There's a whole bunch of us in the bar now. The three of us, George and his friends, Sean from @wonderfulmachine and another few folk we seemed to have picked up on the way. We've been taking about the regeneration of Philly.

We also spoke about how people are moving here from New York. They got priced out of Manhattan, then Brooklyn, and this seemed like a good alternative. Although the people of Philly weren't so pleased when the New York Times wrote a piece referring to Philadelphia as "the next borough". 

It's an attractive neighbourhood. More rows of brick terraces, all fairly low rise. On the walk over, we saw the lit-up skyline in the distance. We're about two miles from the centre of town.

Jerry's has only been open a few months. I just spoke to Bill, the owner, who said an old beer joint lay on this spot called Jerry's. He kept the name in homage to his brother of the same name who passed away. It's a cool vibe, and also classy. There's a really nice finish to all the furnishings and fittings, and that's because Bill owns a masonry company and dabbles in antiques dealing. 

2mWingspan has noted an important point of cheesesteak etiquette. If you choose to brave the whiz – though provolone is a perfectly respectable alternative, be sure to state it as such:

Order a "with whizz"...3,000 calories or so of wholesome goodness.

Meanwhile, MoreaMou and @KoryStamper press for Federal Donuts on 2nd Street, and recommend going early – before they run out. Should the team head there for breakfast tomorrow?

We're walking down to Jerry's, tipped by @wonderfulmachine, whom we're meeting there.

George is telling us the story behind his music mag. He's a journalist and university lecturer.

"In 2010 I took a bunch of students to London and realised they were mostly interested in getting drunk in a foreign place, so I thought I'd harness that in a good way and make a magazine. They interviewed bands, wrote reviews. And when I got back to Philly, my friends in the music industry said, 'Why don't you do that here?' So I did. We now put it out every three months, written by friends, students and former students."

Since Vicky, Greta and Kylie are out enjoying fine Philadelphia beverages at Johnny Brenda's, it's a good opportunity to note that not only is Pennsylvania the cradle of the United States, it's also the birthplace of American beer. Yuengling is the oldest brewery in the US, and a number of smaller enterprises have recently found success, like Yards, Victory and Philadelphia Brewery.

Be warned, however, that Pennsylvania has peculiar, very old laws which have made BYOB restaurants commonplace throughout the state. Even Wiki says these laws are "some of the most restrictive in the United States, and contain many peculiarities not found in other states". Alas, William Penn's Quaker spirit of tolerance didn't sink in among future legislators. 

We've met George from Jump Philly at Johnny Brenda's, about six blocks' walk from Kraftwork.

We've made it to the reader bar of choice, Johnny Brenda's. 

A band called Tin Horses are playing upstairs. The blurb says they have Kurt Vile sound."He's from just up the road, too," says George. I like a bit of Kurt Vile, so we're heading up to check them out. 

Over at Witness, tshelley recommends Philadelphia icons, like Independence Hall and the Art Museum, the latter of which also comes recommended by a boxer who will not be named.

Independence Hall, of course, is where representatives of the various colonies decided they'd like to break up with George III and Parliament, to which end a few of their leaders signed a declaration, and, a few years later, a constitution. It's all very interesting, the more so for the cracked bell kept in a glass house out front, as well as the strange men who wander around pretending to be Ben Franklin.

The Art Museum, however, may give you more bang for your cultured buck. It's got one of the biggest permanent collections of art in the country,with Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso and Dalí hanging inside and that statue of Rocky just out the front door.

Plus, massive outdoor concerts are frequently held on the museum steps, and they're often free.

Finally, for your pure art fix, the Barnes Foundation has recently moved from its idiosyncratic grounds on the city limits to a new location downtown, and is one of the most curious collections of impressionists (and plants) in the US.

We're waiting for the people from Jump, and are playing a game with the Kraftwork waiter, Ben.

The game is called the guess-who's-on-an-online-date game. We figure it's not going so well for the couple outside the window. Awkward. 

Vicky's right, sports are terribly important to Philadelphians. We even have a "curse" story, which goes when a building first exceeded the height of City Hall – the historic and geographic center of the city, complete with a statue of William Penn standing at its highest – the teams started losing.

