From the website…

The Mütter Museum was founded to educate future doctors about anatomy and human medical anomalies. Today, it serves as a valuable resource for educating and enlightening the public about our medical past and telling important stories about what it means to be human. The Mütter Museum embodies The College of Physicians of Philadelphia ’s mission to advance the cause of health, and uphold the ideals and heritage of medicine.

The Mutter is filled with medical oddities. When I told Luke about it, he expressed a great deal of interest. Not only is it interesting, creepy and icky; but it is very educational.   I’ve always wanted to visit the Mutter, but even when I lived in PA I never went.

Thanks to Sherwood, Luke and I did not have to pay admission which was nice. The only disappointment regarding the museum was this:

No photography allowed :(

Despite the bitter temperature, I did want to get some photographs outside and in the lobby.

The entrance to the Mutter Museum.

Jam outside the Mutter Museum. It was so cold. There was also a smell. A horrid smell.

Luke outside the museum. He was not only cold, but overwhelmed by the "smell of the city".

The lobby of the museum was beautiful, marble everywhere!

I wish I could have take this chair/loveseat thing home with me!

As I mentioned earlier, photography is strictly prohibited in the museum itself. That said, I am rather ninja like in my photography skills and managed to snap a few photos…

The Soap Lady

The Soap Lady

In a process called human saponification, a woman’s body was discovered to have turned into soap. Sometime in the 19th century, a woman who was rather fat died of yellow fever. After her burial in a Philadelphia cemetery, the fat of her body turned into adipocere. This is a fatty wax composition similar to lye soap.

She became saponified in this way when her body fat reacted to the combination of chemicals in the soil. She has been on display at the Mutter Museum since 1874 when Dr. Joseph Leidy, a prominent University of Pennyslvania anatomist, donated her body to the museum. According to Dr. Leidy, the “Soap Woman” died in 1792 in Philadelphia. Her body was uncovered by workmen removing bodies from an old burial yard.

In 1942, the museum curator, Joseph McFarland, determined that the “Soap Woman” actually died much later. Eight pins and two four-hole buttons of the clothing she was wearing when buried were dated as being from the early 19th century.

The brain of a cat (in the middle)

I am fairly certain that this is what my spine looks like.

 

The brains of epileptics.

 

The tracing of Rayford Lee Johnson

Rayford Lee Johnson, a timber cutter from Lauderdale, MS stood at 7′ 3/8″ tall at 22  years old. Some websites state that Johnson was a member of the Harlem Globetrotters as well however finding valid documentation has proven to be a challenge.

A 9 week old fetus and 9 week old twins.

 

A 16 week old fetus.Conjoined twins

 

The first slice in a series of thin slices of the human head.

 

Carcinoma of the penis

After we were finished reviewing the museum’s collection, Luke and I made our way back to the entrance. There was a guest book that we signed, documenting our thanks for Sherwood.

I wanted to take a photo of that as well, but given that the pedestal was directly in front of the security desk.

Being the rule abiding person that I am; I went over to the security desk and asked oh so sweetly if I could take a picture of the the guest book.

As the ninny behind the counter tried oh so hard to make my big words fit in her tiny little brain the maintenance guy who was chatting her up said “Sure, you can do that.”

He proceeded to walk over to the pedestal that the guest book sat on, picked it up and moved the entire thing into the lobby so that I could take a picture of it without violating the rules of the museum. I took my photos and thanked him profusely. That was very sweet of him.

A photo of our signature in the Mutter Museum guestbook.

With our Mutter Museum experience at it’s end, we prepared ourselves to walk back to the Jeep and head to Mom’s house. Earlier, I mentioned that we had passed a titty bar on the way…

Boobies!

The guy behind the glass in the outdoor booth knocked on the glass and waggled his finger at me. Hahaha….I took the damn picture anyway.

Back to the Jeep and warmed up, we drove around a bit more before heading to the frigid frigid temperatures of Andreas, PA.

Downtown Philadelphia

Drexel University Science Center

Pink Food Truck

Fruit Truck

We headed out of Philly towards Mom’s house. The realization that I had no way to charge my phone forced us to go off course to find a store. After spotting an Utz truck, we also realized that we were hungry. We spent a few minutes devising a plan to hijack the truck but then realized it would be easier if we just bought some damn chips.

An Utz truck. This truck contains the most delicious potato chips in the known universe.

 Plotting….

I know we can get those chips...

We stopped at a store and picked up some of the world's best chips. It was easier than hijacking the truck.

