I went down to Philly for the 4th of July holiday.

My pal Marc and his family have lived there for a year now. They have fully embraced their new city after a good run of 20-plus years in NYC.

Philly is a great food town and a great sports town. It’s a guaranteed good time especially because Marc hosts with such great enthusiasm. His home in the Southwest Center City neighborhood has a comfy guest room at the top of a steep stairwell on the third floor.

My regular days off from the job fall on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday these days so I did the NJ Transit/Septa train crawl after I woke up Sunday. A local bus near the 30th St. station in Philly runs down to their house. It’s a pretty easy trip, about three and a half hours door-to-door.

There’s some pre-convention buzz there although the city felt quiet and kinda empty due to the holiday beach-bound exodus not unlike what happens here in NYC.

The popular and well-reviewed new restaurant Hungry Pigeon was nearly empty when we were seated Sunday evening. We really enjoyed the tomato poké platter. Darkish, beautiful red fresh tomatoes were mixed with tofu, avocado, toasted almond and sesame seeds. It was amazing. We didn’t get the pigeon (or locally-raised “squab” as it’s called) opting instead to share a whole trout caught in the region and served on a bed of grits and arugula. One of the chefs – Scott Schroeder – offered a brief greeting – and our server was good-natured.

On the 4th, Marc prepared a traditional American breakfast and then we took a little walk down by the Schuylkill River. We had lunch at Santucci’s Pizza on a sidewalk table across from the august St. Paul church steeple on Christian Street. We shared a 17-inch pie with olives (pictured above) which was unique for its taste and construction. Served on a wooden board, the pizza is rectangular in shape and layered with sauce on top of the cheese. A reversal of the typical. I’ve never tasted pizza anything like this and especially loved the crunchy pan-style crust.

After lunch, we took the subway down to the ballpark for Phillies/Braves. This was my first-ever visit to the Bank. We bought $17 nosebleed seats and explored the venue. Opened in 2004, the Bank sits in close proximity to the home venues of the Eagles, Flyers and Sixers (Lincoln Financial Field and Wells Fargo Center). The three relatively new venues replaced JFK Stadium, The Vet and the Spectrum formerly located in the same general vicinity. The city of Philadelphia has sited their pro sports teams in a cluster on otherwise underutilized, out-of-the-way territory with pretty good subway access and massive amounts of parking space. It’s different than the current trend of putting sporting venues in the heart of downtown areas but it seems to work there. I wouldn’t say the walk-up to the Bank is aesthetically pleasing but why not put all that activity in one location from a city planning standpoint? It makes sense, I guess.

Once inside the ballpark, you see many of the same characteristics of what’s now the norm in the post-Camden Yards baseball stadium era. An open concourse, a compact seating area with good sightlines from all angles and a dizzying amount of food and drink options. What makes it special at the Bank is the amount of uniquely local and famous purveyors who have a presence there. There is also a nice open-air bar in RF to sip on one if you get there early. After a few innings of wandering, we slipped easily into a pretty good section down the first base line.

The Phils are a team on the rise. With promising youth at the position spots, it’s clear the MacPhail/Klentak management group there is nurturing what could be a real blossom of a rebuild.

During one break between innings, the Phanatic shot hot dogs wrapped tightly in paper into the crowd from a cannon mounted on his golf cart. This was an entertaining stunt. We all enjoyed the sight of it so much that we argued it should be done between every half-inning.

I really enjoyed the Weyerbacher Last Chance IPA served at a stand down the 1st base line. Brewed in Easton, PA, the standout taste of the Last Chance now has me interested in Weyerbacher’s other efforts.

While it had no real impact on my travels, Philly’s expansive, heavily-used regional rail system faces a sudden crisis at a most inopportune time. The system’s operator SEPTA announced while I was there that one-third of its regional train fleet was removed from service after structural defects were found in a certain-model of Korean-made cars. A routine inspection found cracks in a support beam in the underneath portion of train cars, forcing what’s expected to be a long fix in all cars of that model.

I got out of town on SEPTA Tuesday at midday without a problem. The 1249 PM train to Trenton arrived on time but with a shortened string of cars. The train was crowded but nobody was forced to stand. The NJ Transit train to New York waited in Trenton at least five minutes past scheduled departure for SEPTA customers on the slightly-delayed arrival from Philly.

Philly’s local daily paper provided solid coverage of the SEPTA problem and the transit agency posted updated schedules and information. The timing on this is bad given Philadelphia’s big effort to pull off the upcoming Democratic National Convention in two weeks.

