Public Transportation 1 Katie Lane 0

The first Sunday that I was living in Philadelphia I was determined to get to a church service. Not having a car seemed to be a minor hurdle as I searched the internet on Saturday night for churches in the area that I wanted to check out. I found one that looked promising, wrote down the address, and got directions. Only one transfer and a little walking- no problem. So I thought.

I woke up Sunday morning to the sound of rain outside my window. I debated for a second whether I really wanted to try the public transportation system on a day like this, but I quickly reassured myself that it would be fine. I showered, got ready, and searched the house for an umbrella. Sure enough there was one in the closet next to the front door. Perfect. I began walking the three blocks to the bus stop in the pouring rain convinced that it would let up any minute. It didn't, but I got to the corner of 67th and Lansdowne without getting too drenched.

I knew that I was at the right intersection for Bus 65, however, I had no idea what direction I was supposed to go. I wanted the 69th Street Terminal, but did that mean the left or right side of the street?. Left or right? Left or right? Do I guess and hope that I'm on the right corner. Thankfully at about that time a woman walked by and she seemed knowledgeable about these things. "Excuse me, do you know which side of the street I need to be on to get to the terminal?" If it wasn't obvious already it was now clear to her that I was new around these parts.

"Ummm," she said scanning me with her eyes, "you need to be over there." She pointed across the street.

"Thanks."

I splashed through the puddles along the curb, found a dry spot next to a daycare building, and began to wait. And wait. And wait. Fifteen minutes after the scheduled time Bus 65 finally showed up. "No problem." I thought to myself realizing that there was no way I was going to make the original service I had wanted to go to. "I'll just get off at University City. There is bound to be a church around that area starting about now."

I took the bus to the 69th Street Station, got on the subway, and made it to University City without any problem. I took a look around and didn't see any churches so I began to walk. I walked around University City for a good half hour and did not come across a single church. Disgruntled, I decided to walk up to the 30th Street Station to get some hot chocolate at McDonald's. Since McDonald's has come out with their "McCafe" I have been a big fan of the hot chocolate there. It's rich, sweet, and the drizzle of chocolate sauce on top of the whipped cream is the perfect touch to this delicious drink. Impressive for a burger joint.

"Can I please have a small hot chocolate?"

"A what?"

"A small hot chocolate, please. For here."

"Hey Yolanda, do we have hot chocolate?" The cashier called to her coworker.

"We don't serve hot chocolate here, ma'am." Yolanda shouted at me from the back.

"Can I get you something else?" The cashier asked me.

"Hmmm. You know, I think I'll just head over to Dunkin' Donuts." Dunkin' Donuts does not have rich, sweet, chocolate drizzled hot chocolate. And it costs more.

After my disappointing experience at 30th Street Station I gave up on finding a church and decided to go back to my house. Once on the subway, I began looking at the different stops along the way to the 69th Street Station. I was struck by the "Millborne" stop. It looked familiar and I thought that I could easily walk from that station to my house. By now the weather had cleared up and the sun was even peaking out. I was feeling adventurous and decided to try it. The best way to learn is from experience, right?

Millborne was not close to my house nor was it in an area that I was familiar with. In fact, the Millborne stop is not close to anything commercial at all. It's residential...row house after row house after row house of conformity. To an outsider it all looks identical. And yes, this presented a problem.

I walked around these row house-filled streets for awhile trying to find a street that I recognized, but nothing presented itself. Eventually I walked far enough to get to the next subway station (that must have a hidden or enchanted entrance- it took me forever to find it.) where I could proceed to my original destination: the 69th Street Station.

In the end, I made it to 69th Street, got on bus 65, and made it back to my house.

Defeated? Yes. Frustrated? Absolutely. Going to try again next week? You better believe it.