Philly: Day Three

I’m sure you’ve realized by now that I’m a little psycho obsessive when it comes to planning trips.  I like to cram stuff into every minute of the day and see as much as possible.  Luckily my husband only complains slightly about the millions of miles I make him walk each day.

We kicked off our third morning with a group breakfast at the B&B with the newlyweds, Julianne and P&E.  Afterwards, M and I checked out of our room and made our way to our hotel for the next night. 

view from room

We then met up with Christina and Mike (our friends who are new Philly residents themselves and still qualify as newlyweds themselves) for some touring of the historic district of the city.  We wandered around the National Historical Park to see the sights.  

visitors center

Ben Franklin's grave- covered in pennies

on a bench

liberty bell

Next up was our tour of Independence Hall.  We got a brief history lesson about the founding of America and saw the place where the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were drafted and signed.  

independence hall

where the documents were signed- original chair george washington sat in up front

After we had appeased the boys with some history lessons, it was time to eat!  We had signed up for a walking food tour through Chinatown by Free Tours on Foot.  Our tour group ended up being just the four of us and our guide Jenn did an awesome job.    The tour incorporated lots of fun facts about the area, the people, and, of course, the food. 

The first stop was one of my favorites- a Chinese bakery.  I always love these shops full of gorgeous homemade pastries and sweets, all usually ringing in at less than $1.  We loaded up on pineapple and red bean (yum) moon cakes, steamed pork buns, egg custard, and bbq pork sandwich bun. 

 

Next up was an underground Asian market.  We explored a bit of the unique grocery items and randomly found one of C’s favorite drinks from her childhood trips to Taiwan- apple flavored soda. 

Our next couple of stops were a mix of fun foods and Chinatown landmarks.  

yummy waffle, bubble tea, avocado milkshake

As gross as it sounds, the avocado milkshake was incredibly delicious and I’ve thought about it at least daily since we tried it. 

1986- year of the tiger

We ended our tour at more of a sit-down café and crammed lots more food into our already full bellies.  We got to experience soup dumplings (favorite), more pork filled pastries, moon cakes, bok choy, and scallion pancakes.  All were very tasty!  

At this point we said our goodbyes to C&M and rested up a bit before our next food stop (yes, more food… this is the bonus to making us walk 20 miles a day on vacation).  We capped off our night with a fun Mexican meal at Lolita.  We were too full to take part in restaurant week but still managed to share and sample lots of amazing foods with Julianne, Alyssa, and Matt.  Dinner was the perfect time to recap all of the fun parts of the wedding and discuss all our favorite parts of Ocho Rios since they were headed to a honeymoon in Jamaica the next morning. 

Philly: Day Two- Wedding Day!

Saturday morning we met up early for a pre-wedding run.  Our bride was battling a knee injury but still joined us on bike instead.  We completed 5 miles as a group and then M and I headed back out for one more loop to check off our long run for our upcoming half.  Running in new places is so much better as the miles just fly by.

running to the chapel

9.29.12

We spent the morning and early afternoon with an awesome group of girls getting hair done, doing makeup, and prepping for the wedding. One of my favorite parts of friends’ wedding is the girls time you get during the prewedding prep before the craziness of the day begins. Before we knew it, it was time for Alyssa to get dressed, take pictures, and make our way to the wedding site.

A made an absolutely gorgeous bride and looked perfect.

hiding out before the ceremony

j.a.k.e.

Mr. H with his girls

The ceremony was beautiful. We loved all the personal touches and witnessing the marriage of Alyssa and Matt.

with my Mr.

p+e

here comes the bride!

vows

married!

After the ceremony, the cocktail hour was spent taking photos and playing yard games in a courtyard overlooking the picturesque grounds of the wedding site.

me & christina

4 month newlyweds

Our group grabbed our mason jar drinks and enjoyed a game of croquet. I can’t say any of us were particularly skilled at this game but it was incredibly entertaining.

Croquet also has the added bonus of posing for photos that {we decided} would make good Ralph Lauren ads.

Finally, it was time to take our seats at the adorable tables to get ready for a yummy BBQ dinner of brisket, pork, chicken and cornbread, sweet potatoes, greens, and baked beans. Perfect wedding food? I agree.

wedding perfection

girls

boys

The rest of the night was perfect- catching up with friends, amazing toasts, wedding cake, photobooth fun, and s’more making.

bride + groom

with Sam

J+Andy

the talericos making s'mores

photobooth absurdity

mrs. and mr.

handmade cake toppers.

Congrats to the newlyweds!  We loved every second of your special day and can't wait for lots more fun in the future! 

Philly: Day One

Last weekend we went up to Philadelphia to celebrate the wedding of some of our best friends, Alyssa and Matt.  We flew in late Thursday night, checked into our B&B, said hi to P&E who were staying in the next room and got right to sleep to rest up for our day of sightseeing.  

The Liberty Room at La Reserve B&B

Our tour of Philly started off at the Mutter Museum.  E and I had been before on a past visit to the city but knew our boys would love it.  No photos are allowed but it was filled with medical oddities such as the original Siamese twins, Einstein’s brain, abnormal organs, and drawers full of odd objects recovered from peoples intestines.  It’s a definite must-do in our opinion.  

outside mutter museum

Our next stop was to the new Philly Shake Shack.  I started my obsession with the burgers and custards on our trip to NYC and insisted on taking the group there.  

yuuum.

We walked off our food babies on a long walk along Schuylkill (yeah, try to pronounce that) river up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the Rocky statue and steps.  

rocky steps at the museum

rocky

Our tour continued back down Ben Franklin Pkwy with stops at the outdoor Rodin Museum, Logan Square, Love Park, and City Hall. 

We completed our afternoon with a stop at Rita’s water ice.  E and I were very excited to let the boys experience the deliciousness of Rita’s.  

We finally made it back to the B&B to rest up and get ready for our evening fun.  Our first stop was Tangier for a “mystery beer in a bag.”  

Unfortunately, they wouldn’t give us one since it was happy hour.  Instead we settled on continuing our obsession with fall beers and tried out Manayunk Yunkin Punkin and Stoudt’s Oktoberfest. 

Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens was our next place to visit.  It’s located on South Street and definitely lives up to its funky reputation.  The entire place is a giant indoor/outdoor mosaic with all kinds of crazy artwork.  We had lots of fun exploring.

We finally met up with our friends for the Rehearsal Dinner at Supper.  The menu congratulated the bride and groom and contained lots of yummy options- all of which were very well enjoyed.