I have lots of love for the city of brotherly love. It is a wonderful place to experience American history, taste delicious food, and cheer for professional sports alongside some of the most passionate fans in the nation. It seemed only fitting to start our Philly weekend at LOVE park.

Saturday

After our traditional photo with the LOVE sculpture, we went to one of my FAVORITE places in Philly–Reading Terminal Market. Unfortunately, all the great photos I took there (and in the rest of Philadelphia) were lost because my camera’s SD card broke. I was SO sad when I put it in my computer to download the pictures, and learned it was dead. And believe me, I did all the troubleshooting, and it was in fact, useless. May it RIP.

Fortunately, Dan took some pictures on his phone, and I took a few on my phone, so at least we had something to document the day. And, I bought a new SD card for next time. I am still sad, but life goes on.

But, in case you’re wondering what Reading Terminal Market is, and why I love it so much, I’ll share a couple of pictures that I found on the internet.

It is so much more than a market. It is like the biggest food court you’ve ever seen–with every possible choice of food, drink, and dessert. And the Famous 4th St Cookie Co is my #1 favorite shop there…

They have the best mint chocolate chip cookie I have ever had in my entire life. SOOOO good! And, they have tons of other unique flavors. We also tried the blueberry cobbler, ginger molasses, oatmeal raisin, and regular chocolate chip. It’s a good thing we don’t live there, I would need to do lots of sit-ups!

We ate lunch at DiNic’s while we were there. It is a VERY popular place, with long lines, but totally worth the wait. We got a pork hoagie to split–delicious! And, that was plenty of food for two people–for future reference.

As we were walking out of Reading Terminal Market, we noticed this big sign for Sprouts! We are a Sprouts-loving family because that is the company Dan works for. And, it is such a good one–providing healthy and delicious food, even in big cities like Philadelphia. Lots of love to you, Sprouts!

We continued our walk to the heart of the historic district, for a stop at one of the city’s most iconic attractions–the Liberty Bell. And, of course, we both had to look at each other and say, “Yep, it’s still cracked.” Because, we like cheesy jokes. And, I see now that it appears to have grown feet! I guess someone was taking a photo of Independence Hall–the building right behind it. Too funny!

We noticed a gathering of people in uniform in Independence Square. We stopped to talk with them, and were informed that it was the year 1777, and we had walked into British-occupied Philadelphia. We saw some very cool re-enactments of events (which I captured so nicely on the SD card that is no more), but at least Dan snapped a photo of me learning to build a barricade to guard their fortress. That was fun–and now I’ll know what to do if I’m ever on the show, “Survivor.”

As we walked around the historic district, we found many more re-enactments. I guess this is something they do when it’s a beautiful, sunny Saturday in Philadelphia. We spoke to the washer-women who laundered the clothes of the soldiers for a penny. We saw ladies selling freshly-baked bread. There were folks giving lessons on how to make clothing, toys, and other everyday goods.

Next on our itinerary was the Betsy Ross house–the famous female credited with sewing the first U.S. flag in 1776. We took a tour inside the house, where we met Betsy herself (a very, very good character portrayal, anyway!), and saw lots of antique furniture and artifacts staged as they may have been in Betsy’s time. Too bad I lost those photos. Boo-hoo!! But, here’s one from the internet if you’d like to see.

Next on our self-guided walking tour was Elfreth’s Alley–a historic street that dates back to the early 1700’s. There are people still living there–in homes that are more than 300 years old! One of the homes has been converted to a museum, and we toured it for just $3/each. There was a guide inside showing us 18th century dresses in the style typically worn by commoners, like those who would have lived in those homes. When she asked for questions at the end, I asked why the dresses had such daring necklines–when I thought people in those times were more conservative. She explained that it was perfectly normal and acceptable for women to show their chests in those days. Apparently, modesty was a Victorian ideal that didn’t emerge until the 19th century. Who knew?! Traveling is so educational!

We walked down the street and stepped into a mall for a Philly Pretzel factory pretzel, and found a cute art exhibit. Can you believe they had our names on the wall? Haha just kidding–the wall was made of that sequence stuff that you can swipe your finger up and down to change colors. So, we stopped to play with it. Just a couple of big kids, you know!

