The inconvenience of being under 21 has forced me to be very crafty at finding places where I can chill for long periods of time, especially in chilly weather. Since I consider myself a professional "people watcher" (one who watches people), I search for places to sit and observe the world around me. One of my favorite spots to people watch is 30th Street Station.

30th Street Station is Philly's main train station located at 30th and Market. It's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a weeks (even holidays). From my experiences any place that stays open 24 hours is bound to have interesting, even strange people grace it's doors… 30th Street is no exception.

After holding a nice conversation with a local bum in the main concourse about Elian Gonzalez, the hungry got to me. So I walked over to Auntie Anne's Pretzels to get me a "healthy" snack. While I pulled out my last three dollars a quarter falls out of my pocket and commences to roll away. A good samaritan walks over and starts to chase the quarter down. But for some reason this quarter didn't want fall over. This poor guy chases my quarter the entire length of main corridor. All I could do was stand there and think; First this guy was cute, second he must be a nice guy to go through all this trouble, I wonder if he's single, and third why did a pretzel and lemonade aid cost damn near $4.00?

Eventually the guy gave me the quarter back, even though I said, "since you went through that much trouble you mind-as-well keep it".

He just smiled showing all his teeth and said, "that was interesting." I should have given him my number [darn].

30th Street is probably not the coolest or most fun place to hang out for the average person, but it does have many things to offer. For instance, 30th street has many vendors who sell reasonable meals (I assume they hike up the prices for all the hungry travelers who'll pay anything to grab a quick bite). One place in particular I would highly recommend is Delilah's. It's a southern soul food restaurant. They serve large portions of food, which include fried chicken, fried fish, macaroni and cheese, greens, sweet potatoes (candy yams), and many more soul food delicacies. The customer service wasn't the best when I was last there, but the food more than made up for it.

30th Street also has a designated smoking section, which I was surprised to see. You can sit down and smoke for hours without being accused of loitering. 30th Street is ideal for people who just want to sit back and relax, as long as you don't mind noise at peak hours (9am –6pm). They have many stores (which usually close around 6pm) and a 24 hour McDonalds. So the next time you're in the mood to people watch, chat with a local bum, eat soul food… jump on the train to 30th Street Station.