Vintage in Philadelphia

Since my husband and I are lucky enough to share our lives with five wonderful dogs and 3 lovely cats, who I write about on my blog Urban Hounds, we rarely go away for vacations.  Its simply to hard to find reliable people to care for so many animals or to pay that many pet hotel fees, plus we would miss them to much.   As a result nearly all of our vacations are staycations in the New York area.   During our last staycation in August we took a day trip to Philadelphia a city I'd never been to before.  My primary reason for going was to visit the Franklin Fountain.  I had read of its relentless authenticity in this New York Times article and as a vintage lover and an ice cream lover I couldn't resist playing the place a visit.  I've always been fascinated by the history of Soda Fountains and think its very sad that the invention of the twist cap and supermarket soda has pretty much eliminated these charming places.  


It seemed a little gluttunous, though I can most definitely be a glutton, to go all the way to Philadelphia just for ice cream, so we visited the art museum as well.  

I was lucky enough to have a nice Jitterbuggin blouse and skirt to wear to the museum.  They make really lovely and comfortable clothes.

I was happy to see that the museum had a few paintings with dogs in them. I love looking at old pictures and paintings of dogs and seeing the role they played in society at that time.

My favorite is the bottom one, I love how the ladies dog is inviting her to play as she heads out the door.

 The museum also had a very nice collection of Medieval armor and art.

In my opinion though the best part of the museum was outside it.  In a garden across the street from the entrance was a sweet statue commemorating a Mastiff who had served as a guard dog for the museum. I couldn't resist taking a picture with him. I love the sweet expression on his face.

I got a lot of nice compliments on my 1940s coconut purse. Its definitely one of my favorite accesories.

 The best part of the trip definitely was the fountain.   It was just like going back in time with a terrific collection of fountain sodas, ice creams, sundaes, and even phosphates (fancy soda drinks made from a careful blending of photos.)  Every detail of the place is perfect and  you really do feel like you are going back in time.

These sodas are not like ones from a store.  The lime soda was really tart and fizzy delicious.  I've never even liked soda until I had it from a fountain.

The sundae I got, the Southern Sympathizer, was definitely one of the best things I've ever eaten.  

My husband and I even managed to get one picture of us together, a rarity, before heading back to Jersey City on the train.