November 10, 2016 - Philly Trip Throwback AND Canadian Memories

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: LATE DECEMBER

Philly Trip Throwback

This week is moving right along.  Hope you have been having a great one!

For most kids, this marks the last day of the school week since tomorrow is Veteran's Day and there is no school.  My kids couldn't be happier.

In addition, they were allowed to dress down today in celebration of "Operation Christmas Child" for which there is a collection of money and small gifts for the less fortunate.

​It's getting colder here on Long Island! My kids are not crazy about it, but I'm loving it!! And it's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner!  Probably my favorite holiday of them all.

(c) etsy

It was a week of focusing on a few nearby areas for weekend getaways and I thought I would continue the theme by throwin' it back to the summer of 2013, when I took the kids to Philadelphia.

Since it was their first time, I tried to squeeze in as many sites and good eats as I could into a few days.

I'll be getting this "few days" itinerary up on the site permanently on our itinerary page within the next few days.  

My Philadelphia trip is a three-day one so it's perfect for a three day weekend in any of the seasons, though, I road-tripped it down in the warm weather, which was a bit more enjoyable.

Philadelphia Carriage Ride (Philadelphia's Oldest Carriage Company) (c)travelincousins.com

Here ya go folks! 

Day 1
* Drive to Philadelphia (a few hours from NYC)
* Brunch: Farmicia
​* Benjamin Franklin House
* Check into hotel and freshen up
(We stayed at the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District 
* Dinner: Pizzicato (unfortunately, it's now closed after 18 years)
* Summertime Concert at Great Plaza At Penn's Landing

Benjamin Franklin's House (c)travelincousins.com

(circa 2013) (c)travelincousins.com

At the Franklin Museum - newly opened (circa August 2013) (c)travelincousins.com)

Franklin Family Tree - Benjamin Franklin Museum (c)travelincousins.com

Day 2
* Breakfast: Mrs. K's 
* Independence Visitor Center 
(to get tickets for Independence Hall - but you can also buy online)
* Independence Hall  - Liberty Bell
* Benjamin Franklin Museum
​* Philadelphia Duck Tour (wow - just read that they had to suspend their service indefinitely - sad)
* Dinner: Jones Restaurant
* Lights of Liberty Show

Philadelphia Duck Tour (circa Aug. 2013) (c)travelincousins.com

On the Duck Tour with my Kelsey (c)travelincousins.com

One of our great meals in Philly (c)travelincousins.com

Day 3
* Betsy Ross House
* Carriage Ride: Historical Tour
* National Constitutional Center
* Leave Philly for New York

At the Liberty Bell (c)travelincousins.com

Kelsey Pooped after a day of touring the city of Brotherly Love (c)travelincousins.com

I highly recommend taking the kiddies here for a long weekend. So much history and fun things to do - not to mention some kick-butt places to eat!

​The weather was very cooperative when we visited, even though it was August and a bit hot, it was sunny and not very humid.

Mini road trips are the best since the kids can just relax and take it easy in the car, doing their own thing on their devices or watching a movie.  And our trip to Philly was no different.

My girls were hangin' with their pillows and blankets as we took the 2-1/2 hour drive down to the city of brotherly love.

​With our first stop being Farmicia for a wonderful organic lunch, we wasted no time hitting the sites and heading for Benjamin Franklin House.  Getting a glimpse into 1700's American lifestyle was cool and the kids kept comparing it to our house on Long Island.

One of the highlights of the trip, was of course, the Philadelphia Duck Tour, which gave us all an overview of the city and then a splash-down into the water to view the city from a "sailing" perspective.  Unfortunately, this is closed indefinitely.

However, a strong suggestion is to take a horse and carriage ride for a more intimate tour of the city, and a close-up and personal view of the buildings, home and historical sites.  The kids enjoyed it tremendously and I have to say, I learned an awful lot about this historic American city.

There is certainly NOT a lack of great food and terrific restaurants from ethnic cuisine to veggie and vegan eats.

No question Independence Hall was a treat and the kids loved seeing the famed Liberty Bell.  A short walk away is the Benjamin Franklin Museum, which was just newly opened.  It was clean and fresh smelling and the exhibits were wonderfully done.  I did not know a great deal about Mr. Franklin but he was quite an instrumental part of our country's founding and an incredibly brilliant man.

All this talk is making me want to head back down!!

On  that note, I'll be heading out now to get some errands completed before the girls get out of school. 

Enjoy this spectacular Fall Day!!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 5 DAYS

Canadian Memories

Hiya guys!

Let me tell you how relieved I am...
I just got back from renewing the kids passports and that was definitely weighing on me.

We went to the local post office before they opened - because you know that I didn't want to wait any longer than necessary or wait in any lines.
So I stood there, as a line formed behind me while Dave and the kids waited in the car until they opened the doors. 

            OPEN    OPEN    OPEN

Once inside we were the first in line and almost immediately assisted, everything looked good except that I filled out the forms in blue ink!

UGGGGGH

The forms had to be filled out in BLACK INK and so I needed to fill them out all over again.

This luckily didn't take much time and there were people in line behind us who were also there for the same reason - renewing passports. 

Overall, the entire chore still took over an hour before we walked out of there knowing that it'll be another 4-6 weeks before the kids receive their new passports.

Now being that it is Throwback Thursday or TBT as us cool peeps like to call it, I thought that I'd remind you of the first time these kiddos of mine made use of their first ever passports.

Related reading -  
Problems at the Border...

VANCOUVER, BC 

Stanley Park - 2012 (c)travelincousins.com

Overlooking Lions Gate Bridge _ 2012 (c)travelincousins.com

Downtown Vancouver - 2012 (c)travelincousins.com

Canada Place - 2012 (c)travelincousins.com

Gastown District - 2012 (c)travelincousins.com

I love so many places in Canada and it hasn't deterred me that at the Canadian border folks this actually wasn't my first time having issues getting across! Such as this time back in 2007:

Victoria BC or BUST?
​
VICTORIA, BC

In front of the Fairmont Empress - 2007 (c)travelincousins.com

Or what about that time I was trying to get back across the border into the United States?!

Stand-by in Calgary?
​
CALGARY, AB

Calgary - 2009 (c)traveincousins.com

And since I've been sharing memories of Canada with you, I figure why not toss in a few more TBT pics for you to enjoy.

Calgary Tower - 2013 (c)travelincousins.com

Calgary Tower - 2013 (c)travelincousins.com

Where are their gloves? Banff - 2013 (c)travelincousins.com

Banff - 2013 (c)travelincousins.com

Continental Divide - 2013 (c)travelincousins.com

Notre-Dame Basilica, Montreal - 2015 (c)travelincousins.com

On a ferry to one of Toronto's Islands - 2015 (c)travelincousins.com

Wow, I really do love Canada!
​I was looking through these albums and I could just go on and on.
But, I must get on with my day and let you get on with your's :)

It's ridiculously and unseasonably warm today and we are heading to Chino to go visit Dream. Pray the flies don't drive me crazy.

See ya back here for some more shenanigans tomorrow,
​-T 
​