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I took my sister to Philadelphia for the weekend as a combined Christmas and birthday gift.  She had never been there and really wanted to go, and I personally had never done “the tourist thing” there so it was fun for both of us.  We really lucked out with the weather with that freak “heat wave” that rolled in, too.  Record temperatures on Saturday meant wearing t-shirts and dining al fresco in the middle of January.  It was surreal.

We definitely saw way more than either of us expected to in two days.  We did so much walking that by the end of each day our feet were burning and we couldn’t take another step.  Friday we visited the Art Museum…  I don’t think I have been there since my days at Drexel.  I had forgotten how much cool art is in there.  I am not really an art person but I enjoyed the Modern Art section with Monet, Cezanne, and Manet.  There were also a few paintings in another section of the Rialto Bridge in Venice which I thought were particularly great…  I may have to see if I can track down a printed version to hang in my new house.

Afterwards we walked down to the Waterworks to check out the view continued on to Rittenhouse Square for dinner.  We walked down Sansom Street for like 7 blocks looking for a restaurant to catch our eye before we stumbled upon Ludwig’s Garten, which I had heard about from Hank.  After all that walking, the wurst platte and liter of German pilsner really hit the spot.

Saturday we started by hitting Reading Terminal Market.  We both wished that we were hungry at the time, because there was so much good looking food in there.  I’ll definitely have to take an empty stomach next time I’m there.  From the market we headed through Chinatown to Old City where we saw the Liberty Bell in typical tourist fashion.  After a tour of Independence Hall, we walked out to Penn’s Landing then down to South Street, where I had planned to stop at Jim’s Steaks.  Unfortunately the combination of nice weather and the Mummers Parade meant big crowds on South Street, which meant a huge line of cheesesteak-hungry people which stretched out the door, around the corner, and halfway down the block.

We decided instead to eat at Downey’s which was a pretty cool looking Irish pub with an open porch area right on South Street.  The food was expensive for what it was (not very good) and we both felt pretty ill afterwards, so I’d have to go ahead and recommend that you avoid this place.  Afterwards I was wishing that we had gone to Kildare’s on 2nd Street instead, even though it is a chain restaurant… at least I know the food is good.

After that we headed back up to Old City for a little more touring… I had wanted to see Elfreth’s Alley to take some pictures and it was worth it.  A quick ride on the Market line and we were back in Chinatown where we hit up a bunch of shops, before ending the night with an always amazing meal at Lee How Fook.  Every time I eat there I leave wishing that I had a place like it near me.

Sunday we had planned on doing one last thing before heading home, but we were so exhausted from all the walking on Friday and Saturday that we decided to just pack up and head home.  We’ve got a bunch of things to check out on a return visit…  we both really wanted to go see the Mutter Museum which has all sorts of medical oddities on display and is supposed to be kind of grotesque, but interesting nonetheless.  We also need to get a damn cheesesteak… we might have to just go down to Pat’s and Geno’s and do the taste test…

Here’s a few more of my favorite photos from the trip.  As always, you can see the rest of the pictures on my Flickr page.  Also, for the first time I geotagged all these images so you can see them on my Flickr Map.  That has to be the coolest way to browse travel photos!