And not just one. All of them. For 25 years the city didn't win a championship in any of the big four American sports: baseball, American football, basketball or hockey. It probably didn't help that as fans, Philadelphians are more bitter than Baltimore, meaner than New Yorkers, and as diehard as Bostonians. Fans once pelted and booed Santa Claus at an Eagles game, and for whatever reason, we have possibly the weirdest mascot in sports, the Phanatic. 

When a team finally did win (the Phillies in 2008), the city went more or less insane: people climbed buildings, lamp posts, closed schools, and took off from work.

It's a neurosis, and we're proud of it – just ask Tina Fey, another local with strong opinions.

Greta popped out to take some photos outside and heard what sounded like a fist fight. It turned out to be a hockey match in a public park. There was basketball going on, too. They're shooting some b-ball outside of the school! 

Sport is a big deal here in Philly. 

Update: Not sure we're going to get chance to go for cheesesteaks ourselves. We need to meet the Jump folk now! Argh. 

[Editor's note: in review: Jim's and Dalessandro's were among the top choices among readers for cheesesteaks, though the more famous spots of Pat's and Geno's – two cheesesteak joints across from each other in South Philly – also got solid billing (from 2mWingspan and those on Witness and yesterday). Termini's and Isgro got shouts for their cannolis (per ree_and_leaf and others)]

We're here at Kraftwork. After such a late lunch, we're just having some bar snacks and a local beer, Cicada, from Yards brewery, half a mile down the road (and which was tipped earlier). They have 25 craft beers on tap. And the penny has just dropped for me: that's where the bar's name comes from. (Bit slow; it's been a long day.) 

We've had loads of good restaurant tips and we're missing out on a lot, we know, but you can't do it all. What about those Philly cheesesteaks? We've been hearing mixed reports. Can we deduce from the comments that the best choice would be Jim's?

Seeing as it's only a few days from October, we should mention also the recommendation of sheilad and others: Eastern State Penitentiary. This abandoned prison (insofar as a place can be "abandoned" when it hosts tours and is featured on "Ghost Adventures") is one of the oldest penitentiaries in America, having opened in 1776 and kept Al Capone within its walls.

Having visited a few times, your humble subeditor can attest that the prison is sufficiently creepy, decrepit and vast to merit a trip. Abandoned for decades with only vandals to inhabit it, it's now open to tours by day and a haunted house by night, meaning you can measure your visit to match your comfort with vast fortresses and pitch-black cellblocks that were once home to murderers. It's probably not haunted, but it sure feels that way.

Night in Philly isn't just Fishtown and Center City – driving along the river at night provides a surprising pleasure in and of itself. Purplearth and others have recommended Kelly Drive, a park and road along the river that passes under historic bridges and has the Art Museum in sight, for a scenic place to walk, run and bike. 

The Schuylkill is also famous for being one of the best racing rivers in the US, and hosts a number of regattas every year. Lining the river are university and high school boathouses, painting a pretty picture of 19th century buildings set against forested hills and the city's old and new architecture. At night, however, the boathouses really shine – literally.

Also, Jump Philly tweeted us. They're the folk from the local music mag that created our first Philly playlist. We're meeting them in a bit at Johnny Brenda's, per consensus below the line, for the lowdown on the music scene here.

In a taxi heading to Fishtown…

Night is arriving in Philly. Good times and grainy instagrams ahead! 

Philly tuneage part II, this time with a shout to Pigtown below the line!

There's apparently a band traipsing around the UK calling themselves The Mummers. If you've ever passed through Philadelphia around New Years, you know that in the US, the Mummers are a much stranger phenomenon than an indie band with horns based out of Brighton. 

Like a freezing Mardi Gras celebration, the Mummers march every year, all day, with elaborate costumes, moveable scenery, floats and gigantic bands, dancing and playing all manner of music. Because it's Philadelphia, it's also a competition, for which the bands prepare for months. It's weird, so I'll just let Wiki and YouTube depict the madness.

On our way to our coffee stop, a particularly stylish barbers shop caught our eye (2035 Chestnut Street). We couldn't resist popping in. We met Maxamillion, the owner. 

