Philadelphia Freedom!

Despite a very difficult start, Friday was a great day in Philadelphia. We were awakened in the very early hours of Friday morning by a very drunk next door neighbor at the hotel. He came back to his room about 3:15am very drunk and belligerent. Yelling at the top of his lungs (apparently at his girlfriend on the phone) and slamming doors, he made it impossible to sleep much for the next several hours. We got out the door early and pretty groggy. Our first goal for the day was to pick up tickets for Independence Hall, which we were able to get for the time we wanted. Then, starving, we went to a a small, local eatery called Honey Restaurant, which had only been open for a week. We had a very nice breakfast there, and then headed out for a day of seeing the sights of Philadelphia. Loaded with food and energy, we walked a few blocks to Elfreth's Alley, the oldest residential street in America. This tiny little street contained two facing rows of homes which had tons of colonial character and were all at least 150 years old. Very neat. And they are all still people's private homes (except for the two which made up the museum, which was not open at the time). After Elfreth's Alley, we walked a few blocks back and saw the home where Betsy Ross had lived, and where she was commissioned to create the first American flag. We then got back to the mini van and went down to the train station to pick up Kirsten's sister, Laura, who will be joining us for most of our trip. Then, it was off to South Philly for lunch and the great cheesesteak debate: Pat's King of Steaks or Geno's Steaks. All five of us tested two different sandwiches from from each shop and each had a different opinion. I guess the debate will continue. My personal favorite was Pat's with cheese whiz and no onions. Independence Hall was the next stop of the day and we arrived plenty early to get through the security line. Really, way too early. So, we went next door and saw Congress Hall, the first place where congress met. Pretty cool. Independence Hall was just as neat as we thought it would be. Pretty amazing to be in the same room where the fathers of our country all met to sign the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution. We then walked across the street to see the Liberty Bell. For me it seemed like being in the presence of royalty. As a born and raised Californian, the Liberty Bell has always been this American icon that you saw in books and on TV, but to stand right next to it was awesome! After the Liberty Bell, we did a quick stop back at the hotel to get ready for the night's Phillies vs. Red Sox game. Apparently, there are A LOT of Red Sox fans in town for the series, because we've seen tons of them. We dropped Laura off at the Philadelphia airport to pick up her friend, Kent, who is also joining us for a few days. Laura and Kent took a shuttle back to the hotel and we four went to the game. Citizens Bank Park is a great ballpark. One of the newest Major League stadiums, the brickwork and architecture are very attractive. A huge upgrade from the eyesore that was the old Veterans Stadium. We had great seats (thanks to StubHub.com) and enjoyed the game tremendously. A real pitchers' duel, it looked like the Red Sox would win, but Ryan Howard tied it for the Phillies with a dramatic home run in the bottom of the ninth. The game then lasted until the 13th inning, where the Red Sox broke the tie with three runs. That's how it ended. Red Sox 5, Phillies 2. Traffic getting out of the stadium was crazy, so we didn't get back to the hotel until 12:30am. Thankfully, our drunk neighbor was gone and we had a wonderful night's sleep. Today we say goodbye to Philadelphia and move on to Valley Forge, Gettysburg, and then stop for the night in Hershey, PA.