Philly

Our trip to Philadelphia began with Leonard and I taking Kaleb to serve in the magnificent temple there.  The next morning, we all went to tour the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.  After leaving Penn, we went to historic Philly to show Kaleb the sites.

I remember seeing this pub last year.

It looks like the Khyber Pass Pub was swallowed up by apartments!

We visited Vanderwende's to get some delicious (and way overpriced) ice cream.

Our next stop, the enchanting Elfreth's Alley.

There are 32 houses built between 1703-1836.

Most of them are still lived in. They are tiny though, at approximately 900 square feet.

I wish all of our neighborhoods were this charming!

We also stopped by Betsy Ross' house.

And visited the gift shop.  I'll replace Beer with Chocolate, ha ha!

Benjamin Franklin lived quite the life!  I feel like such a slacker ;)!

Hundred of thousands of visitors each year toss pennies on his grave for good luck, and to give a nod to his adage, "A penny saved is a penny earned."

Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were signed by our Founding Fathers. The USA has had 9 capital cities! Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; York, Pennsylvania; Princeton, New Jersey; Annapolis, Maryland; Trenton, New Jersey, New York, New York, and finally Washington, DC.

The Signer, symbol of American Freedom.

There were 3 wedding parties taking photos outside the Merchant's Exchange Building.  Last year when we visited, we saw other wedding parties taking photos too!

These gorgeous hydrangeas just light up my soul!

William Penn, you should be proud of your holy experiment.

His wife, Hannah, should be proud of her contributions as well!

Of course, we had to get some cheesesteaks!

And cheesecake!  However, we couldn't find any in Philly.  We had this in upstate New York on our way home, tee hee!