He proudly showed us his 1930s chairs, "like the Rolls Royce of barbers' chairs".

TwiTrip followers will remember that my colleague Benji went to Obama's barber shop in Chicago. Benji, we see your Obama and we raise you Kobe Bryant. Does that work? Sort of.

Anyway, Max was cool, super sharp, and his customers can sit back and watch Philly go by from the window-facing "Rolls Royce" chairs. 

We're at La Colombe, having a quick coffee break. Another good tip from @rayajalabi.

Alan here, with a retort to Vicky's question about hoagies. The Philly accent, maybe not as famous as Bawlmore's mumbles, New Yawk's squawks, Bahston's aspirations, is proud and distinct, for we have the most "volatile" of accents – a true melting pot of American dialects and old Britishisms, very much made our own.

We mash consonants, replace vowels at whim, and even when we enunciate we condense whole phrases into single words: "What did you eat?" becoming "Wha'djeet?" We drop syllables on whims, and written vowels sound nothing like spoken vowels ("horrible" being "harrible", for instance). "Towel" is one syllable, and "bottle" has no "t"s. Yet we enunciate, too, differentiating between "mary", "marry" and "merry". It can sound like a language wholly separate from English, and we even have our own vocabulary. A brief guide below.

Jawn: The universal pronoun. It means whatever you need it to mean at that instant, and if you're talking to a Philadelphian, chances are they will know exactly what you're talking about. Eg "Pass me that jawn".

Hoagie: The sandwich franchise Subway has never really caught on in Philly, in part because we don't understand the terms sub or grinder. Does that sandwich really look like a submarine? What exactly has been ground up in that sandwich? There's a whole set of competing mythologies as to where "hoagie" came from; in the end it may be a nonsense word, but at least it's a nonsense word with personality. A hoagie can be whatever you want it to be – toasted, Italian, roast beef, veggie, melted, tuna – it's not just another sandwich, it's self-expression. Wawa – an extraordinary deli-convenience chain revered in the Delaware Valley – holds an annual Hoagiefest. We take this jawn seriously. (Timothy Foden knows.)

Iggles: aka The Eagles, our annually heartbreaking American football team. Similarly, bagels are "beggles".

Wooder:  How Philadelphians pronounce "water". It's ridiculous, I know. A source of constant confusion at non-regional restaurants and jokes from friends.

Wooder Ice: Simply, flavored ice. Rita's is the staple, seconded by Allison Robertshaw.

Schuylkill: A river, pronounced "skoo-kull".

Down the shore:  The south Jersey Shore (and sometimes Delaware) is, shockingly, the vacation place of choice for many residents of south-eastern PA. This seemed perfectly respectable in our lives until MTV got ahold of a disreputable crew from north Jersey and New York. Cape May is a world apart.

Yo, yous: A certain film about a boxer spread the stereotype that we shout "Yo" constantly. This is more or less accurate, though you'll hear it less often around Rittenhouse Square or among swanky circles. "Yous", on the other hand, as in "yous guys", is also common, but could simply be mumbling.

There's far too many quirks for me to catalogue here, so you should check out any number of great linguistic blogs and articles on the topic. There is an entire department at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to our speech, and they've been studying it for decades. Or you can just watch this guy talk.

Shadowing Philly.

Chris, at the museum, was a great guide, even though he did make me feel a limitless queasy. He was just clocking off for the night and heading off on his bike.

We've seen a lot of cyclists here. Chris tells us the city has tried to become more cycle-friendly in recent tears, with more cycle lanes cropping up. There are movements to get a public bike system, like New York, but they're a way off yet. 

Vicky, Kylie and Greta have set off to briefly recharge before more adventures downtown, and are leaning toward diving into Fishtown this evening. MancInExile and YouAreWrong have each suggested Johnny Brenda's, and have respectively recommended Kung-Fu Necktie, and Kraftwork Bar, too, all excellent options. It may have to come down to a reader vote – where should they head?

Like any native, I've got my opinions – but will limit my Fishtown commentary to a bit of news from local 6ABC this summer:

Joe Malseed saw the 18-inch reptile this week in the city's Fishtown neighborhood and snapped a photo before calling for help.

