The City of Brotherly Love

We made it to Philadelphia!  While we planned 2 days of historic sightseeing, mother nature had other plans as it poured rain the first day.  A blessing in disguise??? as we decided a "down" day was in order to do laundry, an oil change (3000km of driving already!) and booking hotels for the next few days. The rain couldn't stop us from getting a traditional Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich at Pat's, where these artery-clogging sandwiches first originated.  Apparently, the Soup-Nazi character from Seinfeld was inspired by the staff. If you read the ordering rules below, you'll know why.

Click on pic to enlarge.

Of course, Jim had to test the rules, which resulted in us standing in the rain a little longer...

We're really noticing the different accents as we travel south and there is a very distinctive Philly accent - think Fresh Prince of Bel Air times ten!

The rain had lessened to a drizzle by the morning, so we headed out on a walking tour of the oldest section of town.  Didn't know that Philadelphia was the birthplace and first capital of the US, before Washington DC, so the tour was steeped in history.  Ben Franklin is 'da man' here!  The guy started so many of the institutions we have today as well as all the inventions we've heard about.

First post office in the US started by... Ben Franklin

First Congress Building - Ben was there!

Independence Hall where the Declaration of Indpendence was signed by....can you guess.... Ben Franklin & friends in 1776.

Actual desk where the Declaration was signed by the 13 colonies - there were really only 13 tables!

Liberty Bell

Oldest continually inhabited street in the U.S. (1698- today)

The new man in Celia's life is the tour guide as Paul Rudd has not been responding to her emails...

Lots of beautiful blossoms down here, lush green grass and budding trees, so hang in there, it's coming your way!

Next was a 2 hour drive to Baltimore for a quick stay before Washington DC on Thursday.  We arrived just in time for a fresh seafood dinner in the Inner Harbour area.  This old ship dates back to the 1700's and was used to patrol West Africa to intercept slave ships and set the men, women and children free.  If you are getting sick of all this history, just look at the pictures and say blah, blah, blah, in your head!