Philadelphia

We went to Philadelphia for a long weekend (thanks to fantastic fares on Southwest - love that airline!) to visit Dan's sister, Ashley, who has lived there for the past six years. It was a quick trip with two real days to site see, but we still felt like we got a great overview of the City of Brotherly Love. And let me tell you, it certainly lives up to its name because the people were very friendly everywhere we went, even though there are 1.5 million people that live in the downtown area, and it's the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.

We got in late Friday night since our plane was delayed due to bad weather in Philly, but we still enjoyed a late dinner with Ashley at Nodding Head's which is a pub near our hotel. Ashley's apartment was only about four blocks from our hotel as well, which was very convenient. Saturday we went to the stadiums (three stadiums: Eagles, Phillies, and their form of our Civic Center) to pick-up our Broad Street 10 miler race packets (something Ashley and I decided to do together months ago since I do love to run in different cities than my own and she somehow agreed) then after picking up our packets, we took the train back into the heart of the city for our American Experience tour. The tour included Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Christ Church, Betsy Ross' house, Ben Franklin's grave, the first post office...you get the point. You don't realize how much happened in Phildelphia until you actually see it and it really is quite impressive how our country and the drafting of its governing documents occurred, and survived all these years. We also spent the afternoon at the Philadelphia Art Museum after our race (in the rain for 10 miles but Ashley finished her first ever race and 10 miles so I was very, very proud) which was amazing with some of my favorite painters art displayed: Renoir, Monet, Manet, Cassett, Degas, Van Gogh...again, I could go on and on, but won't. And the art museum is also famous for its front steps where Rocky Balboa runs them while training in the movie "Rocky", which you know Dan loved seeing.

The food in Philadelphia was outstanding as well and we enjoyed some of the best pizza ever, cheesesteaks and we even got to eat at Parc in Rittenhouse Square, a Starr restaurant that is French. We were lucky enough to eat brunch there after the race, made complete with an order (or two, we won't lie) of Bellinis!

There is so much more to say about Philadelphia so I'll stop and just say, go, experience it yourself, you won't be disappointed.