The Weekend

Other than the Wheat Beer Extravaganza we mentioned yesterday, a lot more is going on as we near the 4th of July (Which by the way the Roots are playing at for free at Penn's Landing!) This weekend is the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival (PIFF) in NoLibs and at 941 Theater, also the Bicycle Film Festival which is taking place at the Moore College of Art and Design along with a special Bicycle Exhibit. Also taking place on Saturday is the Big Art Show #11 at the 941 Theater, unfortunatly it was canceled due to the PIFF but they are having the Philadelphia Independent Craft Market on July 12th. Penns Landing is having a ton of events this weekend which include Taste of Philly all weekend, Angie Stone Concert tomorrow at 7:30 and fireworks later that night. Sunday as usual will feature the Sundae Concert at the Piazza, featuring Medina but since the recent death of MJ they will be spinning MJ tunes all night and day.

Should be Fun, and very hot!

Beer das Boot

Beer amongst other things are going on this weekend for one check out South Philly Taproom (SPTR) for the 4th Annual Wheat Beer Fest and Block Party. They are having live music and over 30 Wheat Beers on Tap for $3 all day long starting at 2pm. This Saturday the 27th. Check out the science behind beer video above.

Bolt me to NYC

Today we are dabbling with commuting and a little bit with the Sixth borough (aka Philly.) For the past 5-6 years the housing market skyrocketed making the cost of living very expensive in cities such as New York, that along with long commutes into the city from Brooklyn, Queens, and the other boroughs Philadelphia has become a sort of Sixth borough. Artists, hipsters, and YoCoPros have been able to transition easily with a short trip down 95 with little problems. Many have even been able to do the commute as well.

The estimated commute in New York is around an hour, the commute via train or bus from Philadelphia is between 1.5 and 2 hours. As the market increased so did the people moving to Philadelphia, and now that the market has sunk over the past year it hasn’t stopped. People are still able to find a lower cost of living with similar if not better benefits right here in Philadelphia. This allows for many to work from home part of the week and commute into NYC only part time and even for those that have done it five days a week the overall cost savings have been significant. There is only on small problem, making the commute smoother. As more commuters and a travelers take the adventure from PHL to NYC little has been done to accommodate them. For years there have been just a few ways to make this venture.

The first is via Amtrak, unfortunately the prices are outrageous, with a round trip costing around $150, not viable for the dailies. Amtrak also has their business Acela trains, which are even more out of reach at almost $300 for a round trip. Both are ridiculous, which leaves us with two other choices. Septa/NJ Transit, or the often-dreaded China Town Bus.

Ok, so lets start out at 30th street station and hop on the Regional Rail, R7 Trenton Line, this will obviously take you to Trenton but you need to get off buy a ticket and wait for New Jersey Transit to take you the rest of the way into the city. This is a cheap round trip costing around $30, but you have to deal with limited Septa Service and having to transfer both ways. This leaves us with the last alternative of the China Town Bus, which has been a popular due to its $24 round trip fairs. Unfortunately the buses are busted, they are older buses that are closer to the graveyard than to New York, but the company has been well prepared with buses readily available for when buses break down on the commute.
In 2008 that all changed, a company called Bolt Bus magically arrived out of nowhere and has been gaining huge popularity between college students, and commuting professionals. It has even taken away a lot of business from Amtrak. Bolt bus costs around $20-$25 round trip and you can even catch cheaper rates of a $1-$7 depending on how early you book. Bolt Bus entered the Philadelphia market as a joint venture between Peter Pan buses and Greyhound. They are able to provide great amenities with very low prices. They can do so by not picking up at the Bus Stations but at designated pickup spots throughout Philadelphia, DC, NY, and Boston. The buses are brand spanking new, with wider leg room, free Wi-Fi, electrical outlets in the seats, bathrooms, and even some buses have leather seats. We can’t say enough about Bolt Bus. Our weekly commute starts at 30th Street to catch the 6:30 bus, one stop over the bridge at Cherry Hill (Right outside the mall) and then straight to NYC (34th and 8th to be exact which is right outside Madison Square Garden.) Total travel time just barely under 2 hours, getting us to the city at 8:30am, and the trip back usually takes 1.5 hours. A recent competitor has entered the market as well, Mega Bus, also offering very cheap fairs that are similar in price but don’t offer the amenities of Bolt Bus, they have also recently bought out the China Town Buses.

In our opinion there is no better alternative for basic visits or daily commuting!

Piece of duh Piazza

So were had some time to venture out this weekend and visit all the festivities going on in the NoLibs and Port Fishington spots. But we are going to concentrate on one thing.

The Piazza Revue:

We have seen these Piazza being worked on for months now finally we get to see it up-close and personal. The best way to describe it is: if you force-fed Liberties Walk those funny little pills that baseball players take and BAM its the Piazza! Anyway we couldn't believe all of the stores: 13 Galleries, 22 Retail shops and more, including and humungo courtyard with a big screen. Daily events are planned and bands play almost every night, and Phillies games on the big screen. The Piazza can hopefully bring a lot more fun to the area and hopefully it can maintain the traffic flow that Liberties walk was hurting for during the cold month or weekday work hours. A major goal to sustain traffic has to be creating awareness of the Piazza to people outside of our general area.

Weekends have been great at the Piazza, Sundae Philadelphia has been playing there religiously for the past few Sundays. Its a ton a fun and alot of people come out, they spin some awesome jams and guest DJ's stop by like Questlove and King Britt.

The Swift Half, a new venture from the people at the Good Dog has great food and a good selection of Tap and Bottled beer, with outdoor seating near the stage. Vino has some great specials on Sundays/Sundaes, which are 5 dollar flatbread pizzas (which are bangin) and great Sangria specials. Don't look for beer here though, none on tap and a very limited bottle selection.

We also wonder with so many galleries and boutiques why they would all group them together, at some point they will be competing and can all of these boutiques and galleries stay in business? We do think a lot of the places will do very well including the bars, Fabric Horse, and Bambi Gallery. We are also excited that this huge addition to the neighborhood can hopefully propel more businesses to venture further down East Girard into Fishtown. But will the business currently there go the way of the small business in Liberties Walk and close due to high rents and lack of traffic during the cold months? So far the Piazza has been a success but can it maintain its allure when the mercury drops and the DJ's go away and the people stay home? Deep down we want it to succeed and flourish, but in the back of our heads we always have the reality of the economy and how many T-Shirts or Handmade Prints do you have to sell to maintain the rent in the thousands when no one is around. Time will tell, for now Viva La Piazza!