The 14th of September of this year, a Monday, was a picture-perfect day in the greater Philadelphia area, the region where I reside. That morning, anxious to take advantage of the mild weather and lovely skies, I hopped aboard a train in my little town and rode it into Jefferson Station, which sits pretty much in the middle of downtown Philadelphia. My reason for visiting the City Of Brotherly Love was to wander its streets in hopes of spotting and photographing handsomely decorated wheeled objects. In other words, I wanted to collect enough material to produce the eighteenth edition of Art On Wheels, the series that has become one of this publication’s staples. As you can see, number eighteen is now a reality.
I always marvel at my love affair with Philadelphia, a physically large city with a whole lot going for it (interesting neighborhoods, strong arts and restaurant scenes, beautiful parks, and more). I never tired of it during the 30 years I lived in the city itself. And the same has been true for my subsequent 21 years in the burbs. Though no longer a Philly resident, I visit the city regularly and without fail get a charge from it. So, as I expected, my spirits soared when I exited Jefferson Station last week, planting my feet on Filbert Street. I felt free as a bird, knowing that a mini adventure lay in front of me. You better believe I consider myself lucky as hell to have had Philadelphia in my life for just about all of my adult years.
The pickings turned out to be plentiful, maybe more plentiful than ever before. Within the first 15 or 20 minutes of the expedition I snapped five or more photos. And I continued to snap them rather regularly during the remainder of the two and a half hours I pounded the pavement (a lunch break interrupted the pounding). This truly pleased me. As did the beautiful buildings and beautiful young ladies that also crossed my path. As I mentioned above, Philadelphia has a whole lot going for it.
All in all, I covered about five miles of territory in pursuit of worthy, wheeled subjects. My wanderings found me on numerous blocks within downtown Philly and on some a bit beyond downtown’s boundaries. My mind was unusually clear as I strode along, my cares and woes having decided to take a brief vacation. And I sure wasn’t giving any thought to two bewildering questions that have intrigued me increasingly over the last few years. Namely, what was the nature of things before the Big Bang? Have matter and energy always existed? People with brain power far, far, far greater than mine have theories about all of this, such as those involving cosmic inflation and multi-universes. But I think they are only guessing. I’ll drop to my knees in gratitude if someone comes up with indisputable answers before I breathe my last. This old boy wants to know!
Where was I? Oh, right . . . after careful observation of my photographs, I selected six wheeled objects that, to me, are top-notch. Three of them are food carts. I toyed for a while with the idea of having nothing but food carts in this edition of Art On Wheels, because I found a total of seven attractive ones. But a few of the much larger entities threatened to track me down and run me over if I followed through on that. Ergo, a truck, a van and a bus (it belongs to Drexel University, which is located in Philadelphia) also appear on this page.
Which of the selections do you like best? Among the food carts, I give the nod to Happy Burgers. There is so much going on upon its exterior, and all of it is good. As for the motorized creations, my top vote goes to the graffiti-covered van. My eyes lit up when I saw it. I think its design totally rocks. Man, I never know what I’ll find when I begin Art On Wheels treks. That’s a big reason why I dig them so much.
Sounds like a successful outing and a marvellous day to go for a stroll. I liked all the food trucks, especially the burger one.
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Howdy. Have a burger! 🍔
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Interesting
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I love your excursions, Neil! And I was only in Philadelphia once, but I loved it and can absolutely understand your love of her! Great photos!
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Hi, Lori. Philadelphia awaits your return!
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😻
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Nothing like when the woes take a little vacay, for sure!
I love all of the food carts! And A for effort for the other three vehicles!
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Hi. Are food carts common on sidewalks in Los Angeles?
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Yeah, in certain areas, they’re REALLY popular. And I’d say they’re more like food vans than carts.
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The burger van shades it for me!
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Hi. Have a burger on me: 🍔
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Yeah, the burger and smoothie. Art and healthy eating.
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👍👍
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What a fun day! Each of the food trucks is most appealing! Hard to pick a favorite!☀️
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Hi, Lisa. I’ve always loved walking around Philadelphia. I’m hoping to go on a long, long walk through the city with a friend of mine next week. He and I get a kick out of exploring various neighborhoods in Philly.
