Spartans like cheese steaks too!

We are at the end of day 5 and we finally got home before 9:00! It has been a great day but we are all excited about having a little bit of down time. We started the day with a quick breakfast and then we were off to Ellis Island. We took a ferry from NJ to Ellis Island. From there we had the options to watch a short play, take a free guided tour, watch a short video, or explore on our own. It was a humbling experience to think about the millions of immigrants who went through those halls. Some were even able to look up ancestors on the computers! From Ellis Island, we took another ferry to Liberty Island, home of the Statue of Liberty. We didn’t have a lot of time there, but it was long enough to take some wonderful pictures and enjoy looking at Lady Liberty and taking in the amazing view of NYC. We then boarded the bus for Philadelphia! Along the way we stopped to eat at a rest stop that had a few different fast food restaurants (gotta love that vacation nutrition!). Once arriving in Philadelphia, we met our tour guide, Robert. He took us on a walking tour of Philadelphia and I couldn’t possibly mention all of the historical sites we saw, but some of the highlights included Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Congress Hall, the Betsy Ross House, the site of Benjamin Franklin’s house, Benjamin Franklin’s grave site, and many other places that were instrumental to many of the founding fathers of our country. Robert was with us for about 2 hours and then we were off to eat Philly Cheese Steaks Sandwiches at Steaks on South. Many of us had been looking forward to that meal since we left Tulsa and they didn’t disappoint! We then gave the kids about 45 minutes to shop and explore South Street. Many of us enjoyed a Philadelphia-born dessert called Gelati which was made of custard and Italian ice. They were awesome! The last item on the agenda was a run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Arts which was made famous in popular culture in the movie Rocky. We posed for a quick picture with the Rocky statue and then were off to the hotel. The hotel staff was kind enough to keep the pool open for a couple of hours for us, so the kids got a little swim time. We will be heading to bed in about an hour to rest up for another exciting tomorrow!

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Part of trip: 2009 East Coast Tour

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