Philadelphia, PA
Next stop on the East Coast adventure was the city of brotherly love! We rented a car in D.C. and drove a quick 2 1/2 hours to Philadelphia. As a history nerd, I wanted to see all the historic places in Philly. We only spent 2 days in Philly, but for us it was enough time to see everything in Old City on our list.
The first day we stopped by the famous Geno's for a genuine Philly Cheese-steak. I have to say it was different than I expected. If it's your first time getting one I would ask for normal cheese instead of the classic Cheez Wiz that comes on the sandwich (lesson learned the hard way!). After we found our way to return the rental car and checked in the hotel, we began exploring around Old City. Our first stop was touring the US Mint, which is where all the coins are made. Since my mom and I both work at a bank we thought it was pretty cool to see money literally being made. Then we got dinner at FARMiCiA which was a short walk from our hotel. The food was amazing! After dinner, we took a stroll to Penn's Landing on the hunt for dessert. We came across the cutest ice cream shop called, Franklin's Fountain. Their ice cream was seriously the best (we went back the next night too)!
Day 2 in Philly we took a Big Bus Hop on/ Hop off tour to get the most of our time. We were able to see everything in one day! Before getting on the bus, we got breakfast at a tiny cafe called Luna's. During our tour we got a photo by the classic "LOVE" statue, ran down the "Rocky Steps", took a tour of the Eastern State Penitentiary (where we got to see Al Capone's cell) and then we had lunch at the Reading Terminal Market. Going to the market was my first food hall experience and while the options were a little overwhelming at first, once we made a few laps we settled on a gourmet grilled cheese place. After lunch we saw more of the historic sites before ending the day with a tour of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. These were my favorite places in Philly. I loved getting to be in the room where the most important document of our American history was signed. It was chilling standing where our founding fathers once stood making some of the most important decisions to establish this country.
If you ever get the chance to visit Philadelphia, be sure to take advantage of all it's history. It was a quick trip, but well worth the stop! Next up on our trip we're catching the train to NYC!