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all are eye-catching, Neil but the Drexel bus for its elegant simplicity does it for me –
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“Elegant simplicity” describes it perfectly.
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I love all the food carts! They look so happy.
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I’m very glad I crossed paths with them. They are beauties.
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Love these photos! Can’t pick a favorite as each is utterly charming in its own way.
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Hi there. I had fun walking around the city that day. And I was a bit surprised by how many good-looking wheeled objects I crossed paths with.
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How nice that you see your excursions into the city as mini adventures! I feel that way when I get to New York, where I lived near in younger days. I would definitely choose to get a smoothie from that cart!
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Hi, Ruth. Philadelphia just about always has that effect on me. There’s so much to see and do there.
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Yeah. Happy burgers does it.
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Hi. We think alike.
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Every time I see a nicely decorated vehicle now, I think of you and your wanderings in search of them. My first thought was “I wish we had so many cool food trucks.” I think Houston has a good number of them with good reputations, but I know of only two anywhere near me.
As for choices, I love the Drexel bus because the yellow and blue reminds me of sunflowers against a blue sky, but I really like the vibrant colors of the first food truck and the unusual black and white theme of the second. All three are neat!
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Hi there, Linda. When it comes to beautifully decorated food carts, I hit the jackpot that day.
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Love the colours on the ice cream truck. Very pretty indeed.
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It definitely is a beauty. It may have gotten the most votes.
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Any art on wheels that contains food inside, is my favourite!! 🙂 Mel
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Hi, Mel. You have good taste!
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🙂
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You always make good choices. Great eye!
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I try!
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I envy you having a wonderful city like Philly a quick train ride away. That’s one thing this lovely town we live in doesn’t have – a railway station. Our previous place was right next door to one, and I do miss the convenience. From here I’m more likely to drive into town, which means I have the hassle of finding somewhere to park, so end up less likely to spend the day wandering about as you did.
I pondered on my favourite food van and while it normally would’ve been the one covered in graffiti, plus it’s black, my favourite colour (or non-colour), but I am unexpectedly drawn to the first one – bright, cheerful and looking like summer. Maybe I’m not quite ready for autmn yet…
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Hey there. That food cart got a lot of votes, maybe the most. It’s a beauty, for sure.
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I’m going with the orange-colored cart, the third photo. It reminds me of so many food arts Ed and I saw on our just-concluded trip to Aix-en-Provence. As for the cosmic questions, I cast my vote with Energy cannot be created or destroyed and Matter cannot be created or destroyed. It’s always been here, in my view, in one form or another. My question, looking at the huge divergence in humankind between those with a loving, caring heart and the kill-everything fascists is this: Who let the Trogs out?
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Wouldn’t surprise me if you’re right about energy and matter. Those types of questions and their various possible “answers” make my head spin!
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Consider this my “LIKE”
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The burger stand art appeals to me, but maybe not the food. 🙂
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Hi. As far as I can remember, I’ve never bought any food from sidewalk food carts in Philly. But I’ve admired the looks of many of those carts!
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What a fun post! Thanks for the art 🙂
The smoothie truck made me happy – loved the bold, bright colors. And being an old hippie, I had to choose the van. 🙂
Happy Fall!
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Good choices!
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Oh how delightful, Neil! The Fresh Smoothie is my favorite. But what a treat to have the Yummy Burger Hot Dog cart just a stone’s throw away.
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Hey there. I’m pretty sure that the Smoothie cart has gotten the most votes. It’s a beauty, for sure.
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Love the colors on that smoothie truck!
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I hope the smoothies taste as good as the truck looks.
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I always enjoy these art on wheels posts, Neil. My fav (this time) is the middle food cart ♥️
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Hi, Kathy. I’m already looking forward to my next Art On Wheels excursion.
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All delightful, but I’m captivated by an ice truck that says “Clearly Better Than Homemade.” I’d match my freezer’s ice maker with theirs anytime! PS: I’m having trouble with WP’s Reader and had to search for this post. Cheers!
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