I was invited to meet a client in Philadelphia for a conference. We decided that this would make a perfect spur-of-the-moment family vacation. We made the decision to go on Friday, July 10th and booked our flight to leave for Tuesday, July 14th. We stayed until Saturday, July 18th and had a wonderful time. We “pricelined” a hotel and were dealt the Marriott in Downtown Philly. It worked out great — we spent most of our days wandering around the “city center” area.
A sick baby Eisley made the trip a little more difficult but didn’t dampen our spirits. We ate delicious food, marveled at breathtaking architecture and got caught up in a little of America’s history. We saw enough to decide that Philadelphia is an amazing city: a huge art scene, a green state-of-mind and very friendly people. We’re glad we booked this last-minute trip and hope to return some day.
Day 1, Tuesday July 14th: The Liberty Bell
We stopped by the Liberty Bell and witnessed some American history
We flew Southwest and our plane left at 7:10 a.m. After a layover in Chicago, we made it to Philly at about 1:00 or so. We took the train from the airport right to our hotel, the Marriott. After settling in, we went looking for food. Our hotel was right across from the famous Reading Terminal Market. This indoor “farmers market” is a hodgepodge of local vendors selling anything from food, to coffee to clothing. It is here that one can find anything they want and we found cheese and sausage at an Italian stand.
After snacking, we took a walk and found ourselves near the Liberty Bell. We spent some time gazing at the famous artifact then hung out in the lawn outside Independence Hall. It’s here that we met up with my mom, who was in town for the same conference. She had to go eat with some of her coworkers, so we hung out long enough for her to say hi and hold Eisley some.
Our stomachs were rumbling so we decided to walk over to Chinatown and see what we could find. Philly’s Chinatown is small and clean, unlike most big Chinatown areas that I’ve been to. We found a pretty standard Chinese food establishment and ate sweet-and-sour chicken and beef and broccoli.
After dinner we went back to the hotel. My talk at the conference we very early the next morning (6:45 a.m.) and we needed rest.
Day 2, Wednesday July 15th: Society Hill and Rittenhouse Square
Real Philly cheese steak
After my early presentation at the conference, we hung around the hotel catching up on sleep. Then we went on a mission for cheese steak. Every person we asked said one of three restaurants had the best in town: Pat’s, Geno’s or Jim’s. We opted for Jim’s and looked it up on Google Maps. We ended up going 20 blocks in the wrong direction (Google Maps fail) but eventually made it to our destination in a neighborhood called Society Hill. The cheese steaks were good: made with seasoned beef and cheese whiz.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel, tried to get Eisley to nap (to no avail) then decided to try the hotel swimming pool. By this point, Eisley was feeling a little under the weather and we thought the pool might clear her up. It did help some. After swimming, we got ready and then headed to the top rated Italian food restaurant in the city (according to Yelp). La Viola is located in Rittenhouse Square: an upscale neighborhood made up of tree-lined streets and uppity shops. Unbeknownst to us, the restaurant was cash-only and B.Y.O.B. We had the cash but needed the booze. After ordering appetizers, I headed to a place called Monk’s Beer Emporium across the street. I bought a bottle of Chimay that we enjoyed with spaghetti and lobster ravioli. The food was delicious: all homemade, prepared from scratch, and very authentic. Even the waiter had a heavy accent and was rude, just like in Italy.
It was past Eisley’s bedtime, so after dinner we went back to the hotel and tried our best to get her to sleep. We finally did around 10:30 (I know that sounds early but when you’re traveling with a sick kid, 10:30 is late).
Day 3, Thursday July 16th: The Olde City
Elferth's Alley is the oldest residential street in the country
On day 3 of our trip we ate breakfast at a place called Farmacia located in an area called the “Olde City“. Our plan for this day was to wander around this part of town, but our plans were quickly thwarted when we discovered that Eisley’s lovie (blanket) had gone missing. It must have fallen out of the stroller on our way to the restaurant. We retraced our steps only to find that the lovie must have been snagged by one of the city workers cleaning the street. It was nowhere to be found. In search of a replacement, we looked up childrens’ boutiques on my mobile phone and found a couple over in the Rittenhouse Square area. It was quite a trek over there, but the lovie is important. At one of the stores we managed to find a much inferior replacement (the original lovie was sewn by Granna, Courtney’s mom and Eisley grandmother).
With everything back to normal, we caught a subway back over to the Olde City where we strolled up and down Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest residential street in the country. It was here that we got a call from my mom (“Bella” to Eisley). She was still in town and offered to babysit that night so that Courtney and I could enjoy an adult dinner…alone. We accepted her offer and made our way back toward our hotel. On the way, we stopped at the Reading Terminal Market (again) to grab a light lunch. Back at the hotel we took a quick dip in the pool while we waited on Bella.
That night we decided to eat at a place in the Olde City called “Chloe”. It received 4 ½ stars and rave reviews on Yelp.com. This place lived up to the hype (although they also took only cash and it was B.Y.O.B.). We had oysters and salads for starters. I had a ribeye and Courtney had the halibut special for our main course. The dessert won us over though. We had banana bread pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was yummy.
After dinner we stopped by the hotel lobby for a quick drink before calling it a night. When we got back to the room, we learned that Bella had managed to put Eisley to sleep by 8:30 — a feat we had not been able to accomplish. Grandmas just have the magic touch.
Day 4, Friday July 17th: The Franklin Institute and the Italian Market
A moment at Love Park
Our breakfast place of choice was again located in the Reading Terminal Market across the street from our hotel. It was the Dutch Eating Place and they served up home cooking including gigantic pancakes, sausages and eggs. Courtney couldn’t finish all of her breakfast; she was feeling a bit under the weather. After eating, she went back to the hotel and I took Eisley walking.
We walked northwest along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a huge avenue that cuts diagonal across Philadelphia’s grid of streets. We found ourselves hanging out in Logan Square by a huge fountain and eventually wandered over to the Franklin Institute. Founded by Benjamin Franklin, the Institute is a science museum. I like science (and Eisley was along for the ride) so we decided to venture in. The museum was a bit disappointing. It was totally set up for children older than Eisley. So there wasn’t much for me to look at and there wasn’t much for Eisley to do. We walked around for a while then decided to attend a show in the planetarium. It kept me entertained and Eisley asleep, so it did serve a purpose.
After emerging into the sunlight we called Courtney and made plans to meet in Love Park. We loitered there for a while then made our way south to the Italian Market. About 10 blocks lined with merchants along 9th street make up the Italian Market. We walked to the end and back, stopping to get a sausage hoagie, slices of pizza, and espresso. Wondering what to do with the rest of our time in Philly, we read up on a museum called Mütter Museum and decided to head that way. Unfortunately by the time we made it there, it was closed. We hung out in a little garden near the museum and got some great pictures. Then we walked over to Schuylkill Park (along the Schuylkill River) to kill some time. We watched dogs playing at the dog park and let Eisley crawl around in the grass.
We kept dinner simple that evening and just ate in our hotel before calling it a night.
Day 5: Saturday July 18th: Home
We made one more trip to the Reading Terminal Market and ate crêpes for breakfast. Then we caught the light rail to the airport, then a Southwest flight home to Austin. We will miss Philadelphia but it sure felt good to get home.
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