THREE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT PHILADELPHIA

I'm obsessive-compulsive. I also am every group's self-appointed cruise director. These traits (character flaws) serve me well in many instances, but also drive the people around me crazy at times. For example, it's hard for me to pick a winner because I don't want the losers to feel bad. I also want everything to be perfect and, in the case of a blog entry, exhaustively researched.

But, I am going to go off reservation for this entry and describe just three things I love about Philadelphia. Not the only three things or the best three things. Just three things. This is particularly hard for me because Philly, a city of 5 million located less than two hours from my home in Baltimore, is one of my favorite destinations. Sitting roughly halfway between New York and Washington, the City of Brotherly Love long ago ceased to have any reason to live in either city's shadow.

1. The food: Philadelphians are justifiably proud of their robust and diverse food scene. There are so many good choices from which to choose that it's hard not to schedule a weekend visit entirely around your meals. On our most recent visit to town for the wedding of two close friends, we checked out another member of the local restaurant empire founded by Steven Starr. Located at 7th and Chestnut streets near Independence Hall, Jones welcomes you with a Brady Bunch decor, right down to the shag carpeting. The menu is solid comfort food with a few twists. My spouse, friends and I each enjoyed our respective and delicious choices of chicken and waffles, tuna tacos and a REALLY cheesy grilled cheese sandwich. The carrot cake with caramel sauce was a real hit at dessert.

The next day, before heading home after the wedding, my spouse and I walked a few blocks from our hotel, the Westin Philadelphia, to one of the most ideal urban parks anywhere. Rittenhouse Square is a perfect little greenspace surrounded by upscale shops, hotels and residences. The square - one of four included in the original design for Center City's razor-sharp urban grid - also is home to a number of good dining options, including one of my favorites. Rouge is described by some Zagat surveyors as "Euro sexy." It is, in fact, a small, salon-like bistro with outdoor, dog-friendly seating and a limited but excellent menu augmented by a few daily specials. My brunch entree, a lobster and brie omelet, definitely hit the spot. Before heading home, we made a quick detour at the adjacent corner to stock up on dog shampoo (yea, I know) at Kiehl's and drove home - once again - very happy campers.

You cannot speak of food and Philadelphia without mentioning one of the greatest urban farmer's markets in the world, Reading Terminal Market. Dating to the 1850s, this enclosed public market, which is located at 12th and Market streets, offers virtually everything Philadelphia and the surrounding region have to offer. Here, you can buy produce from Amish farmers, scoff down a Philly cheese steak, pick up dinner's main course from an amazing array of seafood just off the boat, and take home any number of other local specialties. There also are sit-down restaurants and lunch counters if you want to enjoy a meal at the market while people watching the local diversity. No one should leave Philadelphia without visiting Reading Terminal Market at least once.

2. The buildings and monuments: Philadelphia is a grand, old-school kind of city. It's big into monuments and monumental buildings. Perhaps the most monumental building is City Hall. It looks like it could more at home in France, except for the statue of William Penn sitting atop its tower. Another monumental building is the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Aside from housing one of America's greatest art collections, the museum building itself is a work of art, perfectly perched at one end of Benjamin Franklin Parkway on one side, and fronting the Schuylkill River on the other side. I never leave Philly if I can help it without a run that includes making the trek up the "Rocky" stairs of the museum, looking back over Center City and pumping my fists (at least if no one's looking) just like Mr. Stallone.

Of course, Philadelphia is home to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were written, and which served as the seat of government in the newly independent United States from 1790 to 1800. A very modern, monumental addition to this hallowed ground that is essential to explore when in town is the National Constitution Center, which offers a fascinating and interactive story of "We the people."

Philadelphia, like many cities, used to be a regional financial center with monumental bank buildings. As a banking lawyer, I find it interesting that visitors today can experience several former banking temples in Center City because these buildings have been reborn as hotels. The Loews Philadelphia Hotel occupies the former, spectacularly art deco headquarters of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society. A few blocks away and facing City Hall is the former Girard Bank headquarters, one of the nation's first banks. Today, it serves as the grand public space portion of the Ritz Carlton Philadelphia.

