Tour of the Town

Today Justin and I headed downtown for a walking day tour of Philadelphia. We've lived here almost a year so decided it was finally time to see some of the things the city has to offer its visitors and residents. We hopped on an early train and headed straight for the Historic District. First on our list was the Independence Hall Tour. This is a National Historical Park and is considered the birthplace of the United States. This is where the Declaration of Independence was created, as well as where the Constituion was drafted, debated, and signed. It was fascinating to hear some of the history of our nation. Parts are under restoration but we were able to walk through the East Wing, the first courtroom, and the actual Independence Hall where many of our founding fathers met. The chair in the back of this picture is where George Washington sat. It is one of the few original pieces of furniture still there.

After the Hall tour, we made our way to The Liberty Bell.

Next we went on a tour of The US Mint. So many commerative coins. They have a part where you can actually see coins being stamped and made, but things weren't too busy while we were there. Did you know it takes 60 tons of pressure to stamp a coin? Crazy! No pictures permitted in the Mint.

Here is a picture of Philadelphia City Hall. William Penn is atop the structure (although you can't see him in this view). A pretty massive, and beautiful building.

We asked an innocent bystander to take this picture for us, guess he had a hard time getting the whole scene. Thanks anyway buddy! This was taken at Love Park, a.k.a JFK Plaza, outside of City Hall. It apparently is an attractive and popular park for skateboarders.

Our final stop was The Mutter Museum. Justin and I both have an obscure and sometimes morbid curiosity of things, especially when it comes to the medical field. The museum contains a collection of medical oddities, anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment. Once again, no cameras were permitted. Although interesting and a bit strange, don't think its a place we need to visit twice.

So there you have it. A one day, whirlwind tour of Philadelphia. Obviously there are many more things to do here, but I think we hit some pretty good highlights.

Zoo Part 2

My husband requested I add a few more zoo trip photos. Especially of this rhino. Apparently not many zoos have a rhino exhibit.

Philadelphia Zoo

Before we moved to Philadelphia, our dear friends Matt and Lauren gave us 2 tickets to the Philadelphia Zoo as a going away present. We finally put the passes to use and enjoyed a nice, sunny morning at the zoo. This zoo is America's first zoo and had a decent variety of animals to see. There was a new Avian Facility which was pretty neat, and they are putting together a hippo exhibit which should be cool. Many exhibits were empty, but I'd say we got a good taste of the zoo. Interestingly enough, no elephants. I don't think I've ever been to a zoo without elephants. Here are a few of my favorite pictures/animals. We always love the polar bears. These guys were pretty sleepy and didn't entertain us with their aquatic antics, but still amazing animals.

This tortoise looked right at Justin for the picture!

I always love the big cats and this one posed nicely.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Shine

Today our church teamed up with The City of Philadelphia for a citywide spring clean up. Philadelphia has a reputation for being gritty and full of litter, so this was the 4th Annual Philly Spring Clean Up. Bethel Church organized several projects for volunteers and community members to work alongside each other to try and make a small difference. Justin and I signed up to help clean up Poquessing Park. There was a group of about 40 of us, including 10 "weekend inmates." The weather was very cooperative and we found a lot of garbage. I'd say the majority of the trash we picked up was beer bottles and cans, but I thought I'd share a list of the Top 5 Most Interesting things we found.

1. A beer ball


2. A man's shoe with moss growing on it


3. A carburetor


4. A pile of ?opossum bones


5. A gas mask

And as I was writing this, I found what appears to be a tick on my neck. Awesome. Luckily it hadn't embedded yet and now its dead.

I encourage you to find out if your city or neighborhoods are doing any Spring Clean Ups and then get out there and help!

I miss Syed!

