I live about 45 minutes (without traffic) outside of philadelphia and until this week I had never drove into the city before. (not that I have never been there, we go quite a bit.. but I have always either been riding with vince or my family) So to be honest I was a little nervous about driving and dealing with all the crazy traffic, the intense drivers, the one-way streets, the parking...
Well, yesterday I had to be in center city at 10am to drop off stuff for an event, then that same night I had to go back to the city for a banquet at the University of Penn Museum (REALLY neat building!), and then this (friday) morning I had to be at the Union League (GORGEOUS!) for a breakfast seminar starting at 7am. First off, let me start by saying that the places I went were very nice and I had a good time at the events... BUT oh my goodness... the pain of driving there was enough to make me want to pull my hair out...
lets start with the first trip shall we... obviously knowing that driving at 10am would involve some of your typical morning traffic I made sure to leave my house with plenty of time to get there (or so I thought). So I left at exactly 8am and after 2 hours of sitting in traffic I got to the city at 10am.. and I thought perfect I'll just park real quick and run in and drop this stuff off... yea if only it were that easy. Instead I drove around in a circle (no joke) for 30min, always ending up in the wrong lane at the wrong time so I could never turn where I needed to turn, almost hitting a couple bikers riding between cars (not to mention the pedestrians walking out from every which direction) all before even finding the right building and then I had to park a few blocks away and pay $10.50 (and I was only in there for 10min TOPS!). ughh so I thought OK my first trip alone to philly wasn't perfect, but I did find the right place and managed to do what I needed to do.. so I'm sure tonights trip will be easier...
well my 2nd trip that day to the city I was able to find the place very easily (yay me!) but the traffic getting there was INSANE. It took me 3 HOURS to get there.. are you kidding!?! it wasn't even rush hour this time! And of course another $18 for parking.. fabulous. There was even traffic getting home at 11 at night! So, learning from my mistakes... I thought it would be best to make sure to give myself plenty of time to get there this morning for breakfast. I got up at 4am (ugh) and left my house at 5am.... and then got to the place and parked by 6:10am, which meant I had 50 min to kill before the thing even started. (and I couldnt just sit in my car, because at the parking lots in philly you get out and they park your car.. this time for $26) Since everything around me was still closed I walked a few blocks until I found a dunkin donuts and could at least get something to drink to kill the time. But really, how are you ever supposed to plan on being somewhere at the right time with traffic that is so hit or miss??
Well if nothing else.. after 3 trips, 2 good meals, and $54.50 in parking (thank goodness for expense reports).. I learned that the city is not my cup of tea. Even without all the ridiculous driving, just the traffic and craziness in general is not for me. I like my quiet little town where every once in awhile I see a horse and buggy, not taxi's flying around, everyone honking every second, people everywhere.. I know some people love it and to each their own, but I am definitely meant to live in the suburbs, where I can easily visit a city but not have to deal with it on a day to day basis :)
2 comments:
i could not agree with you more jenna. i drove to the city for the first time (as a driver) in may and i was SO nervous. i couldn't imagine dealing with that crap every day.
amen sister--i prefer the suburbs too!
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