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Speaking of food, Philadelphia is regarded by gourmet magazines as the capital of US cuisine. It has more restaurants listed in the nation's top 20 than any other city, and there are dozens of others catering to every taste and budget in the down-town area known as South Street. This is the hub of the city's vibrant night life and a centre for jazz and blues music that rivals Chicago. You'll require steely determination, or an iron constitution, to keep an early tee time!
Mention must be made, too, of the cultural attractions, the theatres, museums and art galleries that abound. The city boasts the finest collection of Impressionist art in the world outside of Paris and a Rodin Museum that may be unique.
With a host of impressive buildings and a plethora of gardens and public parks the city itself is a visual delight, particularly at night when the major buildings are illuminated. The architects must have had a ball here!
It's also a city of great convenience. The airport is but 20 minutes from the area known as Center City and upon leaving our hotel we were on a motorway slip road within minutes and in wooded countryside five minutes later, en route to golf.
So, as I hope you'll discover, it's a most agreeable city, comfortable, gracious and highly civilised. Not for nothing is it known as The City of Brotherly Love (William Penn, its founder, was a Quaker) and we witnessed a scene that exemplified its reputation.
A dread-locked young black man, hip as can be, was running for a bus when somehow he dropped all his loose change. A nearby trio of fashionably dressed white matrons saw his plight and while one trotted to delay the bus driver the others, assisted by passers-by, helped the young man collect his scattered coins. He made his connection OK and was last sighted with a broad grin, waving his thanks to the smiling ladies. Imagine that happening in New York or London?
My 25 year love affair with Charleston, South Carolina, is a matter of record; I adore San Diego and Cape Town and have a soft spot for Sydney.
But they have all been usurped in my affections. I lost my heart to Philadelphia. The world would be a far better place if all cities were like this.
AND then there's the golf. The game is huge in Pennsylvania. The State has two million amateur golfers and more than 350 golf clubs with 500-plus courses that run the gamut from municipal daily fee lay-outs to plush country clubs. You pays your money, you makes your choice...
Top of the pile are Merion and Oakmont, both renowned venues for historic events over the years, with several others only slightly less venerable but of comparable quality.
In the Philadelphia region, for instance, will be found Saucon Valley and Commonwealth National, both also private and exclusive but marginally more accessible. We played them on successive days and were left with the view that golf doesn't come much better, nor the welcome warmer.
Situated about 30 minutes from the city, Commonwealth is a long-established club that initially had 36 holes and was a venue for LPGA Tour events. Then in 1990 it became a private country club and Arnold Palmer was invited to work his architectural magic. He reduced it to 18 holes and conjured up a beauty, one of his gems.
Now the course stretches to 7,100 yards from the back pegs to a slope, as our American friends have it, of 140. Which means it's plenty tough from tiger country and a stiff challenge for anyone capable of breaking 90 from the middle tees on a course out of the top echelon.
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