Camelback Ski Trip

Pat's King of Steaks

Sunday January 11th - January 14 2009

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Traveled to Philadelphia on Southwest.   Arriving at PHL, Robert headed out in the rental car to Pat's and Geno's.    In case you don't know, Pat's is the birth place of the Philly cheese steak.    It was started in 1930 as a hot dog stand.   One day they decided to put chopped up steak with onions on the bun, a cab driver smelled it, tried it, and said it was great.  The cheese was added later.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat's_King_of_Steaks

Parking is very tight in the area with meters along the road.  In the 1st picture there's a shopping center 1 block south of Pat's, that's where I parked and walked a block.     In the 2nd picture is the back of the joint.  In the 4th picture is the cheese wiz they use.   It's different from the stuff you can buy in the grocery store.    In the 5th picture is the Rocky plaque on the ground.   In the 6th picture is the line of people getting steaks, this was at 11am on a Sunday morning.   On the weekends, the line goes around the joint.  

In the 1st and 2nd pictures are the condiment bar, they give out free peppers.   In the 3rd picture is how to order.    The classic Philly cheese steak is the meat, cheese wiz, and onions.   To order one, you say, "Wiz Wit" or "Wit Wiz"   Either way works, the person takes your money, and the sandwich comes out seconds later.   In the 4th picture is a sign saying please speak English.  Geno's got into a big flack when they put a similar sign in their window.    They went to court over it and eventually won.   In the 5th picture are the prices.

And here we are, all of that build up for this, a Pat's cheese steak.   How did it taste?   Great, even if it was 30 degrees outside.  Words won't do the pictures justice, let's just say the steak melted in my mouth.     In the 3rd picture is the front of Pat's.  In the 4th picture is a sign they have out front giving them recognition. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geno's_Steaks

Now we move across the street to the competition, Geno's.    They've got a plaque on the ground, and they pay respect to fallen police and firefighters.  It's the same thing at Geno's, you walk up to the window, say, "Wiz Wit" they take your money, and your steak comes out seconds later. 

What is the difference between Geno's and Pat's.    Geno's does not chop up their meat.   They put the cheese wiz on the bun, and their  bun is softer and has a sweet taste to it.      Which one did I like better?    I give them a tie, both were great.  

Here I am driving away from Pat's, the streets are very narrow, and one way.    Pictures of my rental car (Dodge Journey) and the Days Inn where I stayed.   Most Days Inn's are though of as "dive" hotels, but this one was actually clean with good reviews.  

Here I am going to Camelback.   On Sunday evening, I went snowboarding for the first time taking a lesson.   To learn how to snowboard, I watched videos on YouTube, these are the best videos out there and helped greatly. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLLgoaDCgJs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLLgoaDCgJs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bUQ6xv3Ybw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvO8GBGduWQ

This web site also has great tips for the beginning snowboarder.   When the page comes up, just click cancel on the ftp login prompt.

http://users.myexcel.com/wintercream/

So how did I do?   After a couple hours on the wipe out hill, I went up the lift on the practice hill and I was coming down the mountain doing heel and toe garland turns.   I was wearing a helmet and wrist guards.   I fell a bunch of times, and it hurt.   One time I fell on my back and the helmet hit the ground real hard, felt like I had a concussion, but the helmet saved me.   There's a trick where you take a fleece hat, and put it in your underwear as a butt pad.  I did this and it helped a lot.  

On Monday I went skiing, here are pictures of some of the trails. 

More mountain pictures, on Tuesday I went snowboarding again, took a lesson.  The instructor gave me some good tips, and I spent the next two hours on the wipe out hill.   I was exhausted, my legs were beat, but I learned a lot.  

 

On Tuesday evening, I met up with a couple friends of the Tribalwar message board at Mountain Creek Brewery.   This place is located right down the road from Camelback.   In the 2nd picture is Fonzie and Uniballin.      We had a few beers and food. 

 

Here's the food, I had a Southwestern burger in picture 1, Fonzie has a blue cheese burger, and Uniballin had the mozzarella sticks. 

This is the wall of fame, Fonzie's friends are on there.   Two pictures of the inside of the joint.

The next morning, I checked out of the room, went to Pat's for another cheese steak, and the man himself was there making mine.   I told him I came all the way from Ft. Lauderdale to be here.   It was 25 degrees outside, I took my steak and ate it at the airport.   Flight home on Southwest went with out any problems, Southwest is the best.    

End of Report.   Thanks for reading. 

Email me at nogodforme@bellsouth.net.

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