Philadelphia Magic Gardens was a true wonderland! I would highly recommend this to any art-lovers visiting Philly. As legend goes, one man–Isaiah Zagar–and his local South Street community–created this art installation as a way to revitalize his declining neighborhood. And, it is not all confined to the garden itself–you can see his work all over South Street if you look around. The art is made from found-objects–broken bottles and glass, and thrown-away gizmos and gadgets. You just have to see for yourself! I’d love to show you all the great photos I took, but you know…the busted camera card. Thankfully, Dan snapped a few on his phone!

Since we were already on South Street, we had to stop by Dan’s favorite place to get a Philly Cheesesteak–Jim’s Steaks. Let’s be honest, we would have gone there anyway–it is worth a trip to Philly just to go to Jim’s on South Street.

There is always a huge line wrapped around the building outside at Jim’s–it is just that good. But, you can look in the window and see (and smell) what’s in store for you!

And, these are the types of faces you’ll see all around you as people eat their Jim’s cheesesteak. Indescribably delicious–although a picture is worth a thousand words. Honestly, you haven’t really had a Philly Cheesesteak until you’ve been to Jim’s. Just sayin’.

But, we didn’t fill ourselves up on cheesesteak (we split one), because it’s only a couple of blocks to Dan’s favorite pizza place–Lorenzo’s and Sons Pizza. Now, some people (the locals who really know what’s what) actually eat what’s called a “Philly taco”, which is a Jim’s cheesesteak wrapped in a Lorenzo’s pizza slice. We weren’t trying to get a heart-attack or anything, though, so we ate ours separately. Still, delicious!!!!

He really was happy, it’s just that his face didn’t show it! Haha He was probably just concentrating on not dropping that huge slice of pizza!

And that was the end of our Saturday. I should also mention that we parked our car in South Jersey at the Haddonfield Station and took the PATCO train to Philadelphia for a couple of bucks each. So, at the end of the day we just hopped back on the train towards our lodging for the evening–you guessed it, Cracker Barrel!

Sunday

We spent most of the day touring the Eastern State Penitentiary (1829-1970.) They call it a “stabilized ruin” because most of the prison has been left, “as is” in order to preserve its true history. Some cells have been renovated to look as they would have in their time.

I still had sort of an eerie feeling being there and trying to imagine what its like for humans to be locked up in a small space and lose their rights and freedoms. We saw some areas that were meant for solitary confinement, and others where they could actually go out into communal spaces for a small period of time each day. This next photo is a recreational area where prisoners could play games–with a view of Philadelphia peaking up above the stone walls. So close, yet so far away.

In the photo below, each rectangular opening you see is an individual cell, with room for a bed and commode. Of course, there was no electricity back in the early 1820’s when this place opened, so the only light came from a tiny window in the center of the ceiling. And, obviously, there was no heating or cooling, so when it was hot, it was VERY VERY hot and when it was cold it was awful.

This is a glimpse inside a cell, left as-is, in ruins.

In the next image, you can see how big Dan is compared to the cell entries–to give you some perspective on how small they were.

While we were there, they had some narrations and art installations within some of the hallways and cells. Photos like the one you see on the wall on the right explain what life may have been like for some of the inmates at Eastern State. We also had audio devices with headphones that helped us to understand what we were viewing.

We learned about a famous escape attempt, where a tunnel was built through a hole that was carved similar to this one. The inmate who carved the hole was a plaster-and-stone worker who was assigned the prison-job to repair decaying walls. He requested that he be given permission to repair his own cell’s walls–which was easily granted due to his good behavior. Tricky, eh?

And, here’s where the inmates could go for their dental work. Look good? No thank you for me!

We learned that the infamous Al Capone actually did a little time at Eastern State. If any of you have been to Alcatraz, you know he was there, too.

Some speculate that this is what Capone’s cell may have looked like. Pretty luxurious, wouldn’t you say?

We left Eastern State in the evening, and made our way to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex to catch a 76ers game at Wells Fargo Center.

The atmosphere was alive inside, and we caught the tail end of a Sixers Dancers performance in the lobby.

The Sixers Stixers (Philadelphia 76ers drumline) was awesome and totally energized the crowd!

Franklin the Dog (76ers mascot extraordinaire) came into the bleachers where we were sitting and kept everyone on their feet. And, I had a very yummy mint chip ice cream in a Franklin souvenir cup.

And, we won!!! It was neck-in-neck until the very end (against Charlotte), but the 76ers took it in overtime. My throat hurt from all the screaming and cheering! What a fun game!!

It was a wonderful weekend in Philadelphia! Can’t wait to do it again in 2025!

XOXO,

Joanna