You Say Graffiti, I Say Graphiti...

#31daysofbiking mileage counter: 33.8

Can I just state overtly that I'm so glad I decided to do this again? You know that normally I'm a "blow as much sunshine up your ass" kinda guy as possible, but before I got on my bike this afternoon, today was not my cup of tea.

After work, I had a couple small errands to run. After that, I decided on a whim to avoid all the household chores I had planned and instead crossed another item off my Philly biking bucket list (which doesn't actually exist - it's all in my head, just like a lot of things). On today's adventure agenda, Graffiti Pier:

Not that you can tell it's a pier from this view, but trust me

The article I linked above does a pretty good job describing the atmosphere, and those of you who know me know why I would truly enjoy a place like this. Basically, it's an abandoned coal pier, formerly owned by Conrail, that's been left to it's own demise for over 25 years. If you look above, you can see remnants of coal shards in the foreground. Still standing and constantly evolving with an abundance of what some might call vandalism, I find a lot of beauty in it:

I spent probably about an hour here, and could have done much more if I had planned ahead and packed a dinner. Guess I gotta come back, but I did take plenty more pictures... Places like this tell the story of the city's past as an industrial haven, and also its present as a city still struggling to find its identity in the 21st century. Constantly changing, a little rough around the edges, but still plenty to show for it. Alright, I'm off my soap box.

Of course, no adventure would be complete without a visit to a new bar or dining establishment (or both). Believe it or not, until today, I had yet to cross Saint Benjamin's Brewery off my Beer bucket list (again, doesn't exist except in my head). It was well worth the wait:

It's a jackfruit sandwich - recommended for flavor, not for your health, but no one ever said bar food was healthy

I met up with a couple friends in Fairmount after this, which was great, but it was quite the hike after all this...heh. I might have been motivated by the fact that one of them is moving to Europe and I'm not sure when I'll see her again. All in all a much better ending to the day than the beginning, and as I portended yesterday, a much better day than Monday.

Now, about those chores...