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Mrs. ODNT Goes to Philadelphia – Day 3

Posted on July 1, 2013 | 1 comment

Today was our last full day in Philadelphia. And it was a rainy one. Which meant my hair looked a lot like what it looks like every day of the summer back home in New Orleans. (Stupid humidity.) And, in an effort to cover a lot of ground quickly, we opted to buy tickets for one of those hop-on/hop-off sightseeing buses. You know the ones? The double deckers and such? (Don’t make fun. They’re popular for a reason.) Anyway, here are a few highlights.

Do we have any It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans out there?

The owners were very cool. They even invited me behind the bar.

We also stopped off at the U.S. Mint, Philadelphia branch. NO PICTURES ALLOWED! (Sorry.) And it was an interesting albeit completely self-guided tour. Seriously, we needed to show ID to get in, submit all bags for inspection and even be checked out a little ourselves. And then it was like someone said, “Make yourselves at home. There’s some soup on the stove. Just lock up when you’re done.” We didn’t see an employee anywhere in the entire place. So I probably could’ve taken lots of pictures.

We missed the Chinatown stop (Oops! No foot massage today) and got off instead at the Reading Terminal Market. You might remember it from day one in Philly. And guess what Viv and I got for lunch … again? If you’re not silently mouthing the word “cheese” at your computer screen, then you must have just landed in ODNT country. Cheese it was … and it was good. And we shopped a little while there, too … until the bus called.

The kids and I got off next at the Franklin Institute. You might remember it from day two in Philly. (We are a loyal people and know what we like.) Apparently, Dean and Vivien had some unfinished business to take care of there, including walking through a ginormous replica of a working heart. With me in tow.

Of course, the thing came complete with a deafening heartbeat. I felt like an Edgar Allen Poe character.

From there, since the last bus was rolling around, we opted to hop back on and ride it to the end. It sounded easy (we’ve walked an average of 80 blocks every day … I counted) and educational (because the dude never stops telling you about the city). Once at the end, we jumped in a cab to spend time at one of the stops for which we weren’t able to de-bus.

Seriously, you guys had to see this one coming, right? Me and the Rocky Balboa statue. (Spoiler: I took a few other pictures there and, duh, on the steps, too. I’ll be using them later.)

Because who’s going to pass up this opportunity?

We walked about 247 miles back to our hotel, stopping only once to take the requisite picture by the LOVE sculpture.

Sorry, Philly, but the NYC LOVE statue kicks this one’s butt.

* * * * * * * * *

To read about the trip so far …

ODNT Takes Manhattan Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3

Mrs. ODNT Goes to Philadelphia Day 1 – Day 2

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Tagged hop-on/hop-off sightseeing bus, its alway's sunny in philadelphia, paddy's pub, reading terminal market, salumeria international cheeses, the franklin institute, the love sculpture, the rocky balboa statue, u.s mint

Mrs. ODNT Goes to Philadelphia – Day 1

Posted on June 29, 2013 | 3 comments

So we took a train from New York to Philadelphia today.

And by “took a train” I mean … misunderstood what time it was actually leaving Penn station, left our hotel WAY later than we should have, got royally separated while in two different cabs, went to the wrong part of the train station, miscommunicated who was waiting for whom and where, cursed a little under my breath probably within earshot of my kids, argued with Penn Station employees that we were actually going as fast we could and hoisted fully-packed suitcases over my head to jump on the train (mind the gap!) as it was literally starting to pull away.

I boarded at 12:04pm. The departure time was 12:05pm. Technically, we were a minute early.

(gasping for air)

But we got to Philadelphia and the fun began. Because we arranged a little surprise. And by “we” I mean my wonderful friend, Mel. Our girls have been dying to meet in person. Soooo … since I was spending a few days in Philadelphia with my family and she just so happened to have been driving through the area with her family to visit her parents in Boston … we planned a little rendezvous.

It was adorable really. When we each pointed out the girls (previously only pen pals and FaceTime buddies) to each other in the hotel lobby, they immediately ran into each other’s arms for a hug that lasted for about the next three hours. (I’m completely serious.) They walked arm-in-arm all afternoon. (Mel really tells it best here.)

I guess the apples really don’t fall far, huh?

Once together, we went straight to eat at the Reading Terminal Market.

I should mention that there was a cheese shop there.

I should also mention that there was a punching bag of cheese as big as three heads hanging from the ceiling. Here. In Philadelphia. Where Rocky was filmed. There’s just gotta be a joke in there somewhere.

After we finished eating, we all walked over to see the Liberty Bell, which was pretty darned impressive.

Umm, the bell’s back behind there somewhere.

(Spoiler alert: I’m not done talking about the Liberty Bell here at ODNT just yet.)

Then, for the next few hours, we all just caught up with each other.

We ate. We drank. And we pretty much never stopped talking except to take breaths between sentences when absolutely necessary. All nine of us. We’ll be getting together tomorrow for more Philly-style fun. But I don’t know this city like I know NYC. So maybe you guys can help me.