Friday, June 24, 2011

Day One of Philadelphia Trip

























































We had a 4AM wake-up call this morning to make our 6AM flight out of GSP. This was Boo's first time flying, and Sis has only flown when she was four...so technically her first time remembering the flight. We had a wonderful take-off and landing. The flight was short and sweet. We arrived at BWI around 8AM and had to catch the train into Philadelphia.

















We rode AMTRAK and of course being Friday morning it was very crowded. Boo and Daddy were able to find a seat right when we got on, but Sis and I had to walk about five or six trains ahead to find two seats together. The train ride was not bad at all. We had a family of five in front of us, and two couples headed to NYC for the weekend beside us. I was able to close my eyes for a few minutes on the trip, but I was scared I wouldn't hear when it was time for me to get off in Philadelphia. We rode for about an hour on the train. Sis colored, played on her computer, and mostly people watched! I wonder where she got that from???

















We arrived at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and walked the six blocks to our hotel. Thankfully, we were able to check into the hotel at 11AM even though we were way too early! We unpacked a little and headed out to find some brunch. The hotel recommended a list of restaurants, and we decided on Bobby Flay's Burger Palace. It was really a neat atmosphere, and Mark wants to change the seats at the station to look like the ones in this restaurant. Mark got the Dallas Burger... it had slaw, BBQ sauce, and cheese and an order of onion rings. I got the Blue Burger... it was soooo good! Sis got a regular cheeseburger, but asked for it to be "crunchy' which meant it had chips on it. Boo had to be the oddball and order a grilled cheese... but it looked delicious and he ate all of it!

















After filling up on carbohydrates, we were all tired...except Boo... he had a nap on the train. We came back to the room and crashed for a couple of hours! I even missed Yand R for a nap! After napping, we decided to head to the historical part of Philadelphia. We walked to the subway and rode down to 2nd street. We toured Christ Church and Betsy Ross's house. Boo really liked her house. They had a place in the cellar for the kids that was set up like a kitchen. There were directions on the wall to make a Turkey Pot Pie. He had a great time using a billower (I think that is what it is called), and he learned that a cellar and a basement are basically the same thing!

















We then headed to find Penn Landing. There are big summer events that are held on the weekends and we wanted to walk over and see what was happening. On the way there, we spotted a place for yogurt (look for Mark to open a place like this soon...he asked the girl so many questions)....it was a great snack! Instead of them fixing it for you, you could fix it and they charged by the ounce. Fresh fruit, cookies, candy bars, and everything else you can think of was there for toppings. As we left the yogurt place, we passed by a wine shop. There was a sign out front that said free tasting for "Twine". It was a wine infused with sweet tea. DELICIOUS. I think anyone... even those who hate wine would love it!

















We crossed the bridge to Penn Landing, registered to win a new car, saw where Aaron Neville will be singing tomorrow night and let Boo use a port-a-potty! He was tired so we decided to head back to our neck of the woods. We stopped at a Happy Hour for cherry cokes and sprites... and eavesdropped on conversations among the athletic directors of Drexel. After a quick visit back to the room, we had dinner! Sis picked tonight's dinner spot because she wanted to have the Seafood Bisque. Boo and I shared an appetizer plate and Daddy had a "quesadila" as Napoleon Dynamite would say.






























Our first day was fun, tiring, and exciting!

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