Moving On

This quintessential Philadelphia neighborhood boasts a complicated history of ethnic strife alongside community solidarity and, for good measure, some of the best bakeries in town. Among its many famous people South Philadelphia claims Marian Anderson, Frankie Avalon, City Mayor Frank Rizzo, Temple Owl's coach John Chaney, Larry Fine of the Three Stooges, "Loving" soap opera actress Lisa Peluso… and not least of all my grandma. That is probably why I’ve taken such a liking to the place. I remember visiting my Nana’s rowhouse years ago. It was like stepping back in time, before modernization got a hold of everything. Whenever we drive through that part of town, it still brings me back to a different era, the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s...one of them or all of them.

On Saturday, Dave and I got to partake in a time-honored South Philadelphia tradition -- The Italian Market Festival! The Market, on any normal day, is where people can buy fresh fruit, veggies, pastries, breads, meat, and whatever else a vendor might be selling that day. And so it has gone for many, many years. You can get the best fruit and veggies in the world from 9th St. I couldn't begin to count the times I was there. Pres. Carter was at 9th and Washington Ave. many years ago and made headlines, my grandma tells me. The Festival is a major attraction. Take, for example, Frankie Avalon. He was there on Saturday. Didn’t know who he was till I started talking to people over the age of…well you know who you are :). But he was quite entertaining and I could see glimpses of why teenage girls went crazy over him back in the day. Maybe the videoclip will bring back some good memories.

Is it a coincidence that all this good food is located in the heart of the Italian section of the city? I think not. Being half Italian myself, I felt it my duty to test some of this good food and, well, D needed no excuse. The food stands were set up on either side going down 9th street, so basically you could weigh so much on one end and well not the same on the other. Between the two of us, we had a few slices of pizza, an Italian ice, a meatball hoagie, a funnel cake, and a coffee. If I had to do it all over again, I would also get a mango on a stick. Yep, it looks as funny as it sounds. They skin the mango, cut these slices into it so it’s easy to bite off pieces, and then they put it all on a stick! I’m not exactly sure if that’s Italian, I’ll have to ask my grandma.