Philadelphia

Thursday was a super warm and humid day and we spent that day sweating as we explored Philadelphia. 

Rather than dealing with traffic and parking, we paid for a bus tour and it was totally worth it. A shuttle picked us up from our hotel and then dropped us off at the bus. We went on top of the double decker bus and enjoyed our view from the top:

After a bit we hopped off the bus and walked over to the United States Mint. This was a free tour where we got to learn (and watch) how money gets made. Both the kids and us adults seemed to enjoy this and the added bonus is that it got us out of the heat for a bit. The only downside is that we were not allowed to take pictures inside the US Mint building so we could only document our fun with one outside picture:

After the United States Mint tour it was about lunch time so we found this awesome little picnic area behind this awesome gigantic Benjamin Franklin head where we sat down to eat. We had brought food for the kids so they ate and played while the boys went and picked up some yummy Philly pizza for the grownups.

After stuffing our faces we took a short walk over the Elfreth's Alley, our nation's oldest residential street. It was really cool to visit and document but I can't imagine being an actual resident there. I wonder what it's like to have people constantly taking pictures of your home! At least they don't have front yards to maintain!

Next we walked down to the Betty Ross House where we took a picture with this lovely TX donkey (throughout Philly they have a donkey for each state) and then waited for our bus to come pick us back up. Thankfully it was only a short wait!

The next stop we got off at was at the Chinatown Friendship Gate: 

We snapped some pictures of the Gate and then walked over to the Reading Terminal Market. The Reading Terminal Market is an indoor Farmer's Market of sorts that was insanely crowded and overwhelming. There were lots of things I would have loved to try (and lots of things I had no desire to try) but it was so hard to maneuver around the bazillion people with our kids that we just ended up getting some ice cream and then sitting on a non crowded bench by the bathrooms to eat it.  

The crazy busy Market left Poppy and my brother's family exhausted and done with Philly so they walked back to where the shuttle was to take them back to the hotel. However, I was not done with Philly, there was too much we still hadn't seen! Grandma agreed so she hopped on top of a double decker bus with my family and we finished our bus tour of Philly. It was exceptionally hot with the sun beating down on us but there was a nice breeze when the bus was moving that made it bearable.

R-L, Top-Bottom: Joan of Arc statue, Eastern State Penitentiary, City Hall, the Skyscrapers of Philly, City Hall, Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Chinatown Friendship Gate, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rocky statue

A part of me wanted to get off that bus and run down the Rocky steps but the sweaty (and much smarter) part of me said "no way!". All my kids were hot and sweaty and tired, Lucy ended up falling asleep on the bus and I was glad we didn't get off early. But I am equally glad that we stuck around and finished the tour, there were so many cool things to see!

When we got off the bus we were all ready to get on that shuttle and get back to the hotel. We had a bit of a hiccup when we were told there wouldn't be another shuttle for us for almost 2 hours. I about cried. I pleaded with them telling them I have 4 hot and tired kids and is there any way we could get one sooner? We got SO lucky (because apparently they NEVER do this but their heart bled for my hot little munchkins) and they were able to put us on a shuttle back to the hotel just a few minutes later. 

After exploring Philly we were all pretty pooped for that day. Someday I would like to go back when the weather is cooler and when my kids are older and could appreciate it all a little better.