If Chocolate and Crayons weren't enough, we headed off on another adventure today. We spent the entire day touring Philadelphia.
My good friend, S, was brave enough to meet us, making the drive over
from New York City. Amazingly, we got to the city within minutes of
each other and were able to park side by side in the garage!
We started our day with a Ride the Ducks tour....the majority of the tour is on land, but a small part is actually on the water!
Before we got started, B got to model for everyone how to properly "quack"!
It
was a hit with the little ones and a GREAT way to begin our day. We
learned a lot and had fun. The BEST part was the "splashdown" into the
Delaware River!
After our city tour by land and by sea, we made a stop at the Liberty Bell...
before continuing on to our scheduled tour of Independence Hall.
Can
you believe that this is where both the Declaration of Independence and
the Constitution were signed? B thought that it was really cool to
be standing in the same building where a few of his beloved Presidents
once stood long ago!
About
a block from Independence Hall, we found Signers Walk, kind of like a
"Hollywood Walk of Fame" for the signers of the Declaration of
Independence!
By the end of the tour, it was time for lunch and we (I) decided that we just had to make a stop at Pat's King of Steaks
to see where the very first "Philly Cheesesteak" was invented (for
those of you wondering, yes...I am still a vegetarian). You see, I get
these crazy ideas in my head and can be pretty darn stubborn about it!
Well, it
is a l-o-o-o-o-o-n-g walk from the tourist area of downtown
Philadelphia to South Philly where 'ole Pat's is located... We
didn't quite make it there for lunch. Taking the advice of some locals,
we set out for a closer cheesesteak shop, Jim's Steaks,
but seeing that the line to get in was wrapped around the corner of the
building, we opted for a little place across the street and some REALLY
BIG slices of pizza...
After lunch, we did in fact make it to Pat's...
where everyone (except 'ole vegetarian me) tasted the famous "Philly Cheesesteak"...
Let's just say that we MORE than walked off all of the lunch that we did eat!
On the walk back, we just happened upon what turned out to be a really FUN surprise!
We
saw a sign for the Engine 11 Fire Station. Well, B really
likes fire engines and LOVES the number 11, so we had to take a photo...
We
noticed that a sign on the door read that they sold t-shirts. We went
to the door and were greeted by a fire fighter who invited us in and
asked the little ones if they wanted to see the fire engine! Umm...yes,
yes, and yes...
Okay, these were some of the nicest fire fighters...ever!
They let both B and L spray the hose...
and even let B pose with their ax!
I'm sorry... Liberty Bell, what? Thomas Jefferson, who?
This was probably the highlight of the day!
After our impromptu fire station tour, we continued on our trek back to the car, stopping at both Washington Square...
and The President's House for a quick look around.
Thank
you, S, for joining in our adventure today! As you can probably guess,
my (almost 2-hour) ride back to the hotel was absolutely silent...with
the exception of a couple of snores here and there from my 3 little
passengers in the backseat! Headed back home tomorrow...I think that
I'll let my mom drive the first "leg" home!
More Spring Break 2012 Fun
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