3. The countryside: If you live outside or have never visited the Northeast Corridor of the United States, you might imagine that, with Boston, Providence, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington all located within such close proximity to each other, there would hardly be a blade of grass unoccupied. Such is not the case. The third thing I love about Philadelphia is how close it is to so many beautiful and bucolic retreats, each just a short drive in any direction. If you head east across the Delaware River to New Jersey, there are several beautiful smaller towns and suburbs worth exploring. A few of my favorites are Haddonfield, Moorestown and Princeton, home - of course - to a certain famous university. Heading south of Center City, you will shortly enter the Brandywine River Valley, which straddles Pennsylvania and Delaware. This region is home to some amazing cultural institutions, including the Brandywine River Museum, featuring the art of the prolific Wyeth family, and the DuPont family wealth extravagantly on display at Winterthur and Longwood Gardens.

One of our favorite destinations is the countryside north of Philadelphia in Bucks County, centered on the charming borough of Doylestown, in which local boy-made-good James Michener's private art collection is now on display. Finally, the drive west from Philadelphia takes you past Valley Forge National Historic Park and into the verdant and historically beautiful Pennsylvania Dutch region centered on Lancaster County.

There is so much to see in and around Philadelphia that it's difficult to choose. So, these are my three suggestions to help with such a happy task.

MICHIGAN'S WEST COAST IN SUMMER

GREAT WATERS: One of the unintended consequences of visiting the hometown of relatives is that, given the primary focus of such visits, it's easy to overlook the many charms of the destination in its own right. Charms that might attract visitors with no family connections at all. Such a place is Grand Rapids and Michigan's "west coast" along the shores of Lake Michigan. My mother's only sister and her family have lived in Michigan's second largest city for many years and I have always enjoyed our visits for holidays and other important family events. And, my relatives are great hosts, too, showing us the sights treating us to great meals and making us feel very welcome. Still, on a recent visit for the July 4th weekend with my family - one that included our own list of To-dos - I came home with a greater and expanded appreciation for this beautiful corner of the Midwest. And, new direct service from my hometown of Baltimore makes it an easier trip.

Many people have images of Michigan's namesake lake, which is derived from an Ojibwa word meaning "great waters," in connection with the equally great cities of Chicago and Milwaukee located on the western shore, and against which its waters lap. While these cities offer signature urban panoramas, there is a whole other side to this the second largest of the Great Lakes, the only one that does not share a border with Canada. Michigan's lower peninsula offers the same "oceanic" views but your diversions are more small-town, laid-back and bucolic. Add to these pleasures the friendly and charming capital of West Michigan, Grand Rapids, and you have more than enough To-dos for a fun weekend that's also a relatively quick trip from most of the eastern two-thirds of the United States.

A GRAND PLACE: Just 30 miles inland from Lake Michigan lies the region's economic, transportation, healthcare, educational and cultural center, Grand Rapids. A prosperous and industrious town of around 750,000, Grand Rapids was founded in the early part of the 19th Century on the banks of the Grand River - Michigan's longest - as a fur trading outpost. This is a pleasant and fairly conservative yet friendly town of beautiful neighborhoods, many of which were built by skilled craftsmen who worked in lumber and furniture manufacturing, helping Grand Rapids earn the name "furniture city." Today, Grand Rapids, which never was as completely tied to auto manufacturing as Detroit and its other Michigan sisters, is focused on education, healthcare, lighter manufacturing and serving as the jumping-off point for four-season recreation in this verdant and forested land of lakes big and small.

One of my favorite things about Grand Rapids is that it defies conventional "wisdom" about what a city in Michigan and the so-called "rust belt" might look and feel like in the struggling period of the early 2010s. With all due respect, this is no Detroit, with its decimated neighborhoods, ever-declining population and incarcerated former mayor. Grand Rapids is pretty, Republican, blond, fit, welcoming and fun, all at the same time. To be sure, every part of Michigan has suffered like no other region during this great recession. Its signature industry is both a source of fierce pride and worrisome dependence. Yet, Grand Rapids has always marched to a slightly different tune.