These transformer things are fantastic.

We also picked up some gloves, scarves and hats because it was FREEZING.

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. The Jeep had satellite radio, so we listened to NPR and the comedy stations for most of the drive.

Luke was looking for something here...I can't remember what it was but he was getting pretty pissed at me for taking pictures of him.

Luke. Decidedly unhappy.

Once we hit 309, we were almost to Mom’s house….

Almost home!

We stopped to get gas, some Guer’s Iced Tea and Tatsykakes and then got to Mom’s house…

It was quite an interesting 2 weeks in the magnificent North East.

Luke and I left home on November 21 to spend Thanksgiving with my family. We were scheduled to fly back on December 1; giving us plenty of time to spend with family and friends.

Everything was going well until we left the house to get in the cab to go to the airport.  

The driver arrived 10 minutes early (and yes, he did try to charge me for the waiting time) and huffed impatiently when Luke and I finally came outside.

He asked me where we were going information I had already provided to the dispatcher). I told him we were headed to DFW to the Delta terminal.

He said, “Do you know how to get there from here?”

I replied “Um. No. I thought you’d know that as you’re driving the cab.”

Snottily he said, “Well, I don’t cover this area, I had to come pick you up from Dallas. You live here, you should know the way.”

Mentally stabbing him in the eyes with my keys, “I’ve lived here for 2 weeks. I don’t know the best way to get there from here.”

“Fine, but I’ll just have to take the long way.”

Smelling a ruse to charge me more from a mile away, I replied “Perhaps it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with this area if you have to work here occasionally so that your passengers do not have to pay more money when you take the long way.”

He did not get a tip.

Halfway to the airport, I realized that I had forgotten both my book and all ALL the DS games on the counter. Craptastic.

We did have time to go back and get them, but I wasn’t about to ask Mr. “I drive a cab but rely on the passengers for directions” to turn around and go back.

Luke had “Purrpals” in his DS and I had “Cooking Mama” in mine. Whee.

Arriving at the airport without incident, I handed the cabbie my debit card and he looked at me as if I had given him a broken crack pipe.

“No cash?”

“No.”

“This will take at least 15 minutes to process.”

“No it won’t. I have used credit/debit cards before and it takes about 2 minutes.”

“That is not true,” as he shuffles off to his car.

5 minutes later, he hands me the slip to sign and I made a noticeable “X” through the tip line, wrote in the amount of the fare and signed it.

I really wanted to stick my tongue out at him.

He was in a far better state than I.

We took our bags over to the curbside check-in and to my surprise, didn’t have to pay to check our bags there.

Boarding passes in hand; we went through a super quick security line and walked the 19 miles to our gate.

On the way, we passed one of those little airport stores that rented DVDs. That comes into play later.

At the gate, we found a place to plug in my phone and laptop to charge them up.

My mind wandered back to that little DVD rental store and I asked Luke if he thought they sold DS games…..

Turns out that they did!

Seven games and too much money later, I triumphantly returned with my treasure and we were both thrilled.

I picked up the following: The Price Is Right, Sims Creator, Sims My Kingdom, Crosswords, Word Games, Lego Batman and Spore Creature Creator.

New DS Games!!

 The flight to Hotlanta and then to PA were smooth and uneventful.

Getting ready to board the flight to Atlanta

Technological Entertainment FTW!

 

Look, I am on the plane and I'm not stressed out.

 Collecting the bags however proved to be a challenge of my vow not to kill anyone.

We followed to rest of the sheep to the baggage area and waited for the thingers to start up and deliver unto us our precious clothing and toothbrushes.

It started.

Then it stopped. Three airport “workers” came over to stand and look at it for a while. Two were 20 something wanna be gangstas and the other was a 30 something “I don’t comprehend that I’m not 17 anymore and can TOTALLY fit in these pants” diva.

They talked on their radios for a while. Loudly.

Finally, and older and clearly more competent gentleman came over and did some things and talked on his radio and did more things and then the thinger started again.

We waited. Bags came.

It stopped again.

They announced that the bags would now be coming on the thinger next to that one.

That one started. More bags came. Not ours mind you, but more bags did come.

After about 10 minutes, most of the people were gone and our bags still had not shown up. About 1/2 the people from our flight were still there, getting more and more agitated as the same duct taped suitcase rolled around the thinger.

I went over the diva to ask about our bags.

“Excuse me, but are all the bags from Dallas out? There are quite a few folks, including me still waiting.”

