Picking a Winner

Generations of families have been loyal to either Pat's or Geno's -- two cheesesteak stands hard across the street from each other in South Phillie.

I couldn't remember which one was better so I did the obvious thing -- had a small sandwich at each and decided for myself.

The fact there was a line at Pat's and the ordering window at Geno's was wide open should have been a good clue.

Pat's -- run by the Olivieri Family since 1930 -- had a much better cheesesteak. Better bread and better meat makes a better sandwich.

Ordering a sandwich at Pat's comes with instructions. And the cashier gets real impatient real fast.

Cooking up the meat at Pat's.

Geno's certainly is the best lit. But this desperate cry for attention wouldn't be necessary if their cheesesteaks were superior to Pat's.

And I thought Geno's "English Only" campaign -- all the employees wear t-shirts saying the same thing -- was completely over the top and obnoxious. I just want a sandwich, not a political lecture.

150 years ago Rittenhouse Square -- in the heart of Philadelphia -- was lined with the finest mansions in America.

Some of the grand mansions along Rittenhouse Square still stand -- though they've been turned into retail space.

Where Do I Sign?

Hopped on a plane today to Philadelphia to attend a hearing tomorrow. I've been here before, but it's not a city I know well.

I really like the ornate City Hall (photo above).

I asked the Front Desk Clerk at my hotel for a recommendation of a nearby "diner" I could walk to for a casual dinner. She sent me to The Capital Grille -- an upscale steakhouse. I forgive her mistake because dinner was really, really good.

According to my waiter there will be 28 Capital Grille restaurants around the country by the end of the year. But none in California -- there once was one in San Francisco but it failed. I've eaten at the one in Washington, DC before.

I had an excellent steak and the service (unlike last night) was outstanding.

Potential Celebrity Sighting: The Mets are in town to play the Phillies and are staying in my hotel. I saw a couple of them coming back into the hotel after losing to the Phillies tonight, but I didn't know their names. I think Shawn Greene and Paul Lo Duca are with the Mets and I'd like to tell them how much the Dodger fans miss them. The hotel lobby had a bunch of cheesy Mets fans looking for autographs.

Too Cool for School

On Monday the Board of Trustees visited the spot where Junior Statesmen was founded in 1934-- the former Montezuma School for Boys, in the mountains just outside of Los Gatos.

It was an inspirational visit with a good lunch to boot.

Tuesday night I had dinner at the oh-so-trendy Spanish Kitchen on La Cienega in West Hollywood.

The insides are pretty to look at, but the food was mediocre and the service was TERRIBLE. Ordered items didn't appear, requests for water were forgotten or ignored, LONG periods of time without any attention from the staff.

Maybe if you're hip enough you don't notice such things.

The Voodoo That You Do

Saturday night went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. I went in with very low expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. They put on a great show. The conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic introduced BBVD as "swing on steroids." That seemed pretty accurate.

And I enjoyed watching the Hollywood Hornet dancers swing dancing all over the stage.

Made my way Sunday to Los Gatos for the annual Board Retreat of the Junior Statesmen Foundation. We all had a lovely dinner tonight at the California Cafe in downtown Los Gatos. I thought the restaurant did a lovely job of accommodating our group.

Downtown Los Gatos is so cute. It reminds me of a movie set of a classic small town downtown.

A First Time for Everything

44 years on this earth and I'd never been to a State Fair. I'd been to the Los Angeles County and the Kern County Fairs. I read about various State Fairs in the newspaper -- but actually going to one had always eluded me. Until tonight, when I visited the California State Fair underway at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds in Sacramento.

I really liked the pavilion that had exhibits from counties around California.

I was glad to see Los Angeles County had an exhibit, even if it was so ugly.

Chicken Charlie's sells all things fried. I tried the Deep-Fried Oreos. They were over-the-top disgusting.

I couldn't believe how many stands sold corndogs. Yesterday the Sacramento Bee ran a bunch of letters about the great tacos at the State Fair. I found the stand that has been selling them since 1947. They were pretty good -- but I don't know if they're worth a letter to the editor.

Taking the monorail helped me get oriented to the layout of the Fairgrounds. I made the mistake of going in the "West Gate" and couldn't really figure out the layout at first. I should know better. You have to go in through the "Main Gate." It all makes sense from there.

Not too crowded on the Midway on a Thursday night.

Carney Town as seen from high atop the monorail.

It took me a while, but I finally found the critters.

Fresh goat's milk, anyone?

All ready to go to sleep.

Intense competition for a giant stuffed tiger.

Fireworks end the evening at the California State Fair.

These parrots and a five year old little girl started making quite a fuss when the fireworks went off. It just seemed rude to take a picture of the red-faced little girl with her hands over her ears.

My First Time

Passing through LAX tonight I caught a glimpse of the chic check-in counter for the brand new airline -- Virgin America.

I really liked its look. Too bad I'll probably never fly them -- I'm too addicted to United Airlines' frequent flyer program.

Of course, I love the way United Airlines keeps telling me I'm such an important customer.