Driving thru the mountains of Virginia, you see these cool purple flowers, probably “Wild Blue Phlox” or something similiar and they make your drive pleasant. I’d just completed 2 shows out of 4, one each in Foxburg, PA & Christiansburg, VA and was heading towards Philadelphia. Everything is so laid back in Virginia…none of the big-city problems you’d find in Chicago. Your stress level is immediately reduced by the beautiful surroundings. On the way down from Foxburg, one of my tires was loosing air, and I had to find a quick fix on the route. I was able to solve this problem, by finding a quick oil change shop to plug my tire. The venue in Christiansburg was a panoramicaly laid-out golf club, tucked into the surrounding trees, and it was gorgeous.  It made me wish I was good at golf for a change.

I was determined to spend my off night in Philadelphia, and I my priority was cheesesteaks.  When I visited Philly 9 months ago over Labor Day weekend, I didn’t get nearly enough of them.  One thing about Philly, the drivers are aggressive. The on-ramp lanes are narrow, and nobody’s slowing down to let you in.  My first stop was Sonny’s, located in the Old City neighborhood on Market St. This sandwich was a winner. As a bonus a few-doors down, I picked up a great slice of NY- style  pizza at SOHO. Of course, after that I had to go to the Franklin Fountain, also nearby, and get a sundae with rum raisin & pistachio ice cream, covered in carmel and pecans. The next morning, I made a classic rookie mistake, and filled-up on donuts from Federal Donuts & Chicken, in the early AM, pictured below.  Afterwards, I hit Johns Roasted Pork, than the Reading Terminal Food Market. Twice this trip, I’d given half my cheesesteaks to homeless people to give myself more stomach space.  I visited old favorite De Nics, the Flying Monkey, and Dutch bakery Beilers.  

On the way out of town, I stopped at Dellasandros, and got one last cheesesteak, pictured below. I headed towards the Poconos, a vacation-spot for East coasters, in PA and had a fun show in Saylorsburg. The next morning, I had to get up at 8 am, drive 5 hours to do my last show in Chalk Hill, PA, than drive another 8 to get home.  I cut it pretty close for a 2 pm start-time, so I had to pee into a water-bottle mid-drive, to shave off some time, just making it barely.  Endurance is part of comedy, and this was no cake-walk !