100 Yard Dash

March 20th was a great day. My wonderful wife saw that Raphael Saadiq was appearing at World Cafe Live Free at Noon and signed me up for it. We didn't have an event scheduled at the Grey Lodge that night, so I didn't have a set time to be in, so I was able to make a nice 1/2 day of it.

At 10:30am, I got in my car and got on I-95 at Princeton Ave. Got off at Aramingo to go to the Port Richmond Target. They had what I wanted. In/out wham/bam, all was good. Got back on 95 at Allegheny. Got off at Girard. Parked near the Girard El Station. Took the El to 30th Street. Walked to World Cafe Live, arriving at 11:42.

Jeez Louise, Saadiq and his band kicked ass! It's very easy to blow off a free at noon show. It's in the middle of the day, it's on the other side of town and a pretty involved trip that time of day with traffic and parking and/or SEPTA, and it's not like I would be out of pocket. Man was I glad I'm not the sit around type. Because as I said, the band really cooked. They were really polished and everyone was all-star caliber. The songs had different on-the-road arrangements. It was a very diverse and fun wall to wall crowd, and we were all grooving out together in the middle of the day. It was so worth going to.

After the show, I walked over the river from West Philly to Center City. My first stop was DiBrunos where I picked up some cheese to take home, using up the gift card my sister-in-law gave me for Xmas and then some. After that I headed to Joe's Pizza on 16th for lunch. I was regular there during my cubicle days. The eggplant pizza was as good as ever. Got back on the El at 15th. I had considered heading down to Spring Garden Market when I got back to my car, but decided to head straight home for a nap instead. I was in bed by 2:30. Four full and fun by not furiously paced hours in the big city. What a great 1/2 day!

Time: 4 hours
Modes of transportation used: (3) Car, subway, foot.
I-95 Interchanges used: (4)* Princeton/Cottman Ave, Aramingo, Alleghany, Girard.
SEPTA Stations used: (3) Girard, 30th, 15th.

* If I had gone to Spring Garden Market, it would have been 5.