January 2017
Sometime towards the end of 2016, I had the brilliant idea of attempting to visit all 50 states. While I have been to a nice amount of states growing up, it’s not the same if I wasn’t really old enough to remember, I didn’t get a shot glass from there or I don’t have a scenic picture of me there. So a few states are back on the list to visit.
With that goal in mind, I made my way to Philly with my little, to visit one of my friends from FIU. I mean the round trip ticket came out to just $106.20 through JetBlue! Who could resist. My friend let us crash at his place and planned the rest, getting us from point A to point B.
Day One
My friend picked us up that afternoon and took us to drop off our bags at his place. The walk had a bunch of stones and uneven floors, then the building had multiple steep flights of stairs I had to lug my luggage up. That was enough to work up an appetite. For food we hit up one of his favorite places, Revolution House. I was craving pizza, so that’s what I got. A wood-fire margarita pizza, which was legit!
Shortly after, we went to the Blue Cross River Rink Winter Fest event. There we played games, drank hot chocolate, made s’mores and ice skated. After we went bar hopping on Market Street. There I tried my first thin mint girl scout shot and Irish breakfast shot. Both super good, and worth a second round each. But tomorrow was a busy filled day and we had to fit in as much as we could before take off.
Day Two
We were off to learn about Philly! Right after a quick bite at Starbucks our first stop was the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin. From there we checked out Independence Hall and the Liberty bell, which I was extremely happy to learn was indoors. You do have to go through security, but it went pretty quick. We also saw Betsy Ross’ house along with the Rocky Steps and statue. Even took a stroll down Elfreth’s Alley, while walking my friends dog. For lunch that day we ate Philly cheese steaks at Geno’s & Pat’s. Between my little and I, we bought one from each and split them both. That allowed us to try them each out for ourselves and see which one we liked most! Personally, I prefer Pat’s. But definitely stop by and try them both for yourself to see which is truly the best!
Somewhere in between all the stops, we also stopped for souvenirs and at my friends shop. Then after all the touristy stuff, we hit up the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up my shot glass and some drinks. Dinner was Italian delivery through: ubereats, which wasn’t bad, just way more than we expected to spend. We stayed in and played a game we bought while out in the city.
Day Three
Wake up was immediately followed by brunch! After all, it was Sunday Funday, even if we were in a different city. Brunch was at Gaslight and it was awesome!! I don’t eat seafood, but my little sister had her first shot and a shuck! Definitely a unique experience for her, but she had two! From here we just went to see the LOVE sign and then back and grabbed our stuff, then took an uber to the airport for our flight back home to FLL!
Aside from spending time with my friends, I loved that I was able to basically only spend money on my flight and food! Everything else we went to was free and within walking distance for the most part. Now that I live in Virginia, I might make my way back to Philly for another weekend of fun!
The trip was loads of fun and an even better weekend getaway!
<3 idkjacklyn