Philly

Well, I've definitely been missing a while, but now I'm back.  It's a new year, and I'm hoping it's better than the last.  I haven't posted about it yet, but On December 8th George, my step dad, passed away.  It's been rough, but we are getting through our grief.  We held a memorial for him here, as well as one in New Jersey, where the rest of his family resides.  So, the first part of my Christmas Vacation was spent in Philadelphia (his family lives right across the river from Philly).  We flew up Thursday for the memorial on Friday and decided to make a short vacation out of our trip and stay until Sunday.

As soon as we landed Thursday afternoon, it started snowing.  And not the kind of snow we see in the south.  Within an hours time there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground!  I was excited to see the snow, but soon found out it wasn't fun to be in.  It was cold!  And our rental car slid all over the roads.  Not to mention the umpteen times I almost busted my butt walking around the city!

We stayed right in the middle of the historic district.  When we woke up Friday, we headed downtown to find a bite to eat.  We ended up at a little place called Delicatessen.  It was delish!  I had some sort of french toast with bananas on it- yum!  After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the memorial.  I made Gavin snap the following picture before we left since I have no recent pictures of me and my mom.

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After the memorial and a banquet dinner in George's honor (things are done a little different up north), as well as feeling like we were on the Sopranos many times, we headed to Macy's to check out the light show and do a little shopping.  Gavin was excited to see the giant "War Eagle" in the middle of Macy's!

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Saturday we headed out for some more exploring.  First stop- Geno's!  George loved Geno's, so it was a must to stop and have a "steak wit" in his honor.  And now we understand what he was talking about.  It was by far the best Philly cheese steak I've ever had!

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After lunch, we headed to the Franklin Museum.

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Gavin had a great time playing with all of the stuff inside.  He was like a big kid (but then again, what's new?)

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After the museum, we walked around some of the more historic sights.  Betsy Ross' house was right around the corner from our hotel.  There was also a fabulous bakery across the street from the house called Tart.  They had the best lemon bars I have ever tasted!

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We also got to check out something new.  The President's House had just opened the previous Wednesday.  The story is that in the process of clearing land for a new mall, construction workers happened upon the original foundation of George Washington's house.  Instead of continuing with the mall, they built a memorial around the foundation.  The story is a little longer and more controversial, but you get the idea.  I thought it was pretty cool.

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Then, we headed over the the Liberty Bell.  They have completely encased the bell now, so it was heavily guarded.  But, George said that when he was a kid they used to climb all over the thing.  Guess things change!

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So our trip turned out to be nice.  Only two complaints: 1. It was too cold!  I'd love to go back in the spring or fall to see the sights.  Most of the time we hauled butt to our destinations because of the cold weather and didn't get to take in all the sights.  We seriously walked right by The President's House twice without even noticing it!  2. I didn't take enough pictures.  This is seriously all I have.  And I really wish I'd taken pictures at the banquet with all of George's family.  Especially my stepsister, stepbrother, and their 8 kids.