City of Brotherly Love

This past weekend Hubs and I ventured into Philadelphia. It was my first time to visit this lovely city and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun we had during our weekend. We stayed in a part called, Old City, which was close to most everything we wanted, especially restuarants. And speaking of, we walked by multiple restaurants that looked fantastic. There were Asian, tapas, BBQ, American, Cuban, and of course straight up Philly Cheese Steak style restaurants. To make the decision which to choose even that much harder, they were all within a street from each other and could see all were getting more crowded by the minute. We finally boiled it down to two spots but still couldn't decide. So with all logic aside, we went to BOTH. Luckily, we hit two amazing places and would recommend them to anyone visiting Philly. The first meal of the night was at Buddakan. A great and swanky Asian restuarant with a 10 foot Budda statue in the middle. We then moved on down the street to Amada, a wonderful Tapas restaurant. Both had great food and atmosphere! We ordered the chocolate cake to end a perfect night.

After our 2 restaurant night, we decided food fest weekend was on! Welcome, breakfast. So we decided on a place we had seen the prior (gluttonous) night called, Continental Restaurant. Yet again it did not disappoint. (Although the service was less than to be desired) They also had yummy bloody marys. After the 8th meal within 10 hours we thought it might be a good idea to walk a bit and see some of the historical sights. Liberty Bell, Congress Hall, Betsy Ross' house, Second Bank, Independence Hall and all within Old City and walking distance from our hotel.

After checking out of the hotel, we thought to drive around the city since we were running out of time. Looking at the map, it seems as though we saw most all parts of the city before heading to the Phillies baseball game. But of course we made a stop at Campos for an original Philly cheese steak - with cheese whiz. (and some yogurt but that was just an appetizer) Once we got inside the Phillies' stadium the crowd was loud and excited. The rain began before the first pitch which delayed the game for about 30 minutes but allowed for the perfect time to then grab one of Philadelphia's famous soft pretzels. Did not disappoint! One of the best soft pretzels I've eaten. The game started and the Phillies won. It was then time to get to the train station and head back to the our own lovely city. However, we made one more stop along the way. We had to run up the steps of the art museum just like Rocky Balboa. Took some pictures and finally finished our whirlwind (eating) trip of the great city of Philly!

It's a great family vacation spot but also a great short trip from NYC. Hope this gives you some good ideas if you're going to visit.

(we heard that Genos and Pats are actually better philly cheesesteaks than Campos -next time!)