Termini Bros in Philadelphia, PA

While wandering around Philadelphia, I stumbled across the Reading Terminal Market. I had heard of this market in the past, but completely forgot about it until it was in my sights and bells went off in my brain that I should go in.

 

Inside, Reading Terminal Market sort of reminded me of Chelsea Market in New York, only on a larger scale. They sold almost every type of food stuff imaginable in here, ranging from Pennsylvania Dutch made cheese to Middle Eastern foods to Italian pastries.

The whole market was swarming with people, some taking foods to go, although the majority seemed to be eating in the tables set up in the aisles between the various vendors.

I had already ate lunch at Tony Luke's earlier in the day, so I decided I would get some dessert in the market. I came across a place called Termini Bros that caught my attention.

They had giant butterfly cookies in their display case. I have some happy food memories from when I was a little kid associated with these cookies, so I decided that I would get myself one.

The cookie was huge, probably a foot long from wing tip to wing tip. It was made of a flaky dough with a sweet cinnamon filling between the layers. I totally overdid it, but I devoured the entire cookie in one sitting.

We also got a cannoli from Termini Bros. They were filling these behind the counter as ordered, so it definitely made it more interesting than just getting a pre-made dessert from the case. The filling had a very strong ricotta flavor which I enjoyed. To me, this is what cannoli filling should taste like. The person who I split the cannoli with disagreed and prefers the typical Florida Italian restaurant cannonli filling which tastes more like icing.

Tony Luke's in Philadelphia, PA

While in Philadelphia, I decided I had to eat what is perhaps the city's most well known food: The Philadelphia Cheesesteak. I googled cheesesteaks in the city and a restaurant called Tony Luke's came up on the upper portions of the lists of the best cheesesteaks in the city. The restaurant wasn't too far from where I was, so it was the lucky cheesesteak winner.

Tony Luke's was located in an industrial area. You ordered your food at a window and dined in their outdoor seating. There was a very varied crowd here, ranging from very obvious tourists like me, lots of airport workers, and construction workers.

While I was waiting for my sandwich, I headed over to their pepper bar and sampled a couple of these hot pickled peppers.

For my sandwich, I had a Philly Cheesesteak Hoagie. This consisted of steak, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I wasn't really sure if I'd be able to tell the difference between a cheesesteak in Philadelphia compared to the sandwiches in Florida. Turns out the biggest difference I noticed was in the steak itself. Rather than the really finely sliced beef that I've had elsewhere, the steak from Tony Luke's was a bit thicker. I would estimate the slices were about double the thickness of standard cheesesteak meat. It also had a meatier flavor, so perhaps less seasoning/processing was used to prepare the steak. 

Overall, this was a tasty sandwich. I can also now say that I've eaten a Philly cheesesteak in Philadelphia. That makes me a self-proclaimed expert on this type of sandwich, right?

Tea-Do in Philadelphia, PA

I found myself spending the day exploring Philadelphia. While wandering around the city, I ended up in Chinatown. I honestly had no clue that Philadelphia had a Chinatown before I wandered into the neighborhood, but while there I decided to get something edible. This ended up being boba tea from a place called Tea-Do.

Tea-Do had food on the menu, but I decided to only get a drink here. I had a mango smoothie with boba and mango jelly floating around in the drink. The smoothie was good, cold, and very refreshing. I liked the mango jelly, but the typical tapioca ball boba like this always make me want to brush my teeth badly. It's something about their sticky consistency.

I did enjoy my smoothie from Tea-Do. They had a better selection of drinks available than many other boba tea places I've visited and offering food was nice as well.

Whitetail Resort Marketplace in Mercersburg, PA

I was up in the Washington DC area in February, meaning much colder temperatures and closer distances to higher elevations than I'm used to in Florida. Because of this, I decided to have an adventure and try something I had never done before. I went skiing for the first time ever...

The closest skiing that I was able to find was a bit over an hour away from where I was staying at a place called Whitetail Resort in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. A day pass to the beginner slopes, equipment, and lessons wasn't exactly cheap but I was committed to either learn how to ski or end up with some broken bones. It turned out skiing came surprisingly easy to me and was going down the slopes in no time. After going down the slopes for a while, I was getting hungry and it was time to eat. The main restaurant here was called the Whitetail Resort Marketplace. It was set up cafeteria style with several different stations each serving something different. There were stations for burgers, sandwiches, pizza, sushi, or the daily special which I choose. This was barbecue chicken served with two sides. I choose beans and macaroni & cheese. For a restaurant set up like this, the food was surprisingly tasty. The chicken was nice and moist with plenty of flavor. The macaroni was nice and cheesy, but unfortunately the beans were very overcooked. Can't win everything. This meal also seemed like the best deal in the place, especially since a sandwich with no sides was the same price.

After food, I returned to sliding down snow covered mountains at high speeds on boards attached to my feet. I would totally go skiing again!

Mystery Meat from the Country Club Diner

After leaving Hersheypark, I ate dinner at the Country Club Diner in Carlisle, PA. On the menu, there was both normal lamb gyros as well as turkey gyros. I ordered the turkey gyro. When the meal was served, the meat was a dark, lamb-like color. I questioned the meat, and the response was that it was a mix of turkey and lamb in the meat. That meant that whatever I ordered, I would most likely get the same meat. Not good. Nobody likes mystery meat...

Spinach Pie from the Capitol Diner

After spending an afternoon in Hershey, PA, I ate dinner at the Capitol Diner in Harrisburg, PA. I ordered one of their specials, which was the Spinach Pie. I ordered the Chicken Orzo as the included soup...

The spinach pie was good. It was served with a side Greek Salad, which lacked stuffed grape leaves and anchovies. I wish it had them like on a full sized Greek Salad...

Aside from the food, this old Cadillac was parked in front of the diner as I was going in. I took a picture...

Hershey, PA

I ate lunch in Hershey, PA. I ate at a restaurant called the Chocolate Avenue Grill, across the street from the chocolate factory. I had something called a Noah Sandwich, which consisted of turkey, cheese, avocado, and bacon. I could have done without the bacon, but it was otherwise a good sandwich.

After lunch, I went to Hershey's Chocolate World and rode their Chocolate Factory Dark Ride, complete with singing cows and lots of fake chocolate. After it was over, they gave out these free samples...

In the gift shop after the ride, they did have all sorts of Halloween flavored Kisses that sounded good that I had never heard of like Pumpkin Spice, Caramel Apple, and Candy Corn...