BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS

July 7, 2009

The Road Trip to Philadelphia

Because we flew all the way up to Washington D.C. we saw it fitting to see a little bit more of the Northeast before heading back down to our humid, hot, and wet (at the time) home in Florida. That is why we rented a car and drove up to Philadelphia from D.C. (about three hours with city traffic). My brother and I were excited to travel here, as both of us share a love for national history and feel obliged to visit our country's landmarks! Mom and Dad had previously visited the area, but were excited to share it with us! We stayed at the Residence Inn in City Center and were very pleased with our accomodations. We had a gorgeous view of a beautiful government building and various unknown high-rises, and were pleased to wake up to the sound of church bells! We arrived at lunch time and had planned for one day of sight-seeing, which we were told would be very easy to accomplish. We walked to the nearby Reading Street Market for, none other than, the famous "Philly Cheesesteak," and it was delicious! I greatly enjoyed our time at the market, I've never visited a market quite like it in the States (I have visited many in European countries although). It is exciting to have so many choices in one area and to enjoy the feeling of being a "local" while strolling through. Directly after lunch we hit the sights; the Liberty Bell, Second Bank, Franklin Square, The Franklin Museum, Independence Hall, etc. On the way home, mom and I insisted on strolling "Jewelry Row," to window shop :) We all had the general opinion that Philly was fun, but certainly not a second vacation destination. We felt we had plenty of time in one day to see it all! It ended up being a nice sunny day until the late afternoon and after a full week trekking D.C. (while my poor mother was working a national conference), we decided to have a family night in, together at the hotel. With the apartment style rooms it was so nice to throw on pjs and eat at a dinner table with great views of the city! We were craving Italian and were struggling to find decent delivery in the area. We finally decided on a place called "Jake's." My mom and I easily split a spinach/mushroom calzone, my brother had spaghetti and homemade meatballs, and daddy had his favorite, green pepper and onion thin-crust pizza! It was the perfect ending to a great family day and we were so ready to hit the road for our next and final destination, Pittsburgh!

0 comments: