We grabbed the train from the airport to downtown. For $11 each we got an unlimited day of public transit which was a really great deal considering how costly taxis are anymore.
Jackson was excited for a big day of exploring the city. We shared the train with a bunch of kids headed to run in the Penn Relays. Jackson says older readers may remember this event from the Cosby Show. I didn't. We took to train to within about 3 blocks of our hotel and then hoofed the rest of the way with our bags. I still stand by my choice of a duffel bag. People look foolish wheeling luggage around the city. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed out in search of food since our hurried morning didn't leave time for nourishment. Oops. ;)
We'd read about the Reading Terminal Market online and wanted to check it out. We weren't disappointed. Well, I was a little disappointed in the cleanliness of the food preparation areas. Maybe I'm weird but having a girl fix her ponytail over food grosses me out!
Anyway, Jackson had one of the best sandwiches of his life at Tommy Dinic's. He has sliced Italian pork, broccoli rabe, and provolone on a white baguette per our waitress' recommendation. He didn't speak. He just ate. That's how I knew this was a special sandwich. ;)
We were amazed at all of the fresh seafood and meat for sale. It all looked fresh and clean (unlike some of the restaurants).
They had shrimp the size of your hand. I don't think one could have eaten more than one of those if they tried.
Then we headed to the University of Pennsylvania to mark off another Ivy League school tour (only one remains: Cornell!!). We loved it. It was a campus in the middle of a huge city, but it managed to retain the charm of a traditional campus.
This photo doesn't do it justice. I'm not sure why I didn't snap more photos. Sorry. :) We stopped at the bookstore for that requisite t-shirt and had a quick lunch outside at one of my favorite places: Cosi.
We walked through Drexel University's campus and to the Art Museum to see the famous "rocky steps." We got some great city views and toured the rough parts of Philly. Leave it to Jackson to have me trudge through the "hood" instead of paying for a taxi. (Jackson here: for the record it was only 1.5 miles and Jenn needs to get out more if she thought that was the hood.)
It was worth it. The museum grounds were gorgeous. We had the best weather and were able to really enjoy the place.
The steps!!!!! (Note: I've not seen the movie. I saw an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air once where Will ran them and I'd wanted to do it since.)
I enjoyed watching everyone reenact the movie.
The view of the city was incredible.
A whole tribe of kids doing the climb.
Jackson indulged me with a run...
A boxer in training.
He was a friendly little cliche.
The statue is at the bottom which threw me a bit. Again, watching kids take photos cracked me up.
I MADE Jackson do it. He thought it was silly. Whatever. ;) We walked all the way back to our hotel, showered off the combination of travel and stair running sweat and went back out to see some history.
There were people playing ball on this green and Jackson was really proud of his throwing skills. You see, this one dad kept overthrowing to his son and Jackson scurried for the ball and sent it sailing back. The kid was dejected, but Jackson was elated. Typical. ;)
The Liberty Bell!!!! Jackson was really impressed with its size. The first time I saw it I reacted with a "that's it?!" that my college roommate Jenna Hess will never let me live down. ;)
Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Awesome!
This guy was trying to reenact another Rocky scene and fell down. We laughed.
Another shot of Independence Hall.
The Declaration House where the Declaration of Independence was written. After our history tour we did a little shopping, grabbed my Mom Hard Rock pin (of course!), and grabbed some dinner. Yes, we did eat at Qboda as we had a free entree coming. What?! :)
The next morning we took a leisurely stroll through parts of downtown we hadn't seen yet. We used a Groupon to get coffees at Starbucks (we're thrifty!) and ate again at Cosi. We love that place.
We tied up our shoes for another big travel adventure and headed for the train station.
I took one last photo of our room's view because I loved it and bid Philly farewell.
The train station had wooden pews that were just beautiful.
The whole place was quite grand and reminded me of days gone by...before I was born.
We didn't have to wait long after coming off the subway to grab the Amtrak to NYC.
We sat in the quiet car equipped with wifi so I could blog and Jackson could play on his phone. It was awesome. I'd now like to do all my travel via trains.
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