Don’t be fooled, snow is abominable.
I will admit that I have been in procrastination mode. I haven’t written about our post-Christmas trip to the Philadelphia area with my sister and brother-in-law. Since I will be a virtual prisoner up here on the mountain until this predicted blizzard is over and now that all storm preparations have been taken I can focus my attention on this blog. Our generator has been primed, snow blower readied, wood stacked, insane contraption involving 2 ladders and rope leading up to the roof to keep the satellite dishes defrosted is in place (don’t ask), meals cooked, bread baked and that’s just the stuff Don has done! What has been my contribution to storm readiness you ask? Well, I stopped on the way home from work Thursday and bought 5 bottles of wine.
Storm preparedness center
Each year my sister, Dawn and I get together around the holidays. Last year we had a fabulous New Year’s Eve in Manhattan and this year we chose the week between Christmas and New Year’s and decided to focus our gathering around the holiday display at Longwood Gardens. Originally a duPont estate, this is one of the premiere botanical gardens in the country. It is located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. They do a winter wonderland themed extravaganza for the Christmas season with the conservatories and grounds decked out in festive plants, lighted trees, treehouses, illuminated grounds and a holiday fountain show. Timed tickets are required and the place is crowded! The night we went it was raining slightly but it didn’t dampen the festivities.
In the conservatory at Longwood Gardens
Damian in one of the tree houses.
The music room where you can sing carols accompanied by a huge pipe organ.
We love hummingbirds!
Wall of ferns
Pounds of poinsettias
When you venture out onto the grounds you can walk a circuitous path that takes you past groves of trees, along a lake where you can cross to a gazebo that houses a fire pit and hot chocolate stand, climb up in the tree houses and finally end up at an outside fountain show.
Up in a tree house
The fountain show
The light rain actually enhanced the outdoor displays by having all the lights reflected in the wet walkways and paths. Although Don was skeptical at first, even he admitted that it made for a festive evening activity. Kudos to Dawn & Darren on their most excellent suggestion.
We returned to our Staybridge Suites base camp and discovered another really cool thing. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights our Staybridge has a social scene. They have a 2 hour window where they offer free draft beer, wine and food. One night it was a loaded baked potato and salad bar, another night it was lasagna and another night was wings from B-Dubs. They served your drinks and even went out of their way to provide Damian with snacks like goldfish crackers, pretzels and M&Ms. They also offered a local shuttle service to restaurants or shopping areas. Our suites enabled us to host all our Christmas gift-opening activities and entertain each other in the style to which we have become accustomed i.e. mooching free drinks and food. If you’ve never been to a Staybridge Suites I highly recommend them. They are a part of the IHG Rewards group. (No, I did not get compensated for the endorsement. Yes, I would accept compensation for the endorsement.)
We felt a visit to Valley Forge in December was historically appropriate and since we were in the area we decided to tour the Continental Army’s winter quarters. None of us had ever been there and it was a great learning opportunity for Damian. The historical area is part of the National Parks system and also has extensive walking, hiking and biking trails.
The National Memorial Arch at Valley Forge.
The house that was used as General Washington’s headquarters still stands and we toured it. The banister on the staircase is original and it was cool to think we were touching something that George Washington must have touched a million times. We went to the Visitor’s Center and saw the exhibits and Dawn bought Damian a paracord bracelet that had a compass and a fish hook woven into it.
The city of Philadelphia is now home to Don’s beloved U.S.S. John F. Kennedy. We would not be able to avoid a visit to Big John as Don wanted to take some photos for his Kennedy veteran’s Facebook page. The Rhode Island Project is the spearhead for the movement to save the Kennedy and make it a museum tourist destination. The ship is relatively easy to find as it’s the biggest thing I saw in the Philadelphia Naval Yard. She sits alone at the end of her pier and Don was excited to get to see her again.
A plea for donations to the Rhode Island Project.
