Philadelphia

We had a wonderful Easter weekend.  One of the benefits of working for a Catholic school is that I'm given Good Friday off.  So, while the rest of the work force continues to slave away, I get to enjoy the beautiful spring weather and reap the benefits of errand-running without the long lines typical of other government-given holidays.

Blake got to flex on Friday, so we took advantage of the glorious weather, cheap hotel prices, and collective wanderlust and drove the 2.5 hours up to Philadelphia. 

We snagged a great deal on the waterfront Hyatt and had a great view of the water and the city.  It was my first time in Philadelphia and it did not disappoint.

I guess I'm just used to weekend trips up to New York.  And, no matter how much fun New York is, we're always a little stressed, a little tired, and a little grungy the whole time.  Philadelphia, on the other hand, was easy-going, low-stress, easy to navigate, clean...the list goes on and on.  We have a few friends who've lived there that always refer to it as  "Filth-adelphia," so maybe I wasn't expecting much, but I am now a Philly convert.

We had a wonderful time seeing the sites, walking around the old city, eating Philly cheese steaks (whiz wit, thank you very much), running the rocky steps at the museum of art, and stuffing ourselves with food from fun cafes and ice cream shops.

Thank you, Philadelphia, for a perfect weekend.  We didn't want to come home.

 Our hotel had a great view of the water and the city.  It was also only about a 10 minute walk from Independence Hall and the Old City.

 Seeing the Liberty Bell has been on my "must see" list for far too many years now.  I love being reminded of the history of our country.  I don't know if I should admit this, but I was moved to tears more than a few times listening to the guides talk about our founding fathers as we toured Independence Hall and the West Hall. 

 The Old City was so beautiful.  We spent a large portion of our time wandering around the cobblestoned streets and taking pictures of the beautiful landscaping and quaint architecture.  I can never get enough of arbours, climbing vines and red brick.

Blake conquered the "Rocky Steps" at the Museum of Art.  Not only that, but he also was quite a champ for navigating throughout the trip and doing all the driving.  All-in-all it was a pretty easy city to navigate, but with my lack of parallel parking skills, I never could have survived it.