Weekend Trip to Philly

Yes, it's Thursday, and I'm finally getting around to posting about our weekend. We took a quick trip to Philadelphia, and I thought it was a funny coincidence that Megan beat me by a couple days with a post reminiscing about her trip there a few years ago! I'd only been to Philly briefly on a family trip when I was 9, and Shaun had never been there, so we were happy about the chance to travel there together. We drove down with our friend Rich and stayed with his college friends (whom we have also become friends with over the last couple years), Matt and Jess, in the townhouse they just bought. A couple of Bens (also Rich's college friends) came and met us, and our ND drumline buddy John (who grew up here with Shaun and Rich) drove up from DC with his girlfriend Sarah. Got all that? There will be a quiz at the end. Seriously though, it was a great group and a fun weekend.

I unfortunately didn't get very many pictures with people in them, because I don't like being "that guy" stopping the action for everyone to pose or asking a stranger to take a group picture. Figures that afterward I usually wish I'd taken some anyway. But I do have a few pics to share (all taken by Shaun), as we were lucky enough to have absolutely beautiful weather for sightseeing - about 70 degrees on Saturday. So ready for spring!

Independence Hall, far and close

My dad lived in Philly for a little while as a kid and used to tell me when I was young that he was the one who cracked the Liberty Bell.

The Assembly Room in Independence Hall...even standing there, it was so difficult to comprehend all the history that happened in this very room.

Senate Room next door in Congress Hall

Hey, there are some people! Jess ducked behind us for the previous self-portrait, but Shaun was determined to get her in the next one.

We had real Philly cheesesteaks at Pat's...yeah, those disappeared too quickly to get a picture. The efficiency there is amazing. Can you see the line starting in the back left corner, wrapping around the building? It took us maybe 15 minutes to get through. Geno's, the competitor on the opposite corner, also had a crazy long line. It was quite the sight!

Our last stop on the way out of the city was the art museum and Rocky statue...no running up the steps on our full stomachs though.

So that was the touristy part of our weekend. Other than that, we spent our time just hanging out, playing some Wii and some board games. I have to say, after playing it only three times, that The Game of Things might be the most fun game I've ever played. I got it for Christmas after randomly discovering it online, and three of our friends decided to buy it after playing just once. It allows you to use some creativity, and if you're with the right crowd, it can get pretty interesting. For example...our answer of choice the first time we played, if we couldn't think of anything else, was a classic quote from a classic Christmas movie..."Bend over and I'll show you." Yep, just slightly ashamed to admit that that was our jumping off point. On that note, I think it's time to wrap it up for today. Happy almost-weekend!