Do you ever play tourist in your own hometown? I lived in New York City for a decade and never visited the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building until I actually moved away. It’s funny how in between all of the duties of regular life you never stop and smell the proverbial roses in your own backyard. I decided I needed to change that a few years ago and now play tourist all the time. It’s really fun to act like you don’t know anything about a place when you talk to taxi drivers and bellmen at the hotel…you never know what you might learn!
I recently spent a weekend in Philadelphia at The Logan. If you haven’t been yet, you must go check it out. The hotel is full of interesting art; the rooftop bar has a postcard-worthy view of the city; and The Logan’s Urban Farmer restaurant has a really great vibe with its industrial chic-meets-quirky farmhouse décor. One of the things I thought was particularly cute was the Do Not Disturb sign. Local is definitely a buzzword in hospitality, but I especially liked how they incorporated local flavor into this ordinary part of a hotel stay. See pictures for the details.
Friends who have never visited Philadelphia tagged along, so we did the requisite Philly things—cheesesteaks, the steps at the Art Museum, etc, but I finally had the opportunity to jump aboard the Big Red Pedal Tour’s pedicycle. We wrote about them a few years ago, but they’ve grown since then. Red Pedal offers history tours, pub tours (which sound like fun for groups, but since we had kids tagging along, we opted for Ben over brews) and food tours (to come). You feel like a celebrity aboard this fun vehicle since people on the streets wave and snap photos of you as you peddle along learning about Philadelphia’s fascinating history or just enjoying the company of colleagues.
I think the best way to brainstorm about work is to get away from it completely, and my weekend in Philadelphia was proof. I looked at the city in an entirely different way as a tourist and not someone rushing into a parking garage and up an elevator to another meeting. So, go ahead and book yourself into a location near you to see your own backyard in a new light.
