Yo, Adrian…gimme provolone wit

Let me start off by saying that I absolutely ADORE the family I married into. They are so much fun!

We left for Philly on Wednesday afternoon and arrived at 2am with only 1 STOP. I have in the past always been known for holding the record for the MOST stops during a road trip, so it is understandable that I was not allowed to have anything to drink on the way up. What really saved us was the fact that I was not able to keep my eyes open for the majority of the trip. Chuckie P drove the whole time! Thanks, Chuckie P!!

We stayed with Robin the first night at her beautiful home: Thanks, Robin!

Robin went to Holland last year and I would like to broadcast that the yellow tulips in her front yard are straight from Holland. Do not be fooled by all the other colorful & abundant tulips around Philly this time of year… they are not authentic.

The next morning, we woke up and went to the Phillies vs Brewers game. Wes had planned to go to this game and has been excited about it since before we planned this trip and the Phillies miserably lost, but it was still an awesome atmosphere and experience AND we still LOVE the Phillies!

I was pretty excited to be in Philly for the first time

Hamels practicing…he actually ended up getting injured (got hit with the ball-stupid Brewer) half way through the game and had to be replaced

Philly Phanatic!!

If you look closely, you can see the ball and half the bat flying through the air:

I got the whole Philly experience in ONE DAY. After the game, we went to Geno’s to get Philly cheesesteaks. I ended up ordering wrong and the guy got mad at me. Apparently you are supposed to order like this, “provolone wit” instead of “umm…let me see…can I please have a cheesesteak with provolone, mushrooms, and peppers, NO ONIONS, and do you have…”. Please is not even welcome here. As a response I got, “you don’t want mushrooms…provolone wit!” Let me translate: “we don’t have mushrooms… Provolone cheesesteak with onions.” Luckily, Anna was nice enough to trade her no onion cheesesteak for my “wit.” Thanks, Anna!

Eating my first REAL cheesesteak… I must say I like the homemade ones better.

Pat’s is right across the street as the big competitor. Wes and Kent ate a cheesesteak from both places to see which one they liked better and I think Pat’s won. At least they have mushrooms.

After our cheesesteaks, we drove around the city for a while and I got to go to LOVE park. This was my top place I wanted to go. Just so I could get some pictures of the famous sign (the actual park wasn’t anything real fantastic). 

I have always wanted a picture in front of the sign with Wes. I was disappointed to arrive and find that my only option for a strange photographer was a transvestite yelling, “you take a picture of me, I will DROP your camera!.” YIKES, you will not touch my camera. By the grace of God, a very reliable-looking girl walked up and took the picture. YAY!

City Hall:

We ended one of the best days ever with Rita’s waterice! YUM. We ate this every day until we were sick. So good.

The next day, we went downtown again around the art museum. Here are some views of the city from the museum:

Here is the walkway from the back of the museum. There are sooooo many cool places in Philly. It is actually the 8th best photographic place in the country! I am so jealous.

Can’t go to Philly without going to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell:

GORGEOUS cherry blossom trees all over Philly:

Carriage rides…lined up for business:

Shells and Chuckie P…Love you guys. Since we had limited room for lots of camera equipment, I had fun using my camera to produce cool and artsy fartsy images without flash:

This was taken with no flash will driving over the bridge… through the car window. I love my camera…and lens.

 Thanks to everyone for showing me around Philly! I had so much fun!!