E flew into Baltimore late Friday night and the next morning, we headed out early for Phiadelphia, which we have decided since we have now visited, we are allowed to refer to it as 'Philly.' Joe and E are HUGE soccer fans, and back in March-ish, E called and asked if we would be interested in going to the US vs Turkey soccer game. We said yes, so she bought her plane ticket and made her way to PA!
E had never experienced a subway before! We had been on the metro in DC, but were in NO WAY prepared for the "stank" of the whole place, as the little black boy next to us articulated so well...not stink, "STANK!" As the day went on, we learned that the whole city seemed to have its own distinct smell, and not a pleasant one.
We got off the subway and walked around JFK Plaza downtown in search of a good cheesesteak before it was time for the soccer game...of course, Joe and E had to take pictures :)
I didn't pose them, they just are this crazy naturally! Makes for a fun time!
I appologize for this one! He's a hot mess...get it?!
We stopped to ask several people for reccommendations on good places to get an authentic cheesesteak, but they take this VERY seriously! After each person would tell their favorite place/hole in the wall, they would follow it up with "But I don't want to tell you where to go."We got a little nervous when even the police were telling us things like " there's a good one over there, but you don't wanna go down that street, it's in the hood." Note: it was in the middle of the day!
We found the "LOVE" in the city of brotherly love. Couples were taking engagement pictures by this, which I thought was so cute!
( E is holding the drink we had to buy at McDonald's to use their bathroom, and by this point we would have paid fifty dollars to use ANY bathroom. Again, the "stank" smell emerges, at which point E and I have decided the stank is attaching itself to us and our hair.)
Can you see the man in the background wearing the lavendar leisure suit and safari- style hat...interesting!
So, the place we settled on for our authentic cheesesteak experience was called Mamma Mia's, which was not in the "hood" as far as we could tell and it was quite yummy. We were, however, confused when they were blaring Mexican music...E swore it was a drug front, but we made it out safely!
So, after a successful lunch in downtown Philly, we hopped back on the subway and made our way to the stadium along with 50,000 other crazy body-paited, fans with American and Turkish flags around their necks. The stadium was amazing! Looked like it was going to rain, but it held out for us. We were eight rows back behind the goal!
These people across the field were called "Sam's Army." They were pretty extreme. After a good play or a goal, they would light flares in red, white and blue or shoot streamaers. This would quickly cause about ten security guards to swarm and eject them from the stadium...small price to pay, I guess. They go to every game. Dedicated.
I am not a die-hard sports fan...love my Longhorns, but couldn't tell you sports stats to save my life, but I had a great time and learned I could really learn to love soccer because the game is only ninety minutes and a short halftime inbetween, whereas football can stretch to four hours with all the time-outs and penalties,etc!
US won 2 to 1, so we were very happy! Great time had by all. Please note, I think I am the only one in the stadium not wearing red, white, and blue! OOPS!
Afterwards, we headed downtown to the "ROCKY STEPS." You have to understand, Joe and E had three requirements for this trip: 1) soccer game 2)cheesesteak at a legit place 3) go run up the steps in the Philadelphia Museum of Art where Rocky ran up the steps. They are huge fans and have seen all the movies, and so we went...but first had to stop and take pictures at a George Washington Monument( I think the alligator is eating E's arm! Joe's a good brother for trying to save her!)
HOOK 'EM!
So, of course, we had to wait in line to take pictures with the Rocky statue. Everywhere we went. people were singing the themesong and reliving the movie scene. I thought it was hilarious, but Joe and E were taking it very seriously, so I kept my feelings to myself! ( By this point we are all too sweaty to be confident enough to lift our arms up and do the Rocky pose! )
They're ready to race up the steps. I willingly volunteered to stay at the bottom and wait til they made it to the top to take pictures.:)
I think that they are happy! I still wonder how they always have so much energy!
The view of downtown from the top of the steps was AMAZING!
So, Day 1 over and all of E's Philly wishlist complete, we left the "stank" and quickly went home to wash it off of us!Day 2, we decided to go to DC since we had nothing else to do! E was leery about getting on another subway after her not-so-favorable first experience in Philly the day before, but we assured her, DC has a much cleaner feel, so she trusted us and we set off on a new adventure!
We got off at a random subway stop and found a very cool little area with chic little shops and specialty gourmet restaurants...very fun! The restaurant we found was called "Rogue States"and they did gourmet burgers and had their own chef...very tasty- I think we found our new favorite burger place!
We got off the Subway and E, the history buff that she is, was wide-eyed in amazement and ready to explore!
Note: this day was the day E and I took one for fashion. The skirts were a great choice because of how hot it was, but in order to wear the cute skirts, you have to wear cute shoes. Mistake number one.
Elizabeth wanted to touch the Washington Monument! I think it took some of the thrill out of it since it was "ok" to touch it, but she's happy!
It brought a whole new meaning to all the monuments and memorials to go and see them over Memorial Day Weekend.
After the Washington Monument, we headed over to the National World War II Memorial.
Behind us are pillars representing each state, set up geographically and divided between the oceans. People had left pictures of loved ones lost and flowers all around that day.
Proud Texans...we found people from Houston who agreed to take our picture!
Then, we made our way over to the Lincoln Memorial, which Joe and I had not seen yet, so we were very excited!
Sweltering day! Bomber Pops were in order!
Joe's mom kept saying "you have to find Albert Einstein, " so we did. The little girl kept trying to pick his nose.:)
Then, we found 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! If you look really closely, you can see the snipers up on the roof.
The Obamas wanted us to come over for lunch, but we had places to go and things to see, so we politley declined. Maybe next time!
So, we walked and walked, and walked some more to the Smithsonian. We will have to go back because you could spend weeks there and still not see everything- so interesting, and it's all free! (E, being an inner-city second grade teacher, was so impressed by the kids saying things like "whoa, look at that geode!" and "I especially like this sarcophagus." ) We saw dinosaurs...
...and whales in the under- the -sea exhibit.
The Hope Diamond.
I loved all the historic row-homes!
Back to the looong tunnel down into the subway- very steep! ....I had a death-grip on the side rails!
One more stop on our way out of town at the scenic overlook...Note: the man without a shirt on asleep on the wall....hmm.
We had her back to the airport by ten this morning, and she was back on her way home to teach the last two days of second grade!
Seven hundred miles added onto the car and two wonderful days of adventure in two VERY different cities. Overall, a great time had by all! So glad you got to come visit, E! We love you!