He says the alligator was in a puddle and appeared to be emerging from a nearby sewer. He says it was docile until a man tried to get a closer look and it hissed.

The reptile has been named Allie-Gator.

The animal control team said Wednesday despite the name it hasn't determined the alligator's gender because, "Who's going to do that job?"

Allie-Gator will remain with the team until a permanent home is found.

And to round out our Mütter Museum coverage – a creepy selfie using the reflection in a shellacked painting made of blood.

Someone contacted the museum once and said, "Hey, I have a whole jar of skin that I've collected from my feet. Would you like it?"

"Sure," they said. "Send it in." And here it is. Oh good. 
"Are you sure it's feet skin?" asks Greta."

Oh, yes, our director smelled it."

There's a video of this incident online apparently. It made Reddit explode. As a result, the museum is doing an Ask Me Anything session this Friday at 10am. If anyone has any questions. We'll be in Maine by then. Jars of dead skin far behind us, I hope. 

[Editor's note: video found, extremely dry fun, pun necessary.]

This place is fascinating, but not sure it's a great after-lunch stop. Oh, look, here are some pieces of Einstein's brain. Just a bit, kept on a slide. And a wallet made of human skin. I'm not too sure about all this. Wasn't Silence of the Lambs filmed round here, or was that Baltimore? 

We've raced over to the Mütter Museum before it closes as tipped by miquon and others. It's a medical museum, filled with oddities. The main collection – donated by Thomas Dent Mütter – is 150 years old. It was originally geared towards physicians, but after a while it started to gather interest from the general public. 

"People sometime think of us as a babies-in-jars place but we are much more than that. It's designed more to show how far we have come in medicine," says Chris who is showing us around. 

Out on the street, it's still sunny. It's always sunny in Philadelphia, right? 

We've a few recommendations for Fishtown, as an emerging area, good for bars, etc. Can anyone recommend anywhere specific to check out tonight? Somewhere a bit different? 

Greta went for a pulled pork sandwich at Tommy DiNic's, as seen on Man v Food. 

I went to another sandwich stall. "I'll have a hoagie, please. What is a hoagie?"

Turns out it's just a sandwich, a sub. There seems to be no limit to the amount of filling he's trying to get into this thing. 

[Editor's note: a hoagie is not just a "sub". More on this jawn later.]

We run into Ed, a cop from the Philadelphia Crime Scene (he's on Flickr under @phillycop). He's going to show us what's what. He eats here all the time. There's a philly cheesesteak place, but it's a tourist trap, he says, "I'm a snob about these things." 

"How do feel about gator?" he says. 

"Gatorade?" we ask. "

"No, alligator. Gator gumbo. There's a stall right down there."

It's not very Pennsylvania, but Kylie is sold. She'll take one. 

We're in! it's awesome, full of individual stalls and we want to eat at every one of them. We're heading to Hatville Deli, the Amish place we've heard so much about. But no, wait, it's closed! Nooo!

There's a sign taped to the pavement on the street outside Reading Terminal Market, encouraging you to do a little dance as you wait for the lights to change. We like that. We're dancing. Mainly because we're starving and we've finally made it. At last! 

Alan here, helping helm the blog for the evening and inserting a disclaimer about any Philly-inflected bias that may appear from this point forward...

Plus tunes! (Special thanks to YouAreWrong below the line, who was quite right to give us some songs to play.)

We're still walking. Nearly there, surely. Otherwise I might just make a run on the nearest pretzel vendor. "OK, I'm getting hungry now," says Kylie. "You're not going to do 20 Instagrams of my food again before I'm allowed it eat it, are you?" Erm...

Walking, passing through the gay district now, I think it's a big deal. The street signs have rainbows on them. The Guardian's Raya Jalabi – who left a small tome in the comments below about Philly eats – recommends "the US' oldest LGBT bookstore", Giovanni's Room. 

We've taken a slight scenic detour. Down some tree lined little lanes, lined with terrace houses with shuttered windows and, in one case, an old pillar where you could tie your horse. If it were still the early 1900s.

We've heard a lot about Philly street art already and, within five minutes of walking, we round a corner and see this, just above a branch of Subway.

