Last week I was in Philadelphia, which is best known for hosting the Liberty Bell, the Mummers Parade, and Gritty—the only professional sports mascot to be adopted as a leftist meme. (Please jump in and correct me if I’m wrong about this.) Most of my time in Philly revolved around writing and taking care of two sweet cats who live in this high-rise apartment building overlooking the city’s Museum District. This is the long greenway that Sylvester Stallone goes sprinting down in the inevitable training montage of Rocky II, chased and cheered on by the entire population of Philly, from the looks of it. The enormous staircase of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (72 steps!) is the culmination of Rocky’s run, and any walk along the Museum District greenway.
But Philly’s self-cultivated reputation as a scrappy underdog city—not unlike the iconic boxer—left me yearning for more disheveled and fragrant green spaces to explore. It was notable how in Philly, the parks seem to come XL-sized but in lesser quantity. For all the flowery grandeur of the Schuylkill River greenway, a multi-use path weaving through the city center and beyond, I found myself searching for even the faintest lick of green space while walking around residential neighborhoods. Occasionally I’d find something tucked away between the old school rowhouses, like Louis P. Paolone Sr. Memorial Park (located steps away from the erogenously delicious Korshak Bagels.) But still, I knew there had to be something vaster and more rustic beckoning nearby.