Philadelphia

We stopped at a lot of states that we didn't stay overnight in. Delaware was just the first, had the world's best convenience store, and a sign referencing Joe Biden, which we took intending to poke the bear that is Grandma Cole, but ultimately it only made it onto the blogs.

Our arrival in Philly was noteworthy. We got to the AirBNB at the perfect moment and got a spot on the street. BUT, then we had to fireman brigade all of our belongings across the street, up the flight of stairs, and into the apartment. It was a lot. Also it was a lot of entertainment for the shopkeepers casually chatting out on the sidewalk in front of their stores and our van. They were very amused by A) how many kids we had, B) how we had driven all the way from Texas, and C) that we were using children as mules to unload a clown car's worth of stuff. 

Tim felt like the vacation wasn't going his way, and everything was boring, until we walked past an elementary school. The gate was open so the kids went and played on the playground, and the vacation was redeemed in his eyes.

The activity that I was most excited about in Philadelphia was the Magic Gardens. It is the result of hippies squatting in the (formerly) low rent district of Philadelphia, taking drugs, and making mosaic art with salvaged materials. It was kind of magical. It was really beautiful, if you could ignore all of the private parts that made it into the art. There was a scavenger hunt, which felt kind of meta since the whole place was made from scavenging, that everybody enjoyed doing. It was extremely difficult given the sheer quantity of the objects included in the mosaics. Everybody got photographed in front of their favorite part. When you look at it up close it kind of looks like you're touring a dump, but when you step back it's more impressive.

That first evening we walked a couple blocks to get Philly Cheesesteaks, spoiler alert, nobody liked them. However, on the way to the restaurant we walked past a man, who was clearly passed out on drugs in a building's entryway. I tried to redirect Tim's attention and he only caught a fleeting glance, but that was enough. At dinner Tim casually mentioned that he saw a dead person on the walk to dinner. I tried to tell him that the guy wasn't dead, just on drugs, but Tim wasn't convinced. He also didn't seem that bothered by having seen a "dead" man.

Our apartment was in the jeweler's district. You're supposed to take a photo on this bench after you get engaged.

While walking around and doing all of the historic buildings and sights we passed the US Mint and decided to go inside and take a tour. It was equal parts cool and boring. The most fun part was where you got to design your own coins. These are some that Leona designed.

Another playground that we stumbled across.

The final saga of Philadelphia involved us frantically moving all of our stuff out of the AirBNB at the last possible second to the sidewalk, while we ran to get the van from a parking garage. On the way to the parking garage were multiple additional "dead people" and no parking spaces. When we finally got the van back to the apartment I had to circle the block multiple times, like a shark in chummed waters, before finally scoring a parking spot close enough to decamp from the sidewalk to our van. It was super stressful! On the way out of town we drove quickly through the modern part of the city, which made me realize that we only saw a very small portion of the city. We also drove past the Philadelphia Temple, which was lovely, and small, with no parking lot at all.

Leona's Favorite Part of Philadelphia: US Mint, Liberty Bell, and Reading Terminal Market

Reading Terminal Market: We went there for lunch, and everybody was thrilled because each person got to choose what they wanted to eat from dozens of options. Tim and I got burgers. Eliza and Clara got pancakes and bacon. Leona ate chicken strips and fries, and Collin got this Rueben sandwich that he would. not. stop. raving about. until it gave him food poisoning.