Thursday, August 8, 2013

Day Trip to Philly

We were tossing around ideas of what to do this past weekend when Layne suggested maybe going up to see his best friend, Thorn, and his wife, JoAnna, in Philadelphia. They've been living there a few months, but we hadn't gone up for a visit yet. So, we decided to make it a day trip. Sadly, JoAnna had her nursing school finals the next week so she studied most of the day, but she joined us for all the eating bits. You know, the important stuff. 

We started out the day at this amazing breakfast place, Green Eggs Cafe. Holy. Crap. Everything we ate was amazing! I got Peanut Butter French Toast, Layne got the Chicken and Waffles Benedict (that's right. Fried chicken. Waffles. Benedict.) And Thorn and JoAnna split the Kitchen Sink, this massive scrambler with biscuits and gravy. Everything we got was a definite winner; I'm not sure you could make a bad choice in this restaurant. Except for maybe the Tofu Scrambler because - just - why?

After that, we found a place to park our car for the day (quite the feat in Philly as it turns out, the city of two hour parking spots). We then walked about a mile and said good-bye to JoAnna at their amazing apartment - Layne and I were incredibly jealous of the sheer space and the A/C. Their place is right next to Independence Hall, and we had 1 o'clock tickets.

Independence Hall was really cool. The park ranger was a total jerk, but all of the volunteers that gave the tour were actually quite nice. You could tell they really cared about the history they were sharing with you. The building was done in the Georgian style, which I completely loved. All of the drapery and tablecloths were a really pretty green color, which I learned was the political color of America before red, white, and blue. On the way out, the woodwork was a GORGEOUS light blue color. I will have this color in my house someday; it was so calming yet playful.











Then we went across the street to the Liberty Bell. It wasn't as cool to me as Independence Hall, but there you go. When in Philly, right?



After that, we did a walking tour of the city. And I mean, the whole city. We walked from Independence Hall to Reading Terminal Market. We were still painfully full from overeating at breakfast, but it smelled amazing.

Then we walked to the LOVE park. I told Layne we had to pose for a picture, but I also made sure to get a picture of the boys together. It's the city of brotherly love after all. #bromance


Then we walked... walked... walked... down to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, aka the Rocky Steps. There's a pretty statue nearby with a series of steps and we stopped to rest and chat for a bit. At this point, I had grown tired so there were no more pictures. A true shame, because the building was incredibly beautiful. It has all of these amazing details and colors and the way it rises up from the steps is majestic. Seriously, we saw about 5 weddings here all getting their pictures taken because it is probably the most beautiful spot in the whole of Philadelphia.

So then we walked all the way back up to JoAnna and Thorn's apartment. In total, it was over 4 miles, closer to 5. But sometimes walking really is the best way to see a city. After hanging out and talking for a bit, we walked to Thorn and JoAnna's car (another half mile away) and went to Tony Luke's for some authentic Philly cheesesteaks. The area of town may have been a little sketch (or a lot) but the cheesesteaks were GOOD. We also got the pork with broccoli rabe and some really good little mozz triangles. I was impressed with the quality for such a shabby little stand under a highway overpass, and even Thorn and JoAnna, resident experts, told us it was better than Gino's and Pat's.

Right before we left, we hit Max Brenner for some dessert. We had had some of this hot chocolate before in Vegas and Layne and I have been talking about it for years. So, he had to get the hot chocolate and so did JoAnna and Thorn, but I went big and ordered the s'mores kit which we then all shared. Really, really, really delicious. All of it. Especially the chocolate parts.



All in all, I would recommend Philly for a day or maybe even a weekend trip. But we will definitely be back, if just for Thorn and JoAnna.

PS - Sorry for such a long post!

3 comments:

  1. I LOVE your post dividers! ;) I'm so glad it worked for you. It looks great!

    P.s. I didn't think the Liberty Bell was all that great when I visited Philly either.

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  2. All your teaching! :)

    And - yeah - it was just like, "Here's a bell."


    (twiddle your thumbs...)

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  3. You guys are so cute! Fun seeing your photos :) hope you're doing so well! xoxo

    tommyandamandasmith.blogspot.com

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