City of Brotherly Love

Last week, Scott and I scouted out 2 cities with possible opportunities for us.  First up was Philadelphia, PA.

I’d never gone to the city before and have only passed through it, so I was excited to finally get to do so.

We left first thing Wednesday morning and arrived into the city about 3:30pm.  I’m very proud to report that we barely used cabs this entire trip, and started our journey off with taking the train from the airport to Market Street.

You’d think we were locals…minus the obnoxious luggage we were hauling.

We got off in the middle of the Gallery Market East.  Good thing too, because someone forgot certain important undergarments for the trip. (oops!)

After grabbing the essentials, we kept on trucking and eventually made it walking to our hotel.

Scott booked a great, affordable Bed & Breakfast called Morris House Hotel, and we really enjoyed it there.  We always prefer booking B&Bs over hotels, if it’s the same price.  My favorite part had to be the delicious and almost always warm cookies and coffee/tea time in the afternoon.

I’ll take one every time I walk by, thank you.

We got our stuff to our room, got ready and headed out to the Sixers vs Spurs NBA Basketball Game.

Check out my  Philadelphia 76ers Game post to read all about it.

The game was fun, we had a nice post-game dinner at Del Frisco’s and we called it a night.

Exploring the Streets of Philadelphia

Scott and I were up and at ’em and ready to get an early start on the day.  We researched some of the “must see” spots of the city and started walking.  The first stop was Washington Square.

Here is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where an eternal flame flickers all the time.

I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the buildings and everything around… since there’s so much to look at.

Our next stop was Independence Hall.

This is the exact location where the actual Declaration of Independence was thought of, decided and signed.

and there she is…

Scott and I were both blown away by how much history was right here in front of us.

Independence Square is also where the Liberty Bell once existed.

I say once existed because now it resides across the street in an museum called the Liberty Bell Center, which we also visited.

After this day, I would definitely say my knowledge of US History expanded, which is a really good thing. (Trust me) 😉

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around more and stopping every so often to marvel over what actually happened in this city.

And, of course…it wouldn’t be a trip to Philly without a Philly Cheese Steak!  We heard the best was on South called Jim’s Steaks, so we walked right on over.

Boy, were they right…this thing was incredible!

Holy…mother of cheese steaks… I wasn’t even sure how to begin eating it.

But somehow I managed.

On our way back to the hotel, we saw a familiar face dressed as a Liberty Bell:

It’s the Phillie Phanatic!

Scott’s always had a special connection to that guy… 😉

Pennsylvania Ballet

While in Philly, I got a message from a dear friend I used to go to school and dance with growing up.  She’s a soloist in the Pennsylvania Ballet and invited us to come see her show!

I’m pretty sure that’s her in this poster. (Um…can you tell she’s amazing?)

The performance we saw was called Pushing Boundaries and here’s a great preview of it I found on their site:

Scott and I had never been to a ballet together before, so I was excited to see his reaction to it.

I loved the show, and was pleasantly surprised that Scott did too.  I would definitely recommend anyone in the area to go see one of their ballets!

Afterwords, we met up with Lauren at a great Spanish restaurant called Jamonera.

Everything is served tapas style and the food was fantastic!

So glad I got to see Lauren 🙂

Before long, it was time to head home and say goodby to the City of Brotherly Love.

We love you too, Philadelphia.