25th Wedding Anniversary Trip--Philadelphia

So, Todd finally got me on a plane!  To Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!  Crazy!  Todd has wanted to go back to Philly ever since he served his mission there over 25 years ago.  Since it was our 25th wedding anniversary this Spring, I couldn't say no anymore. So...we have been planning this trip for awhile now and I never thought it would get here.  BUT IT DID!  

And here we are on the plane, waiting for take off! (I guess I'm a little excited...at least I'm not throwing up in the corner, so that's a good sign, right?) :)

We could see the plane's flight route as we were flying, and as you can see, we were so close to Brandon!  :) Detroit is just about an inch away!  Maybe we could just take a quick detour. (I won't tell anyone if you won't.) HA

(This next picture is just a joke...my parents have been talking about buying some kind of a trailer or van to do some traveling in and we saw this tiny trailer in the parking lot at Valley Forge.  We had to snap a picture and send it to my parents.  We suggested it for their next purchase!) HA!  Funny!  (I don't think I have ever seen a trailer that small!  Maybe it's like one of those tents in the "Harry Potter" movies.  When you go inside it's magical and it's turns into a huge house!  I'd go traveling in that.)  But I digress....sorry. 

The first day of our trip we went to Valley Forge.  Todd was never able to visit it when he was on his mission, even though he served in that specific area.  So he was so excited to be there. 

There were a bunch of cabins lined up on either side of this little trail.  This is where the enlisted men stayed during the winter camp.

They were small and rustic.  I can't believe that 6 men stayed in one cabin.  (This picture is of the fireplace...though it's hard to tell.)

You can see the bunkbeds stacked in threes.  They were like that on both sides of the tiny cabin.  

And here's a picture of the "Justice Bell."  I'm not exactly sure what the significance is...I think I need to brush up on my history. :)

It was a very hot day, by the way. :)

These next group of pictures are of George Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge.  It was actually really cool to see.  I loved this old typewriter.  (I remember typing on an old typewriter of my Dad's when I was young, but it obviously wasn't this old.)  I thought it looked pretty cool.

Some kind of a "meeting" room...

One of the bedrooms.  I don't remember which one was specifically George Washington's, but they were all fun to see.

This room was in an upstairs loft where we think some of the servants stayed.

This one might have been George Washington's, now that I think about it...maybe?

These next two pictures are of the kitchen.

One of the other things we did on our trip is take a tour of Independence Hall.  (Remember the movie "National Treasure?"  It's Dallin's favorite movie and we kept texting him pictures of the building.  He was pretty bummed.  We are such mean parents!) :)

This was actually across the street from Independence Hall...

More Independence Hall...

We also visited the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge.  I even signed the "guest book."  See our names?  That's proof that we were there. HA!

This church was pretty amazing and very beautiful!

Look at all those colorful stained glass windows...

It really was quite majestic! 

One of the other things we did on our vacation was go to Longwood Gardens.  This was probably the hottest day of our trip and we were outside most of the time.  (So we were definitely sweating!)  But it was so beautiful.  I've never seen so much greenery all in one place.

There were amazing fountains all throughout the gardens also. 

You can't see the sweat in this picture, but trust me, it was there. :)

These next few pictures were taken inside one of the buildings at Longwood Gardens...

Funny Todd...I think he was trying to sneak up on me and scare me, but it didn't work.  HA! :)

Those are real bananas growing on that tree!  So cool!

There were tons of varieties of Bonsai Trees.

I really liked this one...

This was a different part of the Gardens.  There were these lily pads all throughout the "ponds." 

But some of them were huge!  Really amazing!

And...we're still sweating... :)

More lily pads and ponds...

Taking a break from walking (but unfortunately, not from sweating).  HA!  It was actually really nice to sit under this tree and see all the foliage around us and feel the "tiny" cool breeze.  (Do you see my hair stuck to my face?) :)

These pictures were taken inside one of the gift shops.  

 We actually stayed for a late lunch after we were done walking through the Gardens, and right as we were finishing up, it started to rain outside. Like, not just a little rain, but A LOT of rain!  It poured!  We got drenched walking back to our car, but luckily we were done for the day, so it was perfect timing. And it was pretty cool to see all the rain.  No wonder it's so green there...(Todd says that nobody has sprinklers back East.  Weird!  But I can see why they don't need them.)

Another little bonsai tree in the gift shop...

Okay, these pictures were taken back at Independence Hall.  This is the Signing Room for the Declaration of Independence.  It was really cool and so unique.

Look at those drapes...amazing!

One day for lunch, we stopped in at the Reading (pronounced redding) Terminal Market.  It's also one of the scenes in the movie National Treasure.  It really was so amazing to see.  It looked like we were outside, on a bunch of side streets, but we were actually inside a huge building.  The little businesses were packed together really tight. It reminded me of a bunch of street venues shoved together all in one place.  You could seriously buy lunch (pizza or lasagna) at one counter, and then right next to it, you could buy raw meat.  And the next counter could be desserts of all kinds.  It was so interesting and amazing.

