Philly

After a restful day at the four seasons we were ready to head out to Philadelphia.  Let me tell you right now- I am ready to move to Philly.  I have absolutely fallen in love with this city! 

Yes, I took pictures of available apartments downtown so I can shop around.  I'm quite seriously considering a stay in Philly...

We started our day with a picnic lunch at the visitors center downtown.  Don't judge.  We are night owls by nature.  Early isn't really in our vocabulary. 

Then we hit the liberty bell.  It's really neat how the bell is positioned in a way in which you can see independence hall just behind the bell.  It originally hung in the tower.  One thing we have learned on our journey is that many of our American symbols represent so much more than their original meaning.  For example, the bell was a symbol for the civil rights movement. 

 

Here's another view of independence hall.

This monument was in Washington square park.  It was a beautiful park where Kyndale took the opportunity to chase some squirrels.  

Here we are at carpenter's hall, where essentially the first continental congress met.  Kirkland liked this one because we saw some colonial building tools.  He wants to be an architect one day.  

Here we had a tour of an old printing press.  The kids enjoyed this demonstration!

Old city t-shirts- This was the coolest t-shirt shop EVER!  The lady here (Bonnie Sharps- info at the bottom of the page) was so helpful and patient with us while we each got a Philly T-shirt.  Best part?  The were only $5!  If you are EVER In Philly, you must go here.  This was definitely one of our favorite parts of the day!  She becomes VERY important later in this story...  

Beautiful elfreth's alley, one of the oldest continuous residential areas in the country. 

Us mint

Ben Franklin's grave site.  We were standing here and a guy in period costume walks by and says: "Oh good day Ben.  No, no need to get up."  The kids needed this to be explained, but thought it was pretty funny once we did explain it.  

Franklin square was a great park for us to lounge in and enjoy a little rest.  Of course kyndale's number one objective? Chase squirrels and or birds.  And she actually succeeded this time in feeding a squirrel by hand AND we caught it on video!

I'll post the vid on Facebook.  

Chinatown!  Awesome!

Philly had some really cool folk art pieces.  One of these was an entire building made of broken bits and pieces.  The last one here we stumbled across in the midst of business buildings and hedges.  

WIT WIZ

WIT OUT. 

Yeah our absolute favorite part of Philly was the authentic cheese steaks.  Oh my goodness.  They were unbelievable!! Jim's on south & 4th was recommended by the t-shirt lady and she once again did not disappoint!  Told you she would be very important.

Is pizza considered a side?  Well, she also suggested Lorenzo's pizza.  She had been so right about the cheese steak that we couldn't help but to share a slice!  And really she suggested a gyro place too, but I'm pretty sure we would have busted wide open if we had attempted anything else.  

Philly was awesome.  My favorite so far for sure.  Can New York beat it?!

Old City T-Shirts and Souvenirs aka/The Active Edge Clothing Co.
233 Church Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-925-7860
FAX: 215-925-1597

www.oldcitytshirts.com

www.theactiveedge.com

www.mitzvahpartyfavors.com