Philidelphia trip recap
It was a whirlwind of a trip! We jammed it full of fun, and it was over as fast as it began, but I loved every minute of it!!
Friday, I had booked the day off work, so we packed up the truck and brought the kids to my parents place in Cornwall. We drove to Lansdowne and crossed over there.
We drove straight until we hit Binghamton, NY. We met up with one of Tyler's friends that he has been gaming with for about 10 years, and he introduced us to Spiedie. This is a sandwich filled with cubed chicken breast or pork that has been marinated overnight in a vinegar and spice mixture. It was SO juicy and delicious.
After we said our goodbyes, we headed up the road to the Phelp's Museum. This was a mansion that was a glimpse into the gilded era. Mr. Phelp's was a judge, owned the water and gas companies, and was obviously extremely wealthy. The house was estimated at $14M to build in todays money ($140,000 back then). The staircase alone inside was $10,000 to build (equivalent to $1 million today).
The tour took about an hour, and then we headed out and drove the rest of the way to the hotel. We stayed at the Marriott Old City, which is very reminiscent of Old Montreal (because of the cobblestone or brick roads), but Old City Philly is seriously the most surreal place ever. The buildings often predate 1820 and are architectural marvels, even in today's standards. The scale of the buildings is nothing like we have seen before. And I am in love with the contract between historic buildings and the modern landscape as you drive into the core.
I was very impressed by the hotel room, as everything had recently been redone. We were very comfortable there, and the grounds itself were also gorgeous. Very rustic modern restaurant/bar, and amazing rooms to watch the game on the projector, etc.
We stayed there for a drink, and kept walking. We found a place called "Blue Martini"that was a hookah bar (very cool) and had some yummy Asian fusion food there as well.
After we had a drink and food here, we walked a little further and found a place called Cuba Libre, where we fell in love with the décor (it felt just like cuba), and the drink we had tasted like vacation. But time was coming up where everything downtown was transforming into a night club, and that's not our scene, so we took off and walked around a bit more, taking in the sites. We went to the underworld and checked out the subway (it's not as dirty as movies have led me to believe, but people are rude lol). We stopped in for a slice of pizza that took THREE plates to hold, and headed to bed around 11:30.
SATURDAY:
Saturday was busy.
We woke up too early for vacation, and stopped in to the Starbucks in the lobby. We walked up the road to this cool joint I found on trip advisor called the Kyber Pass for Brunch. We had some breakfast drinks (bloody mary) and a TON of food and some beignets.
From there, we grabbed an Uber to the Eastern State Penitentiary that closed in 1971 (but was opened in the 1800's) for an audio tour, followed by a guided tour through the Hospital/psychiatric ward wing. It was amazing! A great experience for sure- highly recommend! Some of the rooms were refurbished to look like they would have while it was opened. A lot of terrible things happened here, and the mood was very sombre, but I am so happy we went.
Upon leaving the Pen, we walked for quite some time, stopped at a CVS for some water and made it to the Rocky steps. I got a corny video of Tyler going up, of course lol.
We took a break on the steps, and then walked a few more kilometers to the "Love" park (Tyler snapped some pictures, I didn't get any). Which was beautiful, and there were lots of fun interactive things happening for families!
We stumbled upon a place that sold Philly Cheesesteaks, so we stopped and ate one of those! When in Rome, lol.
We were pretty beat from so much walking, so we took an Uber back to the hotel to change and have a quick nap! After we were up, we took a walk to the Independence Beer Garden. It was beautiful, but would have been more fun if it wasn't so chilly (it's all outside).
In walking, we discovered the flagship Morimoto restaurant, so we had a beautiful 4 course meal. We started with some Wagyu dumpling and a mixture of oysters. Followed by a round of sushi rolls and nigiri. Then followed by our mains (I had the angry chicken, and Tyler had a wagyu steak). For dessert we had Kinako and Japanese honey plate.
https://morimotorestaurant.com/menus/dinner/It was phenomenal!! We also sampled some Sake, and other signature drinks.
After we were sufficiently stuffed, we went for a walk in that area, taking in the sites. We stopped at the Liberty Bell, saw the building where the declaration of independence was signed, and ended up back at the hookah bar. We had made friends with the waitress, so we wanted to thank her for the stellar service, and had a drink there. Then we stopped in at the Brownie's Irish pub again to say hello and have a drink. We stopped in a different pizza joint and I had the best goat cheese and olive oil pizza I could have ever dreamed of. We headed back to the hotel and sat with a drink in the room with the projector and watched a baseball game with a few other people before going to bed around midnight.
SUNDAY:
Sunday was a big/busy day for us! We woke up around 8AM, got ready and walked to a beautiful restaurant called The Plough and the Stars for some bloody mary and brunch (a routine I could definitely get used to). After brunch, we went back to the hotel quickly because Ty wanted to change his shirt, and we grabbed an Uber (which, you wait no more than 1 minute for in Old City, and I LOVED it) and headed to the Merriam theatre for Rent (20th anniversary broadway show). It was such a beautiful theatre inside (like everywhere else, I don't understand the level of craftsmanship they had in the 1800's, and how they maintained it over the years). We were sitting next to a couple that was also going to the concert that night (small world), and the show was amazing!
The show was a bit longer than we expected, so we grabbed an uber back to the hotel to change, and rest a bit. We grabbed a beer at the hotel bar before getting an uber to a restaurant with a few people from a Toto fan group (yes. that actually happened lol). I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb, but they were very friendly and embracing. The love of Toto legitimately brings people together! There was people from LA, and England and all over that came out to share a meal before the concert (their last concert ever).
After dinner, we walked up the street to the Met as a big group. This location is very special because they had refurbished it to make it safe again-it has been closed for decades previous! The inside maintained it's original filigree on the ceiling and walls from the early 1900's, and it was an incredible location for an incredible show! The band surprised the crowd with David Paich making a return for one night only (and only a few songs) on the keyboard. He has faced a number of health problems in the last year or so. The crowd went WILD.
The show ended beautifully, and we definitely stayed a little longer to see some people hysterically crying and hugging--which I found funny, but then I felt bad. One of the men we went to dinner with just buried his wife the week previous, and had brought her sister in her place. Him and his wife had been loyal fans of Toto since the 70's, and he was one of the ones crying--it was his first concert without her, and I imagine it was quite difficult. This is the kind of crowd this band draws. It's beautiful, really.
After the show, we took an Uber back to the hotel and had a quick night cap at the hotel bar, went upstairs and packed, took a shower and headed to bed.
MONDAY:
We woke up around 7:00, checked out, grabbed a drink at Starbucks, and headed out. We got out of Philly as fast as possible (it's beautiful, but IMPOSSIBLE to navigate through, so there was a lot of cursing on the way out lol), and grabbed a quick breakfast off the turnpike. After we stopped for breakfast and fuel, we drove straight to Lansdowne to cross, and straight to get the kids. I think we shaved about an hour off the trip (thank you American's who make the speed limit way faster than here). Once we got the kids, we headed back to Ottawa, went to vote and went home to unpack, get settled and we ordered in dinner from Gabriel's.
As dinner was ending, a little boy across the street and the girl next door came over to play (they really missed us, I guess lol). They stayed for about an hour, and then went home. For the last few hours of the evening, we put on a movie and cuddled on the couch together before bed!
And that's the end of our 4 day weekend :) Hope you all had a great one!
We have another action packed weekend ahead--we will sleep someday! (I hope)
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