Philadelphia's a Pretty Cool City

Philly! I'd never really been there before, in all the 16 years that my parents have lived in PA. It's about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive, but it's such a big city and traffic always seemed to be horrible, so we pretty much steered clear. Thanks to Abe and Cathi's recommendation to go check it out, I added a Philly day trip to our itinerary. Why not? I started looking online at stuff to do there, and there is quite a bit! Our day quickly became filled with plans of places to go and things to see, starting with the Franklin Institute downtown. Dad joined us for the day and was our gracious driver/dropper offer when he'd have to go searching for a parking place. Bless him. Here we are inside the museum with Benjamin Franklin...it's a big science/exploration museum for kids and adults, with a planetarium, IMAX theater and tons of cool exhibits. We got in free with our Discovery Gateway pass, and took a couple hours to check it out.

This was a cool mosaic wall that I had Cami pose with.

The ceiling/lighting was gorgeous blue!

Lexi and I chillin while we waited for Dad to trek the couple blocks from where he parked. Such a happy baby!

Cam got to sit in an old time airplane and board an old fashioned train.

And they even have a gigantic human heart that you can walk through and learn about.

We saw a planetarium show about the wild weather of the universe, and tried to see most of the exhibits that sounded interesting. The place was packed with school groups and kids galore so it was crazy, but we were impressed with the place. From there, we went to see the main attraction- the Liberty Bell and Independance Hall. That's the hall behind me.

The one and only Liberty Bell! It was actually smaller than I thought it would be. Jake didn't believe it was the real thing, he thought it was a replica. Nope this is it!

Grandpa and Cami, checking out the historic sites.

I'm not a history buff, so I was content after seeing the bell. :) We were starving by then, so we found the place that Abe had recommended for the best cheese steak- Carmen's in the Reading Terminal Market. It's an indoor farmers market that takes up a whole block downtown, with tons of places to eat and shop. Jake ordered a sandwich for me, him and my Dad, and when the guy at the register (Carmen himself) asked him if he wanted everything on it, Jake said "Sure, just give me your specialty." When the total came to about 45 bucks, Jake was a bit surprised! He didn't realize that everything cost extra. :) Haha I just laughed. So we got fully loaded cheese steak sandwiches with cheeze whiz, provolone, mushrooms, onions, and peppers. Mmmm hot and spicy!

It was mighty good, I must say. I'm not even supposed to eat cheese, but I ignored that for the moment and dug right in, and although my mouth burned from the few jalepenos, it was awesome.

We had one more place we wanted to go, which was in Fairmount Park. There's this huuuge park by the river, with tons to see and do. But there's one little part called Smith's Play Place for Children. There's a big mansion that was built over a hundred years ago by a couple who wanted to give children a place to play. So they turned it into a big playhouse for imaginative play. The mansion was closed by the time we got there, but the giant wooden slide and playground outside were still open. This slide was way fun...you grab a burlap sack at the bottom and trek to the top, and it's super slippery and fast!

The playground was so colorful and innovative. Cami got so excited as soon as she saw swings, of course. So she spent most of her time being pushed on the swings by Dad until the rain came and the place closed for the day, anyways.

Cute little choo choo train!

We left and got home that night after a full day of fun in Philly! Dad was glad he finally gave it a chance, and said he hadn't realized all there is to do in the city. Me neither! It was awesome, and I'll definitely go back next time we're out in PA. Mmm I'm craving a cheese steak sandwich right about now.