Philadelphia!!!

Pat's King of Steak -- standing in Rocky's spot
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We really ran the gamut of Philadelphia while in town, experiencing everything from the super-touristy to the super-local.

Our first day was ROCKY DAY!!! (For those of you who don’t know, “Rocky” is Eric’s absolute favorite movie which, considering his love of movies, is really saying something! There was no way that we could ignore the many Rocky sites on any trip to Philadelphia!) We ventured into the….how shall I say…less luxurious areas of North and South Philly to see sites from “Rocky Balboa’s” neighborhood, including his apartment, Mick’s gym, Adrian and Paulie’s house, and the pet shop where Adrian worked. We also checked out the Italian Market, Pat’s King of Steaks sandwich shop (where we, of course, enjoyed a huge cheese steak sandwich), little Marie’s house, and other, more popular, sites like the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Despite the requisite bravery required to see all the sites, the day was totally worth it and totally fun!

Enjoying the first of several Philly Cheese Steaks
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That night, we were treated to a gourmet home cooked meal by our friends Rachel and Jeff - a big treat and super-appreciated by our pocketbooks!!!

The next day, we did EVERYTHING touristy. We toured Independence Hall (site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutional Convention), the original Supreme Court, the original Capitol (housing both the House of Representatives and the Senate), the Liberty Bell museum, the Franklin museum, and more. We even toured the famous Eastern State Penitentiary historical prison nearby.

The Rocky Statue
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After a full day of tourist attractions we had dinner at a sushi restaurant called Pod near the University of Penn campus. Very trendy place with good sushi -- thanks to Haben for the recommendation J Then we took a spontaneous detour into Ambler, where we did a little window shopping and then stopped at the historical (and charming) Ambler Theatre to watch an independent film.

In addition to thanking the city for showing us a great time, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank my Dad and technology (in that order) for getting us onto the Navy base where we spent our nights in Philly. When the front gate demanded the registration for my car (which I did not have with me) in order to issue us a temporary pass onto the base, my Dad answered the call at 11:30pm, digging through my file cabinet and sending us a digital picture of the registration while we drove around like lunatics looking for wireless hotspots and nearby Kinko’s. In the end, all went well, and we spent three nights on the base for a total of $75. Thanks Dad!!