Philadelphia

This conference was the reason we went to Philadelphia.

Independence Hall.

The Liberty Bell.

Mural in the convention center and old railroad terminal entrance. There were huge murals on many buildings around the city.

The food court where we tried Philly cheesesteaks.

Joshua loved the guitar sign at the Hard Rock Cafe.

The seaport museum on Penn's Landing housed an active wooden ship-building shop.

The four-masted Moshulu (now a restaurant), the Spanish-American War cruiser U.S.S. Olympia, and the U.S.S. Becuna (a WWII diesel sub). We toured the latter two.

Yum! Fifty-cent soft pretzels!


Benjamin Franklin's grave in the Christ Church cemetery. We also went to the U.S. Mint right across the street from here but were not allowed to bring cameras.

We took a ride on a historic PCC trolley car down Girard Avenue. (Thanks Dad! We never would have done this if you hadn't been there!)

"There he is! There's William Penn!" His statue is visible atop the old city hall from all over the city center, and the boys shouted excitedly every time they saw him.

The Please Touch Museum was an experience unto itself. We took the city bus there and back, a roundabout trip through the real Philadelphia. We went during a two-hour window when admission was only $2pp, compared to $15pp for over age 1 at all other times. To say it was crowded would be a severe understatement! But it was worth it. I didn't get too many great photos being focused on trying not to lose the boys, who were obviously enjoying themselves despite the jostling mobs, but this children's museum had it all. We managed to at least see most of it, but we plan to go back someday.

They both waited patiently for a turn to drive the excavator. David needed a little help but Joshua managed to scoop a bucketful and dump it on his own.

The child-size grocery store was worse than Costco on a Saturday. There was hardly a cart to be had! But they had all this nice bread to bake, and Joshua had a blast as Able Baker Charlie. And guess what he and David stuffed their cart with when given the opportunity to make their own grocery shopping choices? Bread, bread, and more bread!

One area was devoted to water play. They had a non-slip draining floor and convenient blue smocks with drying racks for all the kids to put on while they splashed in the locks, canals, rivers, water wheels, rapids, rain storms, and all kinds of water activities.

We're so grateful we had the opportunity to visit a new place and spend some time with Chris during a week when we otherwise would have been apart. Philadelphia was wonderful and we had a great time! Next I'll post the pictures from our side trip to New Jersey.