Philly in a day

I thought I would share more details about the day trip we took to Philadelphia earlier this week.

We started our visit at the Independence National Historical Park to see the Liberty Bell. We also got tickets for Independence Hall, but our tour time wasn't for another two hours and we weren't nearby when the time came. Oh well, something to see on the next trip. I was concerned that since we were visiting so close to the 4th of July there would be mobs of tourists, but it surprisingly wasn't too bad. 

After queuing up to get our pictures taken with a piece of American history, we peeked into the lobby of the Curtis Center, right across the street from the historical park, to see Tiffany's Dream Garden mosaic and soak in a bit of the AC. It's considered one of Philly's hidden gems since few people know of its existence. Even though we only gazed for a few minutes, I'm so glad I stumbled across this find and was able to see this stunning work in person. At this point, we were starting to get peckish, so we walked up to the Reading Terminal Market to find some lunch and check out the vendors. I had a bowl of Thai shrimp and bamboo shoots while the boyfriend and sister in law both had Philly cheese steaks (of course!). 

After lunch, I noticed that we were only a few blocks away from JFK Plaza (a.k.a. Love Park), so we made the trek (and passed by the massive and beautiful city hall) to see the iconic Love sculpture and enjoy feeling the mist from the fountain. 

Our final stop was to see The Magic Gardens. Most of my pictures are from this incredibly colorful and eclectic mosaic labyrinth. 

Talk about an amazing labor of love. Everywhere you looked was a great picture. My nephew was transfixed by all of the colors and shiny materials. 

On our way back to the car, we passed by the entrance to the Batcave. No worries, Batman, your secret location is safe with me ;-).

As I mentioned before, I haven't explored Philly much despite growing up nearby. I always thought it was just a dirty, uninteresting city. I'm really glad we were able to go, see some of the sights, and change my opinion a little bit.