I Heart Philly

I've always loved to travel. Growing up, my family was big into visiting all the national parks of the U.S. (think Glacier National Park in Montana, Yosemite, Yellowstone, etc) as well as Europe, Mexico and South America. Thank you to my parents who made travel a priority! We dubbed our family vacations "Bob's Circle Tours" because of the fact that is was usually my Dad (Bob) who handled the majority of the planning and he liked to work out the logistics so that we started and ended a trip in the same place (with all the stops and visits in between creating the shape of a circle when looking at a map). Plus, you could always count on him to read aloud long passages of a guide book to us rascals who had not done our guide book-reading homework. Discovering new places, exploring the unknown. My kind of a vacation! I can even remember, as a kid, I would pack my suitcase several days in advance out of sheer excitement, hoping that doing so would bring D Day (departure day) that much closer that much faster. Or maybe I just wanted to be prepared. You know how I love that!

Unfortunately, as I am now a (power)suit in the corporate world, my work schedule doesn't allow for as much time off as I would like. Hence, my travel itch has fallen dormant over the last couple of years. So when my parents called to say they would be in Philadelphia for a week, I jumped at the chance to visit someplace I had never been and re-itch the travel bug in me even if it was only one state over. Plus, how could I pass up the opportunity to spend some quality time with Ma and Pa?

The City of Brotherly Love is a short two-hour bus ride from New York City -- or should be. Due to the Columbus Holiday weekend traffic out of NYC on Friday and the chaos of the teeming masses at the Port Authority Greyhound bus station, my arrival in Philadelphia was slightly delayed. But that didn't stop my parents and I from having an absolute ball over the next three days!

We visited all the major sights: the Liberty Bell, Independence Plaza and the sight of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Betsy Ross' house complete with a Betsy Ross impersonator sewing the flag and answering questions, Benjamin Franklin's printing press operations, the quaint and charming Elfreth's Alley (home to row houses built in the late 1700's still in pristine quality and occupied!), the Philadelphia Museum of Art where I re-created the famous Sylvester Stallone scene atop the stairs from Rocky, Eastern State Penitentiary where Al Capone spent a year behind bars, and many other side streets, art galleries and landmarks. We even managed to pack in a tasting of the city's infamous Philly cheesesteaks!

Sadly I didn't have my camera with me, but I did manage to snap a few pics on my trusty iPhone.

Elfreth's Alley. One of the oldest continuously inhabited residential streets in the country!

Dad & I in front of Miss Liberty Bell's good side.

The Liberty Bell in all her cracked glory!

Take that Mr. Stallone.

While it wasn't an exotic trip to a far-off destination, it was fantastic to feel like a tourist again and discover the nooks and crannies and delights of a new city. Even if it's not a foreign one!

You could say it was a Bob's Circle Tours special.

Happy Travels everyone!
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