My sister and her spouse were annoyed that we didn’t take them with us. I didn’t even want to go let alone drag them with us! Dawn said that since it was something that was such a big part of Don’s life of course they were interested in it! She is such a sweet person.
My continental soldier
at the Museum of the Constitution.
No trip to Philadelphia would be complete without touring the downtown historical sites. We paid a visit to the Museum of the Constitution which contained many interactive exhibits and has a multimedia show. It’s fair to say we all enjoyed it. There is a display that has life sized bronze statues of all the signers of the Constitution. We couldn’t help staging some photos with the forefathers.
Upon completing our constitutional education we headed over to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
Playing colonial style games at the museum.
We were unaware that you needed tickets to enter the hall and had been standing in line a while. Darren and Don headed off to the Visitor’s Center to procure said tickets. Unfortunately, the next available time was for 4:30 p.m. and no one was excited about having to drive out of downtown Philly in rush hour so we abandoned plans to see the inside of Independence Hall this trip.
The Liberty Bell
Independence Hall
On the streets of Philly
However, we did stumble upon Ben Franklin’s offices and privy.
In search of Ben
Heading to the privy
All this city strolling produced an appetite in the boys. Since we always like to indulge in the local experience, Darren suggested that we partake in the Philly cheese steak. There is always a debate in Philly about who produces the best cheese steak sandwich. Darren thought it would be an injustice to simply have one sandwich. The great Philly cheese steak challenge ensued.
Our first stop
A local resident had told Darren that in the downtown area there was no finer cheese steak to be found than at Sonny’s. A tiny establishment with an enthusiastic staff and provolone as the most requested cheese choice we found this sandwich to be satisfying and delicious. The bread was great.
Damian approved.
A trip to the Italian Market section was in order and while there we decided to obtain sandwiches from both Pat’s and Geno’s to add to our taste test. These 2 stands are literally across the street from each other and are considered the premier cheese steak establishments.
House of Hams
the Italian Market
House of Cheese
the Italian Market
Stand-offs between these two South Philly landmarks are common. There’s even a lingo you must use when ordering otherwise you are immediately identified as an outsider. If you want your steak sandwich with Cheese Whiz you must order, “wit wiz” while a signification of “wit out” signifies no onions. Our boys decide in the interest of fairness we must order both sandwiches that are made with provolone cheese (for the comparison to Sunny’s) as well as ones “wit wiz” for the authentic experience.
It’s reminiscent of the ‘soup nazi’ episode on Seinfeld. If you order incorrectly at Pat’s you are sent to the end of the line. Our boys come back unscathed and loaded down with cheese steaks. It’s back to the Staybridge where we guzzle free wine and began our blind taste comparison.
Better get it right or it’s the end of the line.
I am the resident science person, as the rest of our party is all in the education field, so I assume the role of lead researcher with Damian as my assistant. First we do a provolone trial so we can fairly compare with Sunny’s sandwich. I remove the wrappers and slice the sandwiches into 5 equal portions arbitrarily arranged on two separate platters. The identities of which are only known to me. Then we move to phase 2, which is a ‘wit wiz’ comparison. The judges take their time contemplating the nuances of the selections. My sister is disgusted that we are consuming this many cheese steaks. The judges proclaim it’s all in the interest of science and teaching Damian the scientific method.
Dawn looks like we are asking her to consume something unpleasant.
When it’s all said and done the analysis confirms that we have a winner!
The judges unanimously agree that Pat’s is truly the King of Sandwiches. We all agree that although it sounds disgusting, ‘wit wiz’ is definitely better than provolone.
The next day we say our good-byes as yet another awesome Christmas get-together concludes. We head back downtown for another attempt at getting into Independence Hall before we trek home. After a wrong turn and brief detour to Camden, N.J. we arrive at the Visitor’s Center and attempt to land some tickets. It’s 11:00 a.m. and the only tickets they have available are for the 4:00 p.m. tour. We determine that for some reason we are not meant to view the inside of Independence Hall on this go around. It’s back to Virginia for us.
“Yo, Adrienne!”
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