This is a deli counter

Todd had to have some "real" Philly pizza from one of the vendors.  This was definitely on his bucket list, so I'm glad he found some. (It actually looked kind-of gross to me...but "to each his own," right?) :)

We didn't get to stay there long, because we had to get back to catch the tour bus.  I kind-of wish we would have stayed a little longer in this crazy place.  And by the way, look at my hair!  See how frizzy it got!  I guess that was from the humidity I've heard so much about?  Pretty cool, actually (especially if you like that "frizzy" look.) Ha!

These next group of pictures are just of places around the city of Philadelphia.
This is the "Love" statue...well, a fake one anyway. :)

It was actually a pretty small replica of the real one.  But still cool nonetheless!

I don't have any idea what this place was, but I took a picture, so I though I'd throw it in. :)

Philadelphia Cemetery, I think.  I mean, we were in Philadelphia and it was a cemetery....therefore...

Some random sculpture thing...

I think this picture was taken while we were driving into Philly.  It's the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.  It was really awesome!

Some buildings... :)

Of course, we had to go see the Rocky Statue!  That was a no-brainer! :)

And here are the famous Rocky stairs.  I didn't "run" up them, but I did take a "leisurely stroll" (aka lots of breaks) and made it to the top!  You didn't think I could do it, did you? (I wasn't so sure either.) :)

At the top of the stairs, they had this little piece of concrete to show you where Rocky actually stood in the movie.  So I put my feet right in the "foot" spot and I must admit, I did feel a little bit like the real Rocky! HA!

See?  I look just like him...

It was actually really fun seeing this cool landmark.

 

The view from the top of the Rocky stairs

And some statue of a guy on a horse, beating up a lion (I think).  I'm sure it has some significance, but I don't know what it is.  Still, a cool statue.

Surprisingly, one of my favorite activities on our trip was the bus tour that we took around Philly.  We were seated on top of the bus with the wind whooshing through our hair. (Well, my hair....Todd hardly has any hair. HA!)  I'm not really a "bus" person at all, but there was something about being on top that made it pretty cool for me.  It threatened rain the entire time we were on it, but it never did.  Yeah!  And I loved how we could get off at any stop we wanted to.  The tour guides were funny too. :)

Do you see the Philadelphia Temple sticking out there in the back?  The tour guide said, "And there is the new Mormon Temple."  It was pretty cool and I was thankful that I at least knew the significance of that building.

Cool mural on one of the buildings...

This is Betsy Ross's house (and two random people we didn't know), but it was the only way I could get the shot.

And here's a more close-up one of the Temple.  I love how it is right in the middle of all these other buildings.  It's like it "fits in," but it also "stands out," if that makes any sense.  It's holding it's own though, that's for sure. :)  Beautiful!

More of the city...

I couldn't really get a good picture of this gold statue, but I thought it looked pretty cool, so I tried anyway.  Pretend like the glass windshield isn't there...See how much better that looks? :) Totally awesome, eh?

I loved seeing this monument.  It looks like a giant clothespin, but if you look at it from a different angle, it looks like a couple embracing.

See the two heads facing each other and their "arms" around each other?  I thought it was really cool and I don't think I've ever really thought of it before like that.  I look at clothespins differently now. :)

Towards the end of the bus tour, we drove past a bunch of Row Homes.  They were really close together, kind of like town homes, I guess, but these looked a little different to me.  

Here are two more pictures that were taken back at Longwood Gardens.  We went off the path a little and found a different wooded area that had a tree house in one of the trees.  It was really cool....but did I mention how hot it was at Longwood Gardens?  (Oh yeah, I think I did.) :)  It was still hot, in case you were wondering.

Church in Newark, Delaware

One of Todd's old apartments in Newport, Delaware when he was a missionary...

He was so proud and excited! 

Behind that apartment building was a little cemetery of about 10 headstones.  Todd has always wondered how this cemetery came about and who the people were buried there.  How did they end up there?

The last day of our trip we were so blessed to be able to go to the Philadelphia Temple Open House.  Todd used to work with one of the ladies who was a tour guide, so she got us in and gave us special treatment.  This is one of the main reasons we went to Philly at this particular time. The Temple wasn't open to the public yet, so we were really lucky!  The tour was absolutely amazing!

It was a beautiful day and a wonderful way to end our trip.

After the tour of the Temple, we were able to go into the "reception" area where only the VIPs got to go and were offered a little lunch.  It was so awesome.

This is a picture of our tour guide (and amazing friend), Kim Woodbury, and me and Todd.

Outside of the temple this time.

It really was the perfect ending to an amazing trip with a wonderful man!

This trip was awesome!  Every day was wonderful.  My favorite part of the whole thing was watching Todd's reaction to seeing Philadelphia again after so many years.  Obviously this place means a lot to him and getting to come back was an absolute tender mercy.  He seriously was like a little kid in a candy store!  I loved watching him get so excited over every little thing.  It was worth it to get on a plane just for that reason alone!  For real!  I really am glad we were able to go on this trip and I will always be thankful for the memories we made together!

Happy 25th Anniversary honey!  Thanks for forcing me to go! I love you. :)