Moving a big influx of visitors around the city will be a big test during the week-long event but the heaviest expected burden for that movement will fall on the subway. The subway is said to be in good order although we encountered some shoddy infrastructure at both stations during our one-time round trip on the Broad Street Line.

-From the triple-bylined, front-page story on the Dallas madness in the Times this morning, the bit of info that caught my eye most was discussion of how law enforcement initially made the mistaken assessment there were multiple shooters. The state of Texas allows open display of long guns. In the case of rifles, according to the Times, no permit is required. So, when the shooting breaks out there, witnesses say several people in the crowd were carrying long weapons. They had nothing to do with the attack. Some were wearing camo and were seen scurrying from the chaos. Imagine the difficulty of making sound law enforcement decisions during an effort to restore order when you have civilians with long guns wearing military garb. Attending a public function in a large crowd with a long weapon is somehow viewed as acceptable legally in parts of this country. Are we crazy?

Backed by a proper full-time band playing with exceptional confidence, Kevin Morby returned to NYC last week for two well-received shows.

Both gigs went down at popular, tightly-run venues managed by The Bowery Presents (Mercury Lounge on Tuesday June 21 – and Rough Trade-Brooklyn on Wednesday June 22). Morby said it was the first time in his career he’d done performances in New York City on consecutive nights. Both shows sold out soon after they went on sale.

Donning a dapper indigo-colored suit and comfortable-looking dress shoes shaped to enable his signature slide-step move during jams, Morby’s long, curly locks covered his face as he sang Dorothy. That’s the number off the new record Singing Saw that seemed to resonate most with the audiences both nights.

The lack of set list variety from one night to the next didn’t matter. Both were spectacular performances. Meg Duffy’s responsibilities have grown exponentially since joining Morby on the road in early 2015 in support of his second record.

At those shows a year ago, Duffy alternated between bass and guitar with occasional vocal chip-ins.

But now the wraps have come off. Duffy (pictured above – standing nearest in the frame) elicited cheers from the crowds both nights with guitar work that dazzled in spots. At times, there was a Jerry Garcia-like twang effect on the plucks. All the while, Duffy maintains a placid, professional stage presence. Her occasional vocal harmony lines fit perfectly alongside Morby’s narrative, story-telling singing efforts.

Drummer Justin Sullivan really let loose on Morby’s two long-form favorites: Harlem River and Singing Saw. It was a refreshing departure from the more stoic, brush-heavy approach seen from him on previous Morby tours.

Morby’s decision to expand the roles of his bandmates is made easier by the steady presence of a full-time bass player. Cyrus Gengras of Los Angeles is in the band now. He stood stage left for the shows I attended. He glanced regularly at both Sullivan and Duffy to keep a check on timing, especially on the great song Destroyer which I’d imagine is a tough song to play live given its loping-like pace.

You could hear a pin drop between songs at both venues. This type of extreme silence as the artist tunes his guitar is an indication that the audience is enraptured. It’s a sign of respect. And it’s unfortunately kinda rare to see at most rock shows here in New York City.

The band had many friends and family on hand and Morby made a point of recognizing that fact. At Rough Trade, he told a funny story about a friend’s random encounter with an art teacher in the city.

The highlight of both nights came when Morby played a song that’s expected to appear on his next record. Entitled “Tiny Fires,” I had read reports that it sounded Wilco-ish.

Indeed it very much does although most tunes no matter the artist spark some thought of numbers that came before. Seems like categorization and comparison-making always enters the discussion when it comes to dissecting music.

Duffy plays a great slide on Tiny Fires as it builds into Morby saying “We can see this through…” I can’t wait to hear the recorded version of it. Live, it really sounded like a song of hope and triumph amidst tough times. For Morby to preview the number so soon after the release of the current record is his pattern. And its greatness obviously bodes well for what may come next. He just keeps working, keeps churning out great songs at what seems like breakneck pace.

Dead Oceans honcho Phil Waldorf and musician Sam Cohen could be seen lingering after the Rough Trade show. So, you had the guy who helped make Singing Saw with the guy who put it out right there to celebrate with everyone else in the room who love both the LP and the artist.

My pal Jacques is visiting from France, so we went together to both shows. I’m so used to going to the gig solo. It’s nice to share the good ones with a buddy so you can say “wow” to somebody you know during the wow moments.

Before the Rough Trade show, we had a really good dinner on Graham Ave at a small restaurant called Hummus Market. Both the beet and red tomato plates were off the charts – as is their back yard dining space.