We passed a very tempting street cafe on the way in, but out heart is set on Reading Terminal Market. heading there now. It's walking distance, luckily.

We're here! First impressions: beautiful. Narrow streets, unlike most big US cities.

"Built for horse drawn carriages," says Daniel, the hotel manager as we check in to Rittenhouse 1715. The hotel is in converted stables, built in 1902.

A native Philadelphian informs us (actually, it's Alan who helps steer this blog from our New York offices - but he is from Philadelphia originally):

The Roots are probably Philly's most famous new musical outfit, but Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane lived here for a spell, as did Patti LaBelle. Will Smith, of course, left his mark on all of us, and then there's Hall and Oates, The Wonder Years, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Walkmen ...

What, Alan? No mention of this stirring anthem to The City of Brotherly Love from a national treasure across the pond. How very dare you!

Philly - we are almost in you!

We can see Philly! Skyscrapers straight ahead.

"We need some epic entrance music," says Kylie.

Eye of the Tiger, surely. Cranking it up.

There's no shortage of choices for lunch in Philly, so the team are going to have their work cut out narrowing the options: BarbJ recommends cheesesteaks at Pat's and Geno's - "don't be put off by the Cheez-Whiz, it's still good"; "skip the cheesesteaks and go to Tony Luke's for a roast pork with broccoli rabe," says Osager; the Reading Terminal Market comes with universal approval, and a special rhapsody for Hatville Deli from jayBwalker -" it's run by an Amish family from Lancaster, Pennsylvania- the sandwiches are generously portioned and tasty, and their fresh apple cider is... words cannot describe how brilliant it is!"

It all sounds - too brilliant for words. Especially for a hungry trio fresh from the road

We are a little way off - but close. Just in Pennsylvania.

We're closing in on Philadelphia now, and getting hungry. The time has come: Greta has busted out The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme tune on the iPod and we've had the obligatory group singalong. Except there's a bonus verse. Eh? That's thrown us.

Five Eight "interesting" things we've found out about Delaware by groping around the internet for five one minute*:

Delaware is the second smallest state.

It is the least populous state. No, it's not. Wyoming is. As kohastings correctly points out in the comments. Delaware? Only fifth least populated!

It is one of only five states without a sales tax.

Its official state name is “The First State”, because it was the first of the 13 original Colonies to ratify the Constitution in 1787, thus becoming the first state in the nation. Because of this, Delaware is given the first position in congressional votes, and national events, such as Presidential Inaugurations (eh?)

The state bird is the Blue Hen, after the prized Blue Hen cocks carried with soldiers for cock fight entertainment during the Revolutionary War.

Rehoboth Beach is nicknamed “The Nation’s Summer Capital,” because of the number of people from Washington DC who go on vacation there.

Peach blossom is the state flower but it raises more apples than peaches (CAITLYN! see post below)

Dover is the state capital.

* We are indebted to brainfrz76 who saw straight through our wild bluffings and raised us with a screed of good learning about Delaware below in the comments.

We've just crossed the state line into Delaware. There's a farmers market by the road side.

It's a pretty picture of autumn colours - piles of pumpkins and "mums" flowers ("they're our autumn flower," says Greta.)

I ask Caitlyn, behind the counter, if they sell anything that is typically Delaware.

"Delaware is famous for peaches and tomatoes," she says. "But we're all out of peaches and those tomatoes are from Pennsylvania."

Oh.

Delaware, we are in you!

Cell coverage is getting a bit patchy as the team enter the second smallest sate. But this is Joe Biden country - that's Joseph Robinette Biden, former Delaware senator, and the 47th and current vice-president of the US. Rambling Joe Biden. Gaffe-prone Joe Biden...

The road trip selfie by Greta Rybus. Safe to assume that the roads are pretty quiet in these parts - we hope.

You can see all of Greta's fantastic photographs of the road trip at Guardian News's Instagram feed.

This route is certainly more scenic than the interstate. We're driving through farmland and plenty of corn fields.

