever see a kid other than ones we brought with us. Even in the science museum which is usually a mecca for kids (as anywhere with dinosaur bones seems to be) and our son was the ONLY kid in the dinosaur exhibit. A six week old. we go to the one near us and there are a few hundred stationed around for every bone on display.
But restaurants close at weird times, you cant take a stroller anywhere (because everywhere has narrow stairwells, and there's never anywhere to sit. So snacks, naptime and carting little ones around becomes ridiculously hard.
Philly is not a fun city. I'm with you there.
They have all the Philly kids in basement cages, poking them with sticks until they grow up. Then they give them tickets to Flyers games. There's no other explanation.
Actually, we eat our young here in Philly. Where were you in Philly? Center City, Olde City? If you were in the Liberty Bell/Indepence Hall area you must have seen a few. When I worked in Pittsburgh, I don't recall seeing a lot of kids running around in Market Square.
I never see kids in downtown Philly either. Then again, I hate downtown Philly so I'm usually in a MUST GET WHERE IM GOING BEFORE I GO APE mood.
Most who live in Center City don't stay when they have kids- you move to the suburbs. That area is for DINKS and college students.
I loved visiting my sister when she was there, but I agree - there's an...interesting...dynamic going on in the city and surrounding areas.