Discover Philly...And Get Drunk On The Cheap

Link dump for tourists and locals…

SoundAboutPhilly is a site that offers “tours” of Philly through maps (Yay, GoogleMaps.) and audio. If you don’t have a friend to show you the non-tourist side of Philly, hit this site up for suggestions - there’s more to Philly than a cracked bell. Do listen to the audio; it contains in depth interviews with locals, and tons more info than the written intros. Need a bite after trudging through the city? The “Philly Flavorhoods” tour takes you to restaurants by neighborhood. Don’t attempt to use the site’s search function; it’s practically useless. Otherwise, nifty site. I wish every town I visited had one of these!I’m an adult, so no longer bring a hidden flask to restaurants. (Bars are another story.) Sometimes though, you just want to enjoy a meal with rosy cheeks and blurred vision, and not go broke! Do it legit with help from this interactive BYOB map (Yay, GoogleMaps, again.) of Philly restaurants. Now, where do I get a bottle of wine? Click on a restaurant and the site also locates the nearest liquor store. Sweet.

Both of these tools are on gophila.com, the official visitor site for Greater Philadelphia, which is pretty darn informative. I've been here five years and just discovered a few places I've never heard of, so hop on over if you're planning a visit or even if you've been around a while.

Find Local Food

Since row homes aren’t conducive to vegetable gardens and I don’t see myself moving in the near future, I’m stuck without a garden. The few ornamental vegetables I sneak into my client’s gardens and one client’s abundance of apples – Who the hell plants an orchard at a residence they visit 20 days out of the year? – can’t replace the joy of having my own glut of produce.

Farmer’s markets are an option. The really close ones to me are during the week and have midday hours, which is great if you are unemployed! I can’t get there and I even work for myself and can do what ever I please! I'm more sensible than that, so I go to work.

I’ve been digging the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) option, thanks to the introduction and experiences at Café Cyan. If I’m invested in a farm then I have motivation to pick up my produce. Plus, CSA farms usually have convenient Saturday pick-ups for the employed.

I looked around on the computer for local CSA’s and came up short. I found some, but they were a little far away. Thanks to an article this week in City Paper (a local Philly rag) about eating locally, I found a good tool to locate CSA’s, farmer’s markets, food Co-ops, and U-pick farms across the nation. Well, wouldn’t you know it? There’s a CSA farm two miles from my house!! Here’s the tool.

Looking at the dot-density map, you’re shit out of luck if you live in the middle of Nevada, but the good news is that you don’t live there!