Our Y

Our Y's pool is closed for maintenance for a couple of weeks, so yesterday I decided to take the kids to another Y to get our swim on.  The Christian Street Y (in South Philly) is slightly closer to our house than the Columbia North Y (in North Philly), so we headed there right as it was opening.  Except that when we arrived, I saw that their pool was also closed for maintenance.  (Shouldn't you stagger these sorts of things?)

So we detoured to Columbia North, passing Rodeph Shalom, the Divine Lorraine, and Progress Plaza on the way.  It's neat to see North Broad on the comeback, since it was such a vibrant corridor back in the day: mansions, entertainment, even a baseball stadium (Shibe Park, also known as Connie Mack).

Since I didn't quite know where the Y was (my wife has been to this branch many times, since it's close to her work), I almost missed it as I was gazing at all the old buildings.  But for Jada's eagle eye, we would've driven right past it.

It was fun to go to a new Y, but I'll be glad when ours is back to full operations.  Close proximity, free parking, and all the regulars is hard to beat, even if there's no tour of historic Philadelphia thrown in.