PA: How to Philadelphize....from feet to stomach...

Monday was a day to be in and out of the office for Matt. He had a session in the morning and then in the afternoon...So after we had crepes (banana-honey and bacon-egg) in Reading Terminal, we decided to take in a bit of Philly. We headed off toward the historic area and got distracted. 

Distracted by China Town with it's amazing Friendship Gate, which is traditional in that it doesn't have any nails, screws, glue...it's a puzzle that was put together and being held on it's own.

Distracted by the Federal Mint. Where we went through and saw a tour on the process and then peered over the minting floor where we saw sheet of unmade coins, unstamped coins, and pennies all over waiting to go into circulation. Was actually very interesting. We attempted to get a fresh bag of newly minted ones to give back to Michele, but they don't sell them any more.

We also jumped across the street and went through Ben Franklin's burial cemetery. It was a very quiet landmark...and cheap. We paid $4 and that included the map that I thought would be a good idea to get. Ben's grave was covered in pennies due to his own saying, "Find a penny, pick it up..." And these contributions bring in $3,000 a year which help support the maintenance of the grounds. Ben Franklin isn't the only signor of the Declaration buried in the graveyard..there are five others. Some of the plots have been there so long the writing has been wore off.  We did manage to find a couple from this century recently buried.

Next we went down the oldest residential street, Elfreth's Alley. Starting in 1702, there was paving and some of it's original for these 32 quaint homes. The paving was actually somewhat difficult to walk on. Can't imagine how it was 200+ years ago. It did feel a bit like walking back in time to see the construction and look of these homes. There were two for sale that we looked at. One was a three bed, three bath and was selling for 3/4 a million dollars. It was mentioned that this National Landmark is a celebration for the common man because the early inhabitants were of common occupation; butchers, glassblowers, merchants, shoemakers, grocers...which many worked out of their first floor. I found it completely appropriate when I found the child's drawing in the windows of one of the homes giving a little history on the small street. 

On the way back to the motel we stopped at OCP Grill... Old City Pizza, which described the neighborhood we were in. We ordered a couple Italian sandwiches and a mega slice and weren't disappointed in what we got. We only ate half the sandwiches, which Matt was glad about because he said they were even better the second time around. We kept walking to find Betsy Ross's home and Independence Hall, which was close to the Liberty Bell. I loved the statues and art that we continued to find that was soaked in history.

While Matt was at the conference, I went out shopping a bit for the banquet, I hadn't planned on attending so when we got a ticket, I knew I'd have to come back with a dress and shoes to go. Hit up some shopping and managed to recover from getting disoriented in Chinatown. Was happy to navigate a bit on my own. I've come to rely on Matt so much for this that I've forgotten that I had some decent skills at it. I also made sure to take a spin through Reading Terminal again and grab a chocolate chip, caramel, pecan dipped cookie with Himalayan Pink Salt on top. Serious.

The night was a big family event in Dillworth Park. It's the park right in front of City Hall that's got the area of fountains. They called it Party in the Park, Philly style. They broke the event up into different areas and highlighted the areas with different food, fun, and games. I think my favorite food was the pizza and or the Philly Cheese steaks/Chicken cheese steaks/Italian sandwiches. But my favorite entertainment was the children that performed as the dragons for China town. They were so beautiful with their sweeping eyelashes. Makes me want to take in a Chinese New Year for the art and pageantry.

The only downside of the park was the forecast of heavy rain. This brought a lot of people to leave early but we stayed for quite awhile visiting with Kim and Jon. Kim was Matt's previous teacher who helped him into the Dickinson Internship (and we all know how that ended). She's continued to play a mentor role for him and we've loved having them as friends. They appreciate the foodie/traveling lifestyle and we often compare notes. It's never a dull conversation with her and husband Jon, who also has the airport lingo down because of his involvement in the industry. I enjoy them both immensely and was so glad to have them at the conference as well!

The night closed out on a high note...a sugar high that is! We went to a vendor event, Death by Chocolate. Everything was chocolate. Chocolate martinis, chocolate fountain, chocolate sorbet, ice cream, buffet. It was beautiful but I left wanting to swim in a glass of milk. I was lucky the wait staff took pity on me and brought one. I couldn't believe how stuffed I got.

ALR: Did you see two of those home on Elfreth's Alley are for sale?
MJR: Yes.
ALR: Wouldn't a home in Philly be nice?
MJR rolls eye: Sure, that's plausible.