After brunch, my parents had to head to the airport, but Kyle and I still had a few hours to kill.
We filled the time with a long stroll through campus followed by a trip to the 30th street train station. We bought SEPTA tickets to the airport and food for the flight.
I’m sorry (but not really?) to say, I didn’t make into a Wawa over the weekend.
For non-Philly readers, I’d liken the chain to 7-Eleven, but for me the nostalgia of getting both coffee and soft pretzels is what makes the convenience stores so endearing.
When I first moved to Philly, I had no idea what a “hoagie” was and why it was different than a sandwich. Or a sub. Or a grinder. Or a hero. The terms are never ending. I also thought self service was only for checking out at the drug store. Turns out you can tap buttons on a screen and – bam – your lunch is ready. But I’m getting off topic…
The 30th Street train station has lots of hippie friendly food – including Au Bon Pain, Cosi, and an Old Nelson market. All three are Philly mainstays with veg options, but Old Nelson has groceries too.
This vegetarian section brings back so many memories (more from my NYC days than my Philly ones, but still).
More NYC nostalgia, Tate’s Bake Shop.
And Sabra galore, including the elusive buffalo style hummus. Must find asap!!
I bought a few items, including a vegan “chik’n” sandwich by Nature Boy.
I also got a tub of the same salad with Mary’s Gone Crackers for dipping.
I’ve had horrible luck with airports lately, so I prefer over-packing and having excessive food options. Beats the alternative. LAX is probably the worst place to fly out of, especially the American Airlines and Alaska terminal. Seriously, there’s nothing remotely edible that’s made without meat. I guess the new JetBlue terminal at JFK spoiled me forever.
As it turns out, the Delta terminal in Philly is shockingly veg friendly.
Kyle and I both hit up Green Leafs for make-your-own salads.
And FYI, they have fresh juice too. Plus there’s a Jamba Juice around the corner. Not too shabby.
I enjoyed each and every veggie filled bite (while watching this <— hilarious!!).
My appetite was pretty voracious though, and I wound up finishing the sandwich and the box of Mary’s Gone crackers too.
But the best flight food, by far, was the whoopie pie from Blackbird Pizzeria.
It was delightfully massive. My window-seat neighbor was definitely jealous. She also seemed slightly appalled at how much I was eating. But I get that a lot.
Half way through.
Since I had stored it in our hotel’s freezer, it was still cold and the frosting filling wasn’t so soft that it oozed everywhere. It was almost like a fluffy ice cream sandwich. I preferred the ratio of frosting to cookie in my Sweet Freedom cookie sandwich though. Whoopie Pies are really big right now, huh?
And that’s it for the weekend in Philly!
PS I’m happy to report, the rest of my Sweet Freedom treats survived the transport to LA, so I actually get to savor the trip a little bit longer. 🙂
You always find the best eats! I’m interested ing tha buffalo style hummus & have seen some knock off recipes on the web already. DANG that whoopsie pie is huge now that I see it compared to your hand!
I can’t get over how well you vacation! 🙂 From finding great restaurants in every city you go to, to remembering to take pictures of everything, to keeping snacks in your bag and hotel rooms. I need to use you as a serious motivator on my next trip!!!
hah I always feel like I’m getting weird looks when I pull out yet MORE food from my bag on airplanes.
I didn’t know Sabra had a buffalo-style hummus! I must recreate. And that whoopie pie looks chocolicious. What a great find!
I’m glad you had a good trip, and that the cookie sandwich saved well!
My mouth is absolutely watering looking at that whoopie pie! Oh my Gosh! Thanks for sharing all your delicious eats! Love your blog!
“My window-seat neighbor was definitely jealous. She also seemed slightly appalled at how much I was eating. But I get that a lot.”
You make me laugh so hard.
I miss vegetarian chikin/tuna salads! I moved to Colorado from New Jersey, where they are available at Whole Foods, but out here in Colorado I haven’t been able to find any! So weird to me since CO is so much more veg-friendly than NJ.
happy to make you laugh mary 🙂
btw, those faux chik’n things arent here in LA either, so the company must just be in the tri-state area because i used to eat them all the time when i was in nyc. CA is definitely veg friendly, but i still miss those salads!
how are winters in colorado as compared to the jerz? i really realllly want to visit colorado – boulder especially. but i am a wuss when it comes to cold. ha.
Umm, it aint just your window seat neighbour who’s jealous.
Haha, people always make comments about how much I’m eating too. I’m just like, ‘yah, you jealous?!’:).
Xxx
Oh my! That whoopie pie looks so good! 🙂
Well it’s gorgeous here right now! I’m down in Denver, so we don’t get tooooo much snow, I think Boulder gets more. It’s so dry here that it actually doesn’t feel as cold to me as the east coast does in the winter, so I would say that winter is not that bad.
You should visit Colorado ASAP! We have awesome yoga studios and are totally hippie-friendly 🙂
So jealous of that whoopie pie. It looks too good for words. The trip sounds like it was fantastic! I swear I’m always eating, people are always so surprised when I pull out more and more food.
I don’t think I could ever live in a place that doesn’t have a wawa within a five mile radius. I’m also slightly offended that you would put Wawa in the same category as 7-11 🙂 Wawa is incredible!!
🙂 wawa is incredible. but its kinda hard to explain to people who have never been there. 7-elevens have gotten pretty fancy around these parts.
I want that buffalo hummus more than anything in life right now.