“Djoohaveyer baggage claim ticket?”

I pulled it out of my pocket and before I could even get a word out…

“You isn’t in the right place. You need to go ova dere,” as she points in the general direction of downtown Philadelphia.

*seethes*

“Where?”

“BAGGAGE CLAIM 4. Onthelef.” Partially yelled, partially dribbled.

*mumbles something about selective sterilization*

I grabbed Luke and we went over to the right baggage thinger, collected our bags and popped outside to catch the shuttle to Avis.

Holy. Mother. Of. Gawd.

Cold. Not chilly. C-O-L-D. I checked the temperature. It was 27 degrees. I checked the temperature at Mom’s house. 17 degrees. Crap. Frozen crap on a frozen stick.

This isn't chilly or nippy. This is yo"ur ass will fall off" cold.

Despite my overwhelming desire to go back inside and spend Thanksgiving in the Philadelphia International Airport with Diva and the Gangsta Boiz; we got on the shuttle to Avis.

Luke had a golly gosh heck of a good time on the shuttle.

 Got Jeep. Found hotel. Hotel was fine, plain and uneventful.

The door...

I was pretty tired....

 Nice view though. I do love the city lights at night.

The lights were pretty...

By this time, it was about midnight. Neither of us had eaten and we were starved. Tired and starved. Eventually starved won out.

Luckily, there was a Wawa (!) close by so Luke and I braved the frigid (shut up, I live in Texas now) temperatures to get something to eat.

I love Wawa. Although they are disappearing. The removal of the gas stations pretty much killed them I think

 I was driven by the fact that I knew there would be Tasty Kakes at Wawa. I would do just about anything for Butterscotch Krimpits.

Luke was immediately impressed by:

a) the number of people in Wawa at 12:30 in the morning

b) the number of cops outside (yay downtown Philly!)

c) the cups of salami and cheese next to the cups of carrots and celery

d) the tasty kakes

e) the tasty kakes 

I also picked up a bag of Herr’s Salt and Vinegar chips because Luke loves salt and vinegar chips and I knew these would make him have the vinegar equivalent of “bitter beer face”.

Back at the hotel, we watched an infomercial for that flat iron that straightens your wet hair while nourishing it and I think also feeding the world’s hungry and solving Sudoku puzzles.

We were due to meet my high school friend Sherwood at 10 the next (hah) morning so we got to sleep soon after the salami, cheese, tasty kake and chip fest was over.

The next morning we dressed and headed downstairs to put the luggage in the Jeep and meet Sherwood. Text messages confirmed that he was on his way (walking! nutcase) and Luke and I warmed up the Jeep while waiting.

There was ice. I don’t like ice that isn’t in my freezer ready to keep my drinks cold.

Ice. Cold, shiny frigid ice.

Sherwood arrived and we headed to a coffee shop because…well…no functiony without the caffeine and such.

Sherwood and I caught up over a nice breakfast of coffee and a muffin for me, hot chocolate and a sticky bun for luke and coffee and a breakfast sandwich for Sherwood.

The muffin was delicious and the coffee was coffilicious!

Luke's sticky bun. He enjoyed it.

Yummers.

The corner outside of the coffee shop.

He gave us some free passes to the Mutter museum and we parted ways. It was great to see him again. I always knew he’d turn out to be one of those “cool adults” that everyone thinks they are but really aren’t.

I don’t know why I don’t have a picture of Sherwood. It is awfully odd. Here is one that I stole from his Facebook page.

Sherwood! Isn't he a cutie?

Luke and I offered him a ride home, but he declined saying that he could catch a bus.

We drove around Philly for awhile so I could show a bit of the city to Luke. The last time he was in Philadelphia, he was a tad young

Beautiful murarl painted on the wall in a less than hoity toity area of Philly.

The two of us headed to the museum and found it without much trouble. Parking however proved to be a challenge and we ended up parking in a pay lot about 46 miles away from the museum.

I pulled into a spot and the attendant barreled out of his little heated attendant house and waved his arms at me as if I had just run over a puppy carrying the cure for cancer.

He told me to park in a different spot. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why, but I really didn’t care because I was rapidly losing both flesh and brain cells to the freezing cold.

Paid and still nutty, the attendant retreated to his steamy pay lot house and Luke and I headed to the museum. On the way, we passed a titty bar that had half-naked girly pictures in the window. That matters later.

We reached the museum where a completely new adventure began.

The entrance to the Mutter Museum. The architecture of the building was beautiful.