The City of Brotherly Love

So the last day of the conference was crammed with lectures. The first one in the morning was "Guess the Disease". Three doctors got up there and showed us Xrays, gave us lab results, and then we were supposed to figure it out. The only one I knew was Naegleria, the parasite that you get from shoving a Neti pot up your nose. But I did learn a few things. The other two sessions were all about the new regulations coming out for 2015, so they were boring, even if they are essential to my job.

When I was returning from lunch, where I sat with a really nice pharmacist from Philly, we had an Ebola update. When I looked through the plate glass windows, there was a herd of protestors, filled with hate about the way Lyme Disease is treated. Here are two pictures of them. They motioned for me to come outside and talk to them, so I did. I told them that it's hard to get clinical guidelines changed, but if they want to, they need to gather clinical evidence and then present it to IDSA (Infec Dis Soc of America). Chanting and walking around with bloody rubber ticks, and scarfing down pizza doesn't make a scientific case. They were surprisingly receptive to my advice.

Then at night, we had a dinner program given by a couple of the pharmaceutical companies. It was pretty interesting, and dinner was pretty tasty. I sat with a man from Vienna, a lady from Newport Beach (right next door to HB) and a man from Panama.

Today, I went on the Hop On Hop Off bus for a guided tour. Guess what - I was mistaken, there are some nice parts of Philly, namely Society Hill, South Street, and up by the Art Museum. First, we saw the Church of St Augustine.

Then I got a closer look at City Hall. It was started in 1876 and finished in 1901. IT's French Revival style. Looks pretty gothic to me.But it is a spectacular building. Next door is Macy's. It used to be Wanamaker's. Mr Wanamaker developed things like sales receipts, store accounts, the bargain basement, and the philosophy that the customer is always right.

Then we went up to the museum section of town, which is elegant and lovely. Here's the Art Museum from the front.

Here's the Rodin museum. It's hard to see, but one of the 5 copies of "The Thinker" is out front.

This is a famous house, whose name escapes me, but it was used in the making of The Sixth Sense. It's on St Alban's street. The Church pictured above was also used in the movie. There is a tour you can take that goes to all the famous movie sites in Philly. I would have done that one too, if I had time.

Then I toured the Eastern State Penitentiary. That was all kinds of awesome. You go in, and they give you an audio device, and you can just wander around to your heart's content. Here is one of the huge gargoyles guarding the front gate.

I will just quickly tell you what each of these pictures is of. This is Cell Block 1. All of the other 7 cell blocks are just like this one. You go down them, and each has presentations and exhibits, and you can actually go into some of the cells.

This is the large outdoor exercise yard. The gun turret on the right is new, and below you can see the original, built around 1800.

This is Al Capone's cell. Not too shabby, eh? The prison was closed in 1970. I also saw the first prison Synagogue, the cell of Pep ( a black lab who killed the governor's wife's cat, and so he became the prison dog), Death Row, the 45 foot long escape tunnel one of the prisoners dug, and the prison hospital, complete with tuberculosis ward. Then I bought a mug in the gift shop. I stayed for 90 minutes, then hopped back on the next bus.

This is a statue of Joan of Arc, back in the museum section. The skyline shot shows how far it was from downtown, where I was staying.

After that, we wound around the city and went by the Rocky Steps, then through Antique Row, Society Hill, South street, and the Maritime museum. They were all very pretty and quaint. Then I got off for my last stop, the Mutter Museum. This is a museum of medical oddities. I looooved it. You aren't allowed to take pictures. They had all kinds of skulls, skeletons, internal organs with grody tumors, and jars and jars of fetuses. Also lots of conjoined twins and skeletons of giants. The creepiest one was the cyclops baby. It had one eye, and then a long proboscis nose ABOVE THE EYE. EEEEK.

Then I walked back from 22nd street to Chinatown, maybe 16 blocks. When I was on the bus, I saw a noodle house that looked like it would hit the spot. It did. I had lamb with hand cut noodles, then ice cream. Then I walked back to my hotel to pack and get ready to go home. I miss my house, Doc, Elli, sorta Kenni, the kids and grandkids, my friends, and the hospital. I am hoping that travel tomorrow will go smoothly. The shuttle picks me up at 6 am. Well, here's to a safe trip home for me!!!