Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised that I have odd interests. It’s just like me to jump at a chance to visit an actual human cyclops or a preserved overstuffed colon. Therefore, this year’s ABLE excursion from Delaware to Philadelphia was right up my alley. We don’t have these things in Calgary.
At the civilized time of around 9 am, seven ABLE members (well six, and Frank, Kate’s husband) set out in a van to take a train to Philadelphia. We coffied up at the “American Tim Horton’s” (Dunkin’ Donuts), which Mark (a colleague from Edmonton) and I agreed was an equivalent institution – just fine! As we set out, we discussed our interest in what the Mütter Museum, a landmark famous for its medical specimens, would present. How perfect is their catch phrase: “Disturbingly Informative”?
We parked the van at a train station and commuted to Philadelphia. Kate got advice that our first stop should be the “30th Street Station Travelers Aid” to confirm how to get to the Museum. Little did any of us suspect that this would be a significant moment in our adventure – we met The Character. Despite being Canadian, I don’t always remember my manners, and I’m ashamed to say I don’t know the name of the TA Volunteer. This gentleman was a resource of local attractions and all manner of information, but dispensed it only after his trivia questions were answered. My first inkling of this was when Donna ran up to me to confirm “The last name of Dorothy from Wizard of Oz – it’s Gale, right?” Prior to granting information about anything, our friend from Philly always extracted the solution for his trivia question.
Mark and I insisted that we needed to eat a Real Philly Cheesesteak in Philadelphia. Clearly, we’re both very imaginative. With the help of The Character, we found out that Philadelphia has only two places to get a Real Philly Cheesesteak. He told us that one is Jim’s and that he would under no circumstances tell us the name of the other place. We also found out that it’s a sin to have “whiz on the steak… you gotta get Provolone or American”. This took us about three trivia questions to find out: you can have it for free. Somehow Mark and I convinced all the others in our group that we should take a cab 20 minutes away to Jim’s, and then pay for another cab all the way back to the Museum. Walking was out of the question due to the downpour that began just as we exited the train station.
So, in due course we found Jim’s. The rain was coming down in earnest and we scattered to various doorways for shelter. The restaurant looked crowded, but within about five minutes we had just cleared the front door to join a long line that snaked back and forth in the lobby. From any point you can stand on your tippy-toes to see where the sandwiches are assembled. Well, all of us except Donna could. A huge pile of thinly-shaved, red, raw meat sat to the side of a giant counter/skillet, and seemed in keeping with the upcoming visit we had planned for after lunch. Astoundingly, the line behind us – outside in the pouring rain – kept growing. Busy as the place seemed to us to begin with, we had hit a lull. The line stretching out on the sidewalk was over a block long, and the people getting rained on didn’t seem particularly concerned with the wait or the weather.
Two points about Jim’s: it’s worth the wait, and bring cash. They try to streamline things as best as they can, but it’s immensely popular and has long lines. They don’t have a huge sign saying “Cash Only” that’s visible when you first join the line. I’m sure some awkward moments have occurred. The food is definitely worth it. You want proof? When we were leaving, we saw a pizza being delivered to people in the line – they were taking sustenance to survive the wait for their Cheesesteak.
We finally move from cuisine to curiosities. The trip to this point was well worth it, and we made our way to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. It’s an old stone building, and easy to miss from the street. Inside the entrance is a dark lobby with glass cases at the edges and a hardwood floor. After getting our coloured lapel clips which proved we’d paid admission, we could move to a room off the main hallway in which they were showing a movie about people who performed trephination on themselves, or on the other side of the hallway see a display about the ravages lead takes on the body when consumed (that’s their current “special exhibit). Going straight takes you into the museum proper.
At this point, I feel like I should give the individual exhibits the same silly detail I provided for our Character and the Cuisine. However, I think it’s better to give my general impressions and leave it to you to decide whether you’d visit. The exhibits were exactly as advertised. I’d spent some time on their website (http://www.collphyphil.org/visit_mutter.htm) and had the background on a lot of the exhibits. They were all well-displayed, but the museum is surprisingly small! It has an upper level and a lower level with extra rooms leading out. You can get an excellent sense of the size and organization from a Virtual Tour on the website. Many of the models are wax casts, and there are staggering arrays of skulls and skull parts. Along the balcony of the upper level is a history of conjoined twins in a series of glass cases. On the other side are politically incorrect artifacts gathered by physicians from deceased patients, such as book bindings made from human leather (although to be fair, this isn’t as horrific as it sounds: it was once considered an honour to be preserved in this fashion). Nothing there begged me to stop and stare, and after about 90 minutes I had seen all I wanted.
 I very much enjoyed the day. I got to see a cyclops and a preserved colon. The Curiosities of the Mütter Museum was worthwhile, but to my surprise wasn’t the best part of the whole experience! I love the ABLE meetings, and find it such a good opportunity to get out of Calgary and see various and sundry sights of North America. Let me again thank our guide, Kate, and our ABLE hosts, Bob and Linda, for this great opportunity!
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