First reader challenge

It's become something of a tradition on these #TwiTrips for readers to throw down a challenge to our dusty, bleary-eyed but BRAVE road warriors. This one is no exception. Reader @Dirlewanger has suggested that they (yes, all three of them) get a tattoo in Philly. The gauntlet has been thrown. Will it be accepted? And what should inkings should they get? Suggestions welcome.

Dirlewanger

24 September 2013 3:32pm

Get a tattoo from Dan Henk at Deep Six

Vicky is looking for scenic stop-offs, and - probably by now - a good lunch stop en route to Philly.

Anyone know of a good place to get seafood? Ha! No. Really... let us know the best place to crush a crustacean or two - @VickyBaker, @GuardianTravel, #TwiTrips, or below in the comments

This is a lovely pitstop. Also I've finally stopped mis-reading Cheasapeake as Cheapskate, which is progress.

We're getting back in the car. Any more places we should see before getting to Philly?

Hats off for the tips to cross the Bay Bridge. No traffic today, so we cruised along it, looking out over the Cheasapeake Bay. We looked out longingly at the few sail boats dotting the water. We're just pulling in to the yacht club now, on the other side, for a better view.

We are on the way, via Annapolis. It's a beautiful day in this part of the world - blue sky, not a cloud in it. We're going through Delaware later, very briefly. Can anyone teach us anything about Delaware?

Hitting the road to Philly.

And just to prove (to Bodie) that Philly does have good tunes, here's our first on-the-road-playlist for the trip. Our thanks to JUMP Philly - "we cover any and all types of music happening in Philadelphia - because there is so much happening here within our city limits" - Magazine.

As ever, we're taking requests, so do you send us your Philly tuneage, and we'll put it into a playlist. To the usual places: @VickyBaker, @GuardianTravel, #TwiTrips or below in the comments.

The leaving of Baltimore. It had to be done. And so did this clip - the famous quote from Bodie in The Wire, Season 2 (that should be the last mention of it, er, we think).

Public opinion - on Twitter and below the line - has dictated our route from Baltimore to Philadelphia. The 95 is quickest but dull apparently, so we're branching out, as suggested by Holgate (seconded and thirded by hellsbadger and KurtDaConqueror)

For the first leg from Baltimore to Philly, avoid I-95 by looping south: take the Ritchie Highway south to Annapolis, cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and head up through Delaware. It doesn't add a huge amount of time or miles to your trip, and you get a much more interesting drive, as well as seeing the Naval Academy.

As Vicky and the team negotiate their way through the Baltimore traffic, we'd like to bring you one last fanfare for the city, courtesy of photographer Jacob Kepler - who, #TwiTrips regulars will remember, was the snapper on the Vegas-Denver road trip, but who was born and raised in Baltimore.

We salute you Baltimore with this gallery of images

We just met Skip* in The Bun Shop. 

He's a flight steward and a part-time music producer. He's well travelled in these parts, so we asked him for a hotel tip in Philly. He tipped Rittenhouse 1715, which was also in the Guardian top 10 Philadelphia hotels list. So, that's where we are heading.

It appears to be busy in Philly. A lot of places are fully booked and we hear there might some sort of food festival going on - though we can't find anything online about it.
We also got a great tip from @Tola25 for the Independent hotel, but sadly that's one of the ones that is booked up.

* Skip just joined Twitter so he can follow our trip.

The Bun Shop
We're about to go and pick up the car, but beforehand, we had time for one quick below-the-line tip that came in late last night. Thanks, Wes Peterson - who pointed us in the direction of somewhere just on our doorstep. @aishamk mentioned it, too, so we knew we had to check it out.

We were expecting a hole-the-wall joint, but this place is pretty hip: a big open space, full of reclaimed furniture, with its exposed iron girders painted gold.

The "rotiboy" buns – Malyasian-style with a hint of vanilla – are just out of the oven and smell fantastic. They are served in white-paper bags; no plates.

Lauren, on the counter, tells us The Bun Shop only opened in April.

"It's done really well, almost surprisingly," she says. "Opening here just before summer is tough, because there are so many students that go home, but it's worked out for us."

It's open from 7am until 3am and bands sometimes play. There's no liquor licence, but they are working on that, or getting a BYOB set up. The Bun Shop, 239 W Read St.