Cheesesteaks and Founding Fathers? We must be in Philly!

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As some of you may have noticed, yesterday's post didn't happen until mid-morning today. As I mentioned in the post, yesterday's exhaustion prevented me from putting together a coherent thought, much less sentences and public blog posting. So, I was able to post yesterday's blog on the way to Philadelphia today courtesy of Jeremy Stout's sweet little mobile hotspot! Thank you, Jeremy!

Day five was a much needed slowdown from yesterday and in preparation for the next three. We did quite a bit of driving today and the walking we did was relatively light. We began with the routine breakfast but our start time was humanely pushed back to 8:45. There was a bit of a delay in our departure, which happens every year, and we finally left shortly after 9:00. Once on the road, we enjoyed some down time while Danielle prepared us for what we would see and do in Philadelphia. Once we arrived, we headed for lunch at Reading Terminal Market. It is a very cool place with dozens of market style shops, unique fast food places, and some delectable Amish desserts! Several of us enjoyed pie, cookies, and whoopie pies! This stop also gave us the chance to eat an authentic Philly cheesesteak. Needless to say, Reading Terminal was quite a delicious stop!

After lunch we headed down to Independence Hall. Talk about bringing history to life! We got to stand in the room where the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and wrote the Articles of Confederation and United States Constitution! For us history geeks, there was a sense of reverence for being in such an important place. It truly is the birthplace of our nation. This was another place that all Americans should visit!

Next on the itinerary was the Liberty Bell. Cast in the mid-1700's, the Liberty Bell was originally intended to ring in the Philadelphia State House before independence from Britain. During the years of abolitionism, the bell began to symbolize freedom and has done so ever since. It was another wonderful example of bringing history to life. To be see such an iconic American symbol in person is humbling. Your homework for today is to find out how and when the bell cracked.

We then had a few minutes of free time to go to the visitor's center, use the facilities, and do a little bit of shopping (about 45 minutes). The final stop in Philadelphia was the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but we weren't there for the art. We were there for the steps. We couldn't leave the city without running up the steps in front of the museum Rocky Balboa style! Jeremy Stout even got us pumped up with a little Rocky music on the drive there! After a little goofiness and being run-off by the Park Rangers, we headed to Baltimore!

Once we arrived at the Inner Harbor part of Baltimore, we went to Potbelly Sandwich Shop. The food was very good, the staff was friendly, and we had the whole place to ourselves! We had about an hour to explore the Inner Harbor area and do a little shopping, people watching, and boating! Many of the kids went out on dragon-shaped paddle boats or small boats with little electric engines. While the smell was more than a little rough, we all had good time! There was about another hour drive to our hotel in the DC area which seems to be a pretty nice place. They even offered to put on the Thunder game in the lobby for us! Thunder up!

This was a much needed lighter day which we thoroughly enjoyed! We will certainly need the energy, because the next few days are packed with activities, museums, exhibits, and lots of walking. Speaking of walking, Jeremy Stout and Chris Walden are wearing pedometers this week, so I will start reporting our accumulated steps each day. To date we have walked approximately 84,565 steps which is equal to about 42.29 miles! We hope you've enjoyed the blog and as always, we love to read your comments!

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