Philadelphia - a lot to see, too little time

May 24, 2008

We took a quick trip to Philly over Mother’s Day weekend and as always, I’m posting about it super-late!

I wish we could’ve stayed longer, because there is SO much to see, but we were just there for a day. The main purpose of the trip was to go to the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which ended a few days ago. If you live on the West Coast, it’s moving to San Francisco next so don’t miss it!

Stayed at the Embassy Suites Center City. It’s in the process of being renovated (they should be wrapping up June 1st) so our room was completely new. How often does that happen? The suite had a living area, separate bedroom, and kitchenette so it was perfect. A crib was sent up within 15 minutes of our arrival, and Marsy slept on the sofa-bed. It was a great value for the price. Definitely check out Hotwire.com for your future hotel stays!

City Hall:

Philadelphia Museum of Art -
If you’ve seen Rocky, you might recognize these steps from a big scene in the movie.

Love Park (also known as JFK Plaza), with the Museum of Art in the background.
Yes, the fountain was really that color. I did the rest in B&W to emphasize it.

Marsy was terrified of the purple fountain. Not sure why, other than that it’s unnatural.
I know they frequently dye the water (pink in October for Breast Cancer awareness, for instance) but I’m not sure what the purple symbolizes.

We only saw a very small part of downtown Philadelphia - what was within walking distance of our hotel. The following are photos of “Your Move” - art designed specifically for the Municipal Services Building Plaza. Made up of over-sized game pieces from games such as dominoes, Parcheesi, Bingo, Monopoly, checkers, and chess, it’s supposed to act as a “catalyst” for memories between the experiences of childhood and the responsibilities of being an adult.

Check this out for an interactive “panorama” of the plaza.

Clowning around. Marsy actually thought he was going to push it over!

And of course we couldn’t leave the city without having a cheesesteak! I decided on Pat’s King of Steaks in South Philly, since it’s said that they are the creators of the Philly Cheesesteak. I had NO idea that there is a certain protocol for ordering! The guys behind the counter don’t mess around and will send you to the back of the line if you don’t know what you’re doing. I obviously didn’t want to look like a tourist, so I took the time to read the rules board.

It took me a minute or so to figure out that I wanted “one whiz wit” and “one provo wit,” meaning two sandwiches, one with Cheese Whiz and fried onions, the other with provolone and fried onions. It was GOOOD!

And that was it! Back home we went. Philly’s less than 3 hours away, so I’m looking forward to going back in the future, maybe when the girls are a little older and can appreciate it more.

The Philadelphia skyline from afar:

Posted in Outings, Philly