While its industries supported auto manufacturing, Grand Rapids made its own way. Case in point: one of the current projects in Grand Rapids is the ongoing development of the "Medical Mile" along Michigan Street near downtown. This complex of world-class healthcare facilities includes a campus of the Michigan State University Medical School, the Van Andel Institute, which focuses on cancer and Parkinson's research, and the De Vos Children's Hospital. Grand Rapids is blessed with many philanthropically minded citizens like the De Vos family, whose daytime jobs for many years focused on building and running a little locally headquartered enterprise known as Amway.

All this talk of hard work should not lead you to conclude that Grand Rapids is an un-fun place to spend a weekend. Quite the contrary. Like many cities that have rediscovered their raison d'etre, downtown Grand Rapids today offers several lodging, dining and drinking options on or near the Grand River. The city's top places to spend the night are here, the Amway Grand Plaza and the J.W. Marriott. When you are hungry, there are several dining options throughout the city. A couple of good choices downtown include Bloom, an organic, farm-to-table venue, and the Chop House, a big-slab-of-meat kind of place. Later, you can imbibe at the B.O.B., a multi-level complex of bars downtown, including a great deck area. I have made it back to town for a signature event at least some people consider to be fun: the annual Fifth Third River Bank Run, a 25k race in early May that features a relatively flat, out-and-back course along the Grand River.

Downtown also features a museum dedicated to one of Grand Rapids' most famous sons, the 38th President of the United States. Gerald R. Ford was born in Omaha but moved to Grand Rapids with his mother before he was a year old. Mr. Ford grew up here and went on to become a prominent lawyer and Congressman before being elected Vice President and later assuming the presidency after the resignation of Richard M. Nixon following the Watergate scandal. Today, visitors can learn more about the only President (so far) who took office under the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution at his Presidential Museum located on the west bank of the Grand River (NOTE: the Ford Presidential Library is located across the state on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor).

In addition, downtown Grand Rapids is home to other museums worth checking out, including the Grand Rapids Art Museum and the Children's Museum. Nearby Uptown offers shopping and dining options along Lake Drive and near the campus of Aquinas College, while further east is the prosperous in-town suburb of East Grand Rapids, which has several lakeside dining options, including Rose's on Reed Lake.

North of Grand Rapids is Rockford, a cute small town suburb that features a charming downtown along the banks of the Rogue River. There is a riverside walking-hiking trail and several dining options. On our visit, we enjoyed a fine meal on a gorgeous summer day on the terrace at Red's on the River. Later that night, we joined family and friends for July 4th weekend fireworks and great, casual food on the deck at the historic Bostwick Lake Inn, which offers perfect sunset views of - you guessed it - Bostwick Lake.

SHORE TOWNS: To coasters east and west, the idea of beach towns in the Midwest might seem strange, but Lake Michigan has several beautiful lakeshore towns, complete with sandy beaches, boardwalks, lighthouses and big-money boats. We spent a brilliant day on the beach at the state park in Grand Haven, a historic Coast Guard station at the mouth of the Grand River that has its own signature red light house. As a native Floridian, one thing I like about swimming in a fresh water lake as compared to the ocean is that you can roll off the beach into an adjacent restaurant, such as Kirby's on Washington Street in downtown Grand Haven, and not feel quite as unfit for company. Further south along the lakeshore from Grand Haven is Holland, dedicated to all things Dutch, including a justifiably famous tulip festival. Closer still to the Indiana border are the twin towns of Saugatuck and Douglas, famous for their art galleries, beaches, dining options and a place where many Chicagoans have summer homes.

With water almost always in sight, several festivals and events to distract you, and the bounty of its farms on full display - with roadside stands offering blueberries, cherries and strawberries throughout the summer - Michigan's beautiful and friendly southwest corner is well worth discovering - or re-discovering - to make some new and fond summer memories.