The Explore All 50 States Project
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This by all means should be your first stop as you explore the old city of Philadelphia. It's also the place you'll need to pick up your tickets if you planned ahead and booked your tour of Independence Hall. If you are like a lot of folks who just do things on the fly, you can also purchase tickets here for not only the tour of Independence Hall but for a variety of other cool stuff to see within a few blocks of … [Read more...]
One of Philly's most well known foods is the Philly Cheesesteak. It goes like this. Beef is sliced thin and then grilled to perfection. It then goes on a nice soft bun kind of like a french roll then add your choice of Provolone cheese or Cheeze Wiz (affectionately known as "Wiz") and grilled onions if you desire (known as "with" or "without"). This was a must try on our list to get the true taste of Philly. Now, … [Read more...]
The not much that's more iconic than the Liberty Bell and you will be pleasantly surprised to find out that it won't cost you a dime to see it. We stood in line for about 15 minutes just to get inside the building, but once we made it in, the line dissipated and we were able to beeline right up it it. The first thing everyone commented on was that it seemed much smaller than they had imagined. Still you can't … [Read more...]
You cannot visit the city of Brotherly Love with paying homage to one of it's greatest sons (albeit, a fictional one), Rocky. One of the most famous scenes in the original movie is of Rocky's crazy training regimen in which he runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The statue is to the right of the museum entrance (and below the steps-at street level). You will find it when you find the large line of … [Read more...]
If you follow my blog you may have read about my parents who took my nephew to Philadelphia on a road trip. The first thing my mom said to me as I was telling her our itinerary for the city, was "Whatever you do, don't waste time going to the mint, it's so boring." Boy am I glad I didn't listen to my mother-the U.S. Mint is fascinating and all three teenagers gave it a rousing thumbs up. Security is super tight … [Read more...]
My kids and I are huge pop art fans and so we were particularly excited to check out The Andy Warhol Museum which is located in the city of his birth-Pittsburgh. After getting over the sticker shock (it cost the 5 of us $50 to check out the 5 floors) we headed into the theater to watch the looping movie about his life, his art, his movies and his eclectic life. The movie itself was quite interesting and we were … [Read more...]
This is an awesome place not just to learn about the namesake of one of the most famous products in the world, but also to learn about the city of Pittsburgh itself. The five floors are jam packed with interesting displays documenting everything from native Americans who first lived here to modern day sports. It's just chock full of wonderful things to check out and I urge you to take your time and read the … [Read more...]
Sometimes it's hard to to explore a big city that doesn't have a huge amount of obvious "tourist" type of attractions. Such was the case for us in Pittsburgh. I would have loved to understand more about the city's history especially it's role in the industrial revolution and it's connection to Andrew Carnegie and his big steel mills. Sometimes even after doing all your research, you can still miss something that … [Read more...]
Barrow is the northernmost city in the United States located at the very top on the Alaska coast on the Arctic Ocean. It's a place most folks will never visit but for reasons I cannot explain, coming here was very important to me. To me, visiting a remote place like Barrow is what it truly means to savor life-to take advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity to discover a place so unique, and a lifestyle so … [Read more...]
I have some awesome readers that bring some really great ideas to my attention and sometimes I just have to share them. One such idea came from Nancy Hayes, a reader and travel enthusiast from who enjoys collecting postcards. Though I like to take my own pictures, I'll often buy postcards on a trip because they are so beautiful and they are a great souvenir that's inexpensive and easy to carry home-in fact going … [Read more...]
