Philadelphia - City of Brotherly Love

It's Memorial Day weekend once again.  Every year, we head to Annapolis and descend upon John's cousins, Dave & Courtney.  And, every year, they let us in.

It's always a party when we go.  This year, we tried something different.  Apparently, when you drive two hours in one direction from Annapolis, you cross two states!  So we decided to do an overnight trip to Philadelphia.

I've flown into the Philadelphia airport so many times.  Not once have I had the opportunity to explore the history of the city. 

The four of us left Annapolis around 11 am.  Two hours later (?!!) we met up with Emily in a completely different state!  Amazing!  A two hour drive in Texas gets you to....someplace else in Texas!

Entering Pennsylvania.

Where to eat?  Two people are researching places nearby and the other just wants to eat!

After a leisurely lunch (and a glass of wine or two) we walked over to the Eastern State Penitentiary.  This place is cool.  It's an old prison right in the middle of a neighborhood.  It has the same vibe as Alcatraz.  The prison opened in 1829.

The original design of the prison was for it to be seven one-story cell blocks.  By the time they'd built the third cell block, they were already overcrowded.  After that, the cell blocks were two-stories.

One of the cell blocks that was two-stories.

This was a standard room.  Each cell housed one inmate.  They were brought in wearing hoods that covered their faces to avoid recognition.

One of the more famous prisoners here was Alphonse Capone who was arrested in Philadelphia for carrying a concealed unlicensed .38 revolver.  Al's cell was much more plush than that of his fellow inmates.

After a tour of the penitentiary, we headed over to the hotel.  We stayed at the Embassy Suites that had a serious elevator problem.  It took forever to get an elevator and our rooms were on the 10th and 11th floors.  Emily got so frustrated, she took the stairs UP to the 10th floor.  If she'd waited one more second, she'd have caught the elevator.  We had a few cocktails at the hotel happy hour and then went to a restaurant that had an amazing view of the city.

RL2 was a restaurant/bar on the 37th floor of the building.  We all had a drink there and enjoyed the ambiance.

Birthday dinner for John at Bud & Marilyn's.  Dave's friend, Ryan, joined us for drinks after.  That place was really good.  I had meatloaf with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy.  That was some good stuff.  Dave and Emily had fried chicken which was also really good.  John and Courtney had the scallops.  Those were good as well.  Huh, I guess I tasted everyone's dinner.

After dinner we had to walk back to the hotel.  John wasn't quite sure about Dave's navigation skills but we made it.  We passed by City Hall which looked pretty cool at night.

This photo doesn't do it justice but this is the Cathedral Basilica of Sts Peter and Paul.  It's beautiful.

We all stepped inside to take a look.  After a quick visit, we decided to walk around and see the sights.

The line to have your photo taken under this sign was crazy.

I just had John stand there and he blocked out the people under the sign.  That worked out nicely.

First stop was the Reading Terminal Market.  It's amazing.  There's all these shops and food stalls that it's slightly overwhelming.  We split up and walked around.  John found a place that had a cannoli.

The cannoli was really good.

The next stop was the Liberty Bell.  That's it!  The line to get in to see it was ridiculously long but Emily knew of a side window where you could see it without joining the queue.  We took the short cut.

Right across the street was Independence Hall.  The building was completed in 1753 and this is where the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution were debated and adopted.  Dave mentioned the Magna Carta but I don't know...

You can't go to Philadelphia without having a Philly Cheesesteak.  Sonny's came highly recommended and was within walking distance. 

John got the classic "wit".  This was a beef cheesesteak with cheese whiz and fried onion.  I got the loaded cheesesteak which came with onions and peppers.  I'm not a fan of anything called "whiz" so I opted for Provolone cheese.  It was yummy.

Last stop?  Penn's Landing which, according to Dave, was where Christopher Columbus landed when he delivered the Magna Carta to the founding fathers.  Hmm...I'm not so sure...

Hanging out on Penn's landing.  These are the three Chaney/Finch cousins: Emily in front with John and Courtney in the back. 

Dave pointing out Camden, New Jersey.  We walked all over that city.  Six miles on the day.  The hardest part was keeping up with Dave.  When he walks, he's not messing around.

One tired birthday boy.

 

It was a short trip into Philly but it was so much fun.  We love hanging out with these people! 

 

 

Next year we'll have to go on another cousin trip...Soprano's Tour of Jersey anyone?