The City of Brotherly Love 2

Being that our great nation pretty much started in Philadelphia it is just full of awesome historical attractions. Awesome being very relative.  

But before we did all that it was cheesesteak time. 

There are a lot of places in Philly with claims that they are the best. We went to one of those so-called best of Philly, John's Roast Pork. There aren't many high-end chefs that get John Beard awards which makes the fact that John's Roast Pork was awarded a John Beard award even more impressive. It's a Philly Cheese Steak for crying out loud. 

But oh man what a Philly cheese steak it was. So delicious. I can taste the juicy beef in my mouth...

We started our tour with a visit to Independence Hall. Within these hallowed halls the treacherous rebels such as Benjamin Franklin,  John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence. 

In the front yard of Independence Hall is the other historical attraction, the Liberty Bell. 

The Old City Hall, right next to Independence Hall, was the original site of Supreme Court until Washington D.C. became the country's capital. 

We got an impromptu lecture from the tour guide. He was a bit long winded. 

You could just smell the history. It's mostly a mold and woody smell. 

This was where the Senate met.

The actual site where they signed the Declaration of Independence. It just blows my mind that these historical figures stood here and signed THE pivotal document of American history. The fact that this makes me so excited really reinforces that I'm a huge nerd.

Are there other Liberty Bells which would require a possessive? 

It was quite the crack. 

Our walking tour continued on Sunday and we came across this fountain.

LOVE permeates the city. Bums as well.

After a brief walk, our hunger took over. This was the SO's burger. It's amazing she isn't 400 pounds. 

The Philadelphia Museum of Art was our last stop. I wasn't there for the art. 

The Rocky steps!!

I got tired after the 1st group of steps. I am no Rocky. 

They had imprints of Stallone's Converse. For those wondering he's about a size 9.5. 

The actual art exhibition was nice but it had pretty much your run of the mill Old Masters and other famous painters.



Always nice to see a real Van Gogh though.

At the end of one of the exhibitions they allowed people to show their inspiration via art. The SO drew this. She's the creative one. I should show you my lack of creativity. Since I can't I'll tell you the story. 

I made this paper mache snail in high school. I was quite impressed when I completed the work of art and gave it to my mom as a gift. She proudly displayed it in our house. My grandmother gave to visit us and commented, "Oh my Bryan this is really nice. When did you make this 2nd grade?" No, grandma I made this last month in my HS sculpture class. I got a C+ in that class. 

With that bittersweet memory being revived, it was time to leave. 

ADDDDRIAAANNNNNN!!!!

The City of Brotherly Love Part 1

Well, I'm a full month behind on my blog posts. Not to sound like a complete douche but we've been away pretty much every weekend in August. So let's start with our 2nd out of town trip. I'll skip the 1st Vegas trip because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

My friend was going to get hitched in Philadelphia so we found ourselves in the City of Brotherly Love. Actually, we were 1 hour outside of Philly but close enough.

The wedding was held in an old estate and man did it look grand. Rich, white people sure know how to build mansions. 

Just making sure we were invited. 

The wonderful cake that we totally missed them cut.

Blueprint to the estate. I wish I had a blueprint of my place. It'd fit on a small napkin though. 

The food was quite spectacular. I don't even remember what this is. I actually think I didn't eat this since this is not my hand holding it. 

It's not grass it's Di-Vegetable. Ooh. Read it out loud. Di-Vegetable. 

The outside patio. The drunks and smokers congregated here. 

A view of the church. I guess this estate had a church on its grounds. When you're that rich the church comes to you, I guess. 

The reflecting pool. I call it that because that's what I'd do if I had something like this as my backyard. Reflecting on how much freaking money I have and all the immoral things I had to do to get it. 

The food was spectacular. I would've had more pictures but I really concentrated on talking to my friends and catching up with them. It was nice to see my friends congregated for such a wonderful and happy event. Congrats to the newlywed couple. Such a lovely wedding with such East Coast style.