We woke up in Philadelphia for a jam-packed day of fun in the birthplace of liberty! Our first stop was at Reading Terminal Market for breakfast. After tasting our way through, we walked down to the Liberty Mall / downtown historic area for some sightseeing. We had already seen the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall on a previous trip to Philly with Autumn's mom, so we were able to avoid the ridiculously long Memorial Day Weekend lines for those. Instead we headed straight for the gift shop to pick up some much needed patriotic souvenirs and then over to the National Constitution Center museum to escape the heat for a few hours of air-conditioned bliss. By then, it was time for a cheese steak lunch back at the Reading Terminal Market. It took over an hour in line!! But, we were rewarded with cheesy-steaky goodness.
After lunch, we visited the Franklin Institute to see the Dead Sea Scrolls followed by a movie in IMAX!! I ingeniously had already bought the tickets online, so another horrifying line was avoided!
Our final stop for the day was dinner at Lolita, a mexican restaurant. It was BYOB (as are many restaurants in Philly due to some ridiculous liquor-licensing laws), but I was able to track down a back-alley bar where I could buy the devil's brew! Dinner was great, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in PA, as always.
Breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market with fabulous neon signs!
Beignets, breakfast sandwiches, candy and cake! YUM!
Independence Hall and 1,000,000,000 visitors in line!
The National Constitution Center had no line AND air conditioning, which were our only criteria for all activities today.
Just me chatting with some of the founding fathers...so interesting!
Autumn and I getting ready to sign the Constitution with George Washington
My genuine Constitution certificate of authenticity
Autumn posing with Washington's flag!
Just look at all the bunting!
Say cheese...
Now that's a big flag!
SHAZAM!
Cheese-steaks in action!
Yum!
The Franklin Institute
These pots may have contained pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls
(Sorry no photography allowed of the actual scrolls!)
Philadelphia Skyline
City Hall!
The city of Brotherly Love!
My top-secret beer mission was a success!
(Please note the sketchy-alley factor of the background)
What exactly is included in "much needed patriotic souvenirs"? Obviously, I too must do some shopping for these necessary items the next time I am home. ;)
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