The Struggle is Real: Oh What Fun We Had! part three: Philadelphia

It just so happened this year that the stars aligned so that my birthday and election day and husband's R&R coincided. In addition, the schools were out because the first quarter ended on Halloween (Friday) making it a long 4-day weekend. Without the responsibility of getting kids off to places, husband and I took off for Philadelphia to spend a few days doing the tourist thing. Overnight. By ourselves. (First time since son #1 was born for us to go away overnight together without any kids -- It's about time, right?!?)

I've always wanted to explore this city and see some of the interesting things there and enjoy the delicious regional specialty foods!

Lots and lots of pics:

We stayed at Spruce Hill Manor
a Bed & Breakfast place
This was the amazing chocolate gift that awaited me when we arrived!
the owner went out of her way to make our visit special
highly recommend this place!

part of our lovely room

husband treated me to delicious frothy hot chocolate each morning --
This was a high effort thing.
he brought a milk frother and special chocolate which
he grated for the cocoa -- wonderful stuff!

the charming dining room where we ate our breakfast each day

this is where we parked our car during our stay
I was glad it was off the very crowded street!

downtown our first day
horse and carriage ride through the historic part of the city
if I had to claim a favorite part of the day, this was it!

that's Chief! he did the hard work
he got a fresh apple for his efforts

after the ride in the carriage, we went and saw this!
the Liberty Bell

tourist selfie!

husband took this shot
actually, he took most of our photos
he is a fine photographer!

next we toured this!
Independence Hall

there's Ben Franklin

statue of John Barry
read more about all the statues around
Independence Hall here

the inside!
important documents for our country were signed here

some things upstairs inside Independence Hall

um, the year I was born!
on this plaque
on a wall of a convent downtown
kinda random, but fun to find

time for dinner!

husband enjoying the potato salad and stuffed olives
as we wait for our hoagies

hoagie enthusiast

the. real. thing.
so delicious!

near sunset time

down by the edge of the Delaware river
New Jersey is on the other side

battleship in the distance

selfie at the river
we walked miles and miles this day!
ready to head back to the B&B now and put our feet up

The next day (my actual birthday) we went to a special exhibit all about chocolate at the Academy of Natural Sciences, but no photographs were allowed in the exhibit. It was wonderful, though! Take my word for it, I guess.
After that we explored the city some more.

First stop, the Betsy Ross House:

would have been incomplete without this selfie
taken with my iPhone

Next stop -- the tomb of the unknown soldier (Revolutionary War)

We walked more than 7 miles this day. Our dinner was as good as the previous night ... we ate at Campo's again, but this time we had Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. YUM!
Then, having easily walked far enough to feel absolutely no guilt, we indulged in some dessert at the Franklin Fountain.