Sunny in Philadelphia

This weekend I went solo to Philadelphia to meet up with some of my very dear friends. It was my first non-business overnight trip without Joker and the girls since... well, since the Bug was born almost three years ago. I had a fabulous time drinking, eating, shopping and even sleeping. Thanks, Joker! Here are a few photos from around town.

We stayed in the new Palomar Hotel, which is located near Rittenhouse Square. This flowering almond tree truly exemplified spring, don't you think?

Thanks to a tremendously progressive Mural Arts Program, Philly boasts one of the best collection of murals in any city. They really are all over the place. The one below seems to chronicle women's history, or something of the sort. The B-52 bombers in the lower right are totally unexplainable, though.

My friend Lynne thought this mural was a celebration of arts and science, and I truly don't have a better guess. It looks to me like a bunch of wizarding-world mural characters walked out of their own murals and into this one for a party - they're all too random and of completely different styles to make any sense to me. Check out the violin-people to the right of the bordello lady and the left of the ghost. Bizarre, right?

And some detail.