Philly

Our first weekend in NJ was spent getting settled, getting groceries, and getting Jeff ready to start work.  Our second weekend in New Jersey we decided we were ready to take a day trip.  We drove to Philadelphia, which is only about an hour and 15 minutes away.  We had a great day there and hope to be able to visit again sometime this summer.

First thing we went and got tickets to tour Independence Hall.  It was nice to have a free guided tour, but Claire cried through most of it and I felt bad for the other 58 people with us.  It was really cool to see the room where the Consitution was created and the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed.  Here we are in front of Independence Hall.

Here Claire and I are in the room that was used as a court room.

Here is where all the political action took place.  They still have the original chair George Washington sat in!

The Liberty Bell is right across the street so we went there next.  I enjoyed seeing it from a professional standpoint (the material used to repair the bell is what caused the crack and they inserted a "spider" into the crack to prevent it from propagating further).

Then we went and visited the site of Ben Franklin's home.  They also have a small museum and a replica of his printing shop.  On the wall of the print shop was this quote of Franklin's that I really like.

Nearby, outside the Carpenter's Hall, we ran into Ben Franklin himself...or a good actor.

For lunch we went to the Reading Terminal Market, which used to be the Reading Railroad train depot (from Monopoly).  The marketplace was really busy, but the food was AMAZING!

My favorite things were the roast pork sandwich from DiNic's -- I would go to Philadelphia again just to eat another sandwich.  I think it was the sharp provolone cheese that made it incredible  -- and the soft pretzel from Miller's.  Soft pretzels don't generally excite me, but it was so soft inside and crispy outside.  Slightly sweet, slightly salty, and very buttery.  Mmmmmm.  Jeff also really liked the Dutch Eating Place, where the Amish prepare food.  We had apple cinnamon french toast and blueberry pancakes.  Their homemade butter tastes really different.  Here they are cooking.

After lunch we ran up the Art Museum steps, where Rocky (from the movie) took his victory lap.  I've been training for a half marathon so running up these steps got me all fired up.

We visited the Constitution Museum, which I really enjoyed.  They had a moving video/presentation and lots of interactive exhibits.  One little area they had two little school desks.  Lily really wanted to sit in one, so I let her and then I watched a little video about integrating the public schools.  While this was all going on a little black girl came in and sat in the desk next to Lily.  I was really touched and it made me so happy to be in this country.  At the end, they had bronze statues of all the men who signed the Constitution.  Here's Jeff with Pierce Butler of South Carolina.

And here's me with George Washington.

After the museum, we wanted to do something fun for the girls so we went to a nearby park.  Much to our surprise they had a carousel and Lily LOVES carousels.  We decided she would have to ride it and just hoped it didn't cost too much.  While we were walking up a man asked us if she'd like to ride the carousel and gave us a free ticket.  He made our day!