Philly

Last Saturday Heather, Vicky (one of my workmates), and I spent the day in Philadelphia together. Early in the week, the weather forecast was cold rain, but Saturday wound up being a perfect, sunny day for our 20,000-step walk around the city.

We started at Love Park, and ended at an Indian restaurant. In between, we visited City Hall, Reading Terminal Market (where Heather introduced me to a classic cheese steak), Magic Gardens, the Liberty Bell, the Italian Market, and an Ethiopian Festival! What a day!

To top it all off, we stopped at a Trader Joe's on the drive home, where I filled my basket with nuts, tea, and sipping chocolate :).

posing for a photo with a life-size Monopoly wheelbarrow marker

the famous LOVE park

the sun was so bright and the tower was so tall...
you can't see the massive statue of Ben Franklin on top of City Hall

inside the courtyard of City Hall-- the building is massive!

there she is!

lovely view directly behind the Liberty Bell

the little house where Jefferson drafted the Constitution (took him two weeks)

oh how I love markets!

we waited through lines for at least half an hour for our one Philly cheese steak!

the picture doesn't do it justice...
but this was a super cute walking alley, not wide enough for cars

we didn't actually go inside the mosaic garden, just took pictures from outside

entering the Italian Market

Italian Market area

Ethiopian festival

PS- Heather and I also enjoyed ice cream from Bassetts-- America's oldest ice cream company!
Fun fact about Bassetts: President Obama stopped in for ice cream at the Reading Terminal Market in 2010. His favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip.