Center City

Today was another long driving day. Just over 7 hours so we weren't expecting to do much. But in the end, even with all the driving, we ended up with more than 16,540 steps and lots of fun memories.

We drove into Philly during rush hour which was a grand adventure on it's own. The first stop had to be the Rocky Stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We got all our photo ops (some at the top, some at the bottom with the Rocky statue, and some running up the stairs) so we can for sure say... we did it!!!

Before we headed to our hotel, we decided to make a quick stop at the "Love" sign, another iconic Philly landmark. But... when you type in "Love SIgn in Phili", what they don't tell you is... there are 2. One is at the University and the other is in "Love Park". Not knowing this ourselves we asked google and then trustfully followed it's instructions which lead us to the Love sign at the university. It ended up being a happy/lucky accident. We got to take some pictures at the love sign and then we really enjoyed walking through the buildings that make up the university in the heart of downtown Phili. The buildings and ambiance were so cool. Very colonial looking feeling to the buildings. It was really great to see another university and how they really embraced that theme. We were so happy we were able to wander around there and get that experience.

But then we had to find the real Love statue. We again asked Google to take us to the right Love statue so more driving around downtime Phili for me until we found the park. We managed to find a spot on the street to park and we walked over to the park and got our photo op. Then we wandered around a bit before we figured it was time to head back to the van and find our hotel.

The hotel doesn't have parking but there is a parking garage near by. So we parked in what we figured was the closest to our hotel, gathered up our stuff and went to check in. Only... we couldn't find the entrance. After a little confusion, we did get it sorted but it did cause a few tense moments.

The room was lovely but we really needed some supper. So... what do you get for supper on your first night in Phili?? Why, Phili Cheese steaks of course. We walked over to a nearby shop that ended up making the best cheesesteaks and pizza, but nowhere to sit. So we decided to wander over to a "nearby" park and eat. But when we got there, the park was closed down because of a Chinese festival. So we walked a bunch more blocks down to Washington Park (which was the park for Independance Hall).

We sat on some benches and ate our cheese steaks, and then we walked the many many blocks through downtown Phili back to our hotel. We never felt scared, lots of people around.

So Phili started off great and we hadn't even seen the liberty bell yet. That would have to come tomorrow.

So to bed with thoughts of bells and of course New York floating through our heads. Wednesday was going to be a good day.

More tomorrow.

Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 16,540Read more