Crossing William’s Woodland

Pennsylvania means “Penn’s woods” or “Penn’s land.” Quaker William Penn was granted the tract of land by King Charles II of England in 1681 … Originally, Penn suggested “Sylvania” (woodland) for his land.

State Symbols USA

I don’t embark on frequent road trips. My family and I do make occasional forays into the city to attend concerts or theatre productions, but these are of no greater distance than an average daily commute. These brief outings really can’t be considered proper road trips.

Avril Lavigne?

On a whim, three grown men from Pittsburgh decided to purchase concert tickets to see Avril Lavigne live in Philadelphia. It’s about a five hour drive between the two cities, which are nearly at the opposite ends of Pennsylvania. This was an actual road trip, with periodic rest stops, tons of snacks and excessive highway speeds.

We didn’t actually know where the arena was but somehow we just kind of stumbled into the complex. Looking back on it now I’m amazed we weren’t hopelessly lost. This was before iPhone (2007) or Android (2009). We had what are euphemistically described as “feature phones” so no turn-by-turn GPS navigation.

Once we arrived at the arena we realized that the third member of our party, who had purchased his ticket separately, was seated on the opposite side of the arena. Awkward. There were so many single moms struggling to shepherd packs of screaming tween girls pressing forward to the stage, that many of their paid seats were empty. We figured nobody would notice if we appropriated one extra seat.

A Halloween Concert

It wasn’t a bad show. Seriously. Avril Lavigne had a ton of rotation on radio at the time. Even if you weren’t a fan of her music, you couldn’t help but recognize some of her more popular songs.
That night was Halloween and Avril dressed up in a “Hooter’s Girl” outfit. I’m sorry if that sounds sexist or misogynistic but we were single guys and that was the kind of thing we noticed. Did I mention all the single moms? We noticed them too. The Opener was Butch Walker who wasn’t half bad either.

Philly Cheese Steaks

After the show we decided we should cut through south Philly (maybe don’t do this after dark) to get cheese steaks. What else are going to do when you find yourself in the middle of Philadelphia in the middle of the night? You better know whether to go to Pat’s or Geno’s if you don’t want any trouble. We had a preference but there was some … crime occurring that prevented us from eating at our preferred location.

Home Again, Home Again

Then back in the car for another five hour drive from the city of brotherly love to the steel city. We stopped at Starbucks on the way back. Starbucks was WAY better in 2004 than it is today (the company, not the coffee). We needed the caffeine because all three of us had to work in the morning. By the time we got back there was no point trying to sleep.

That arena doesn’t exist anymore. It was demolished and replaced with a newer, more modern facility.