Well, another Philadelphian special. Justin and I are finally done with our taxes, but it wasn't easy. A few weeks ago I scheduled an appointment at H&R Block. We have used a Kirkland branch in the past, had our "own" preparer, Syed, and have been very pleased. It was a good company, efficient and professional. So why wouldn't I pick H&R in Philly? Right? So I scheduled the appointment for a Wednesday evening at 6:00. The very next day I got a call saying the person my appointment was scheduled with didn't work on Wednesday so if I wasn't busy, maybe I could just come in now, or maybe Saturday morning. No, that is why I scheduled it for Wednesday night. Turns out we were waiting for 1 more form anyway, so I cancelled and rescheduled it once the form came. Two days before the appointment, I got four calls in one hour, and finally on the fourth call they left a message to remind me of my appointment, and then to tell me since we were new customers, they were going to have the best accountant (the manager) of the branch prepare our taxes. Super! So when we arrived to our appointment, the manager comes to the front desk, wearing dark, reflective aviator glasses, and told us he wouldn't be able to do our taxes but directed us to someone else. For the next TWO hours, our tax preparer, let's call her Tina, shuffled around our papers, asked the same things at least 3 times, and went back to the sketchy manager with "issues." Meanwhile, the receptionist, who was at the cubicle next to us, was on the phone, shouting (maybe I mean talking loudly, but it sure sounded like shouting) at previous customers to try and get them to make an appointment but kept saying things like "We really miss you," "We can't wait to see you again," and "Tina would love to do your taxes again for you this year." This may sound rather benign, but it was so loud, vexing and annoying. After the two hours, Tina and the manager came to tell us they would not be filing our taxes because they wanted someone else to go over them again. Now I can appreciate them wanting everything to be correct, but were they really that complicated? And now we were going to have to go back to the hole in the wall (it was in a very ghetto shopping plaza) with hoodlums and loiterers all around. Tina told us to come back in two days. Two days later I called to make sure everything was ready, Tina assured me it was and we could meet her at 5:30 to sign everything and file. My train was running a few minutes late, but I got there right at 5:30. Justin was already waiting for me. We walked in and the receptionist told us Tina had just stepped out. She had no idea where she had gone, but kept telling us she would be right back. What? How do you know she'll be right back, you don't even know where she went? And we had an appointment! The manager came out and started walking up and down the strip looking for her. She came back in at 5:45. Then she asked me many of the same things, all over again. But alas, we finally signed and were able to file. Plus, we never have to go back again! Now I know this was another complaining entry, but this is just another fine example of how things are different here. There were many other little incidents that kind of irked us, or that were completely Philly, but guess you had to be here ; ) But don't come.

Valentine's Day

Justin and I have never been one of those couples who goes crazy for Valentine's Day. I know it sounds cliche, but we have never felt like we need to have a special day to express our love with cards or nice things, we do that year round. But I was surprised with a beautiful card and a heart full of my favorite candy, Reese's Cups, on Friday night when I got home from work. We had already planned on making steaks for dinner either Saturday or Sunday night, but when we settled on Sunday, it quickly transitioned into a special Valentine's candlelight dinner. We recently purchased an indoor grill and were happy to put it to use with the delicious steak. Here is a picture of the indoor grillmaster.


The grill did a pretty nice job for our medium rare steaks. Here is a close up of the grill and grill lines. Justin had seasoned the steaks with Montreal Steak Seasoning earlier that morning for some added flavor.


The side dishes included some wedged red potatoes and brussel sprouts. We have recently discovered our like (love is a pretty strong word people!) of brussel sprouts. We cut them in half and then Justin sauteed them in about a tablespoon of EVOO. Then we baked them for about 20 minutes and added some toasted slivered almonds. Very tasty!

It was a very delicious and romantic meal, with some soft jazz Muzak in the background. Happy Valentine's Day Love. You are the love of my life and my best friend, looking forward to spending many more special days with you!

Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day and were sure to tell those you love how special they are to you.

Low Impact Snow Zone Update

Many of you may remember my earlier post about the snowfall in Philadelphia. As of January 18, the snowfall was 22.1", that is 5.9" above the normal. We have had a few big snowstorms which have made the commute quite stressful. I have figured out how to drive to work, where the best (read cheapest) parking can be found, schedules for a bus, train and subway. My wonderful husband gets up early to clean off and warm up my car. There has been a lot of weather anxiety going on over here. And I am not an anxious person!! To top it off, I work at a hospital and am considered essential staff. That means I am required to be there, no matter what the weather is or how hard it is to get into work, or its a day without pay.

About a week and a half ago, we got a huge storm. It had snowed all night and there was at least a foot. I got up extra early, like 4:45 AM, to check the situation. The train was delayed, but running. Justin got out nice and early to start digging my car out. I joined him once I was ready for work. After about an hour of shoveling, by both of us, and multiple attempts to get both cars out, we were stuck. We were tired, sweaty and defeated. I had to call in, which felt pretty bad. I didn't want to leave my co-workers hanging, but I couldn't get out of my parking lot. To top it all off, a car had gotten stuck in the exit driveway so the plow truck couldn't even get in/out. I will admit, I did enjoy a snow day home with my husband, and let's not forget Scout the Snow Dog (who had a blast by the way, bounding through 3 foot drifts), but it was kind of ridiculous. Justin spent about another hour helping neighbors shovel and push out their stuck cars. And then once people had spots shoveled, they began reserving them with lawn or camp chairs. And if you didn't, your assigned spot could be gone next time you came home. So we had to do the same, put out a chair in order to have a spot saved.

We haven't needed to use our chains yet, but at least we're ready, I guess. Hope you are staying safe and warm this winter season.