Our First Taste of Philly

We started and ended our Christmas vacation in Philadelphia with Chad's sister, Deanna, her husband, Mike, and their 5 awesome kids. When we got to Philly, we enjoyed horsing around with the kids and participating in their Christmas happenings. As mentioned in my previous post, Deanna is an amazing mom. I was in awe of her abilities--really. Such a fun, loving mom and wow, what an amazing cook! We ate like royalty at her house. Mike is finishing up his residency at a hospital there and I was impressed with what an involved, fun dad he is, especially considering his busy schedule. And those kids are a blast! We took some pictures on Christmas day, so I may post some of those later.

Chad and I headed to the city on Monday morning to tour the city a little. We planned on being out just that morning but ended up making a full day of it--there was so much to see and do. We saw the Liberty Bell, and the rooms where the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were drafted. We went to Reading Terminal Market (a huge indoor flea market), and tried Philly Cheesesteak--the honest-to-goodness real deal. Yum! We walked around in China Town briefly, and tramped around the city looking for the "LOVE" statue until we found it.

The Liberty Bell, with its famous crack. Apparently it cracked two or three times before they gave up fixing it. 

I believe this is where the Declaration was drafted.

Chad, sitting in Congress Hall.

I actually don't know who this guy is, but he looks like he should be singing, "Young Man. Are you listening to me?"

Hulk Hogan was in Philly! At least, we're pretty sure that was him. ;)

City Hall--beautiful, no?

City Hall again.

We found that darn statue, and it only took us several hours!

First experience with a legitimate Philly Cheesesteak. We really felt like we got our money's worth, since the guy serving us looked like he was straight out of the movie Rocky.

China Town! It really was like stepping into China. Not much English going on in there.

In short, Philly was awesome. I was so happy to have the chance to get to know Mike & Deanna's family better, since I had only briefly met Deanna and the kids at our wedding. After a few days in Philly, we woke up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight to Aruba (and our gracious hosts also woke up to get us to the airport). More on that part of our trip, later. For now, a single picture to drool over.