that armonica — genius!

It's been a busy week. Or so it seems. Monday night/Tuesday morning I returned from Philadelphia where, that's right, I ran into Benjamin Franklin eating ice cream at the Reading Terminal Market.

Short of my friends, Ben Frank is easily one of my favorite Philadelphians and his museum, well, that's something I can go on-and-on about. Check it out if you can find it tucked behind the US Postal Museum on Market Street and then under the ghost structure that's supposed to represent the Renaissance Man's ripped-down house. Anyway, there are a couple of famous Benjamin Franklin impersonators walking the streets of Philadelphia, the most famous being Ralph Archbold, who knows who the guy I ran into really is, but I spotted him at the Bassett's Ice Cream counter. I approached Mr. Franklin-alike and we had a brief conversation about our mutual enthusiasm for Journalism and I summed up by complimenting him on the Armonica or Glass Harmonica. I love chatting it up with great historical figures — for real — and not having to play that lame party game "If you could have dinner with 5 people dead or alive... "

So, was meeting Benjamin Franklin the supeficial highlight of my trip? Perhaps. I did visit my parents and a few friends, attended a really nice, low-key wedding, stuffed my face with some mediocore gluten at Harmony Chinese Vegetarian and had a Yuegling Lager at Bob and Barabara's. On the last tip, it was nice offering a nod to the late Nate Wiley while listening to what members of The Crowd Pleasers are doing following his passing.

Whirl wind tour indeed.