So, two weeks ago now, my family and I were able to really get away, and take an amazing winter vacation up to Philadelphia, PA. We spent a whole week up in the city, and I have to say, we really packed in a LOT during our trip. I’m pretty impressed with us, if I do say so myself. My legs are sore and my muscles are tight, but oh I feel so GOOD after this trip, albeit EXHAUSTED. I love Philadelphia with a huge passion, and I am excited to share some of the highlights of our trip with you!
If you follow my Instagram account, (which you should) then you already got a glimpse into all the fun we were having up in my very favorite city of all time. You also got to see that we were able to visit my hometown of Moorestown, NJ, and that was pretty awesome. And by pretty awesome, I mean BEYONDAMAZINGLYCOOLFANTASTIC!
Anyway… Here we go. This recap isn’t short, and will be broken up into a series, so let’s get started at the start, shall we?
THURSDAY
We arrived in Philly just as some big puffy snowflakes started beautifully and majestically floating down to the earth, and we all pretty much squealed with excitement. Michael later referred to the snow as “fluffy rain,” which is probably more accurate, since it didn’t stick at all. But yeah, it was snowing when we arrived, which was simply the most exciting thing for the little man, and the big one too, even if he won’t admit it.
Once we got our bags and things together, and I realized that I left any form of coat or jacket back in Texas (good going, Katie), we found the train and navigated our way to our hotel, literally steps from one of the greatest markets in the USA, Reading Terminal Market.
Yep. Before going to Macy’s to grab a new coat to keep me above freezing in the snowy Philadelphia weather, we headed to the nearly 125-year-old establishment to squelch our rumbling tummies.
And I knew where I wanted to go. No doubt about it, we’d start our Philly adventure at DiNic’s Pork & Beef, a favorite of Philly since 1954.
DiNic’s is home to one of the single greatest sandwiches I and countless others have wrapped their lips around and sunk their teeth into, the pork and broccoli rabe sandwich. OH my word, just thinking about it right now has got my mouth watering all over again.
I of course got the whole kit and caboodle with the meat, cheese, peppers and broccoli rabe, while Michael ordered his without the broccoli rabe and the kiddo got a sausage sandwich instead of pork all together, but we all ate well that afternoon, each of us devouring what we thought was the absolute perfect beginning to our final family vacation as a threesome.
The meat was tender, flavorful and downright delicious, while the hearty and toothsome bread was the perfect vessel for the meat, pepper, cheese and broccoli rabe/no rabe/sausage combination. We sat at the counter in near silence as we enjoyed our sandwiches, and when we were through, we were ready to take on the world. Or well, maybe just Philadelphia.
After a quick walk through the market, we emerged into the frigid air and made our way the few blocks over to Macy’s, where we enjoyed the always fun and festive window dressings, and where we also found a coat for me to keep warm.
I still can’t believe I managed to forget my coat at home. Lame. I did somehow manage to remember my hat, gloves and scarf though. This is pregnancy brain at work, people. It’s alive and well in me.
Anyway, while we were at Macy’s we saw the most glorious site. A tree that stood a couple stories tall dressed in beautiful lights. It was magnificent. And apparently, they do a fun light show on the hour every hour leading up to Christmas. How fun? They also have a Dickens Village set up, where you can walk through and enjoy an extremely dated/vintage walk-through animatronics display of A Christmas Carol, and finish We didn’t opt in on this activity quite yet. We had a lot to do! So much to see! So much to experience!
We decided to get our Christmas spirit in full swing by walking down to Love Park for their Christmas Village, complete with tons of little vendors, a great big tree, and of course, the iconic LOVE sign.
We had a blast, and ended the night at Philly’s Hard Rock Café. Yeah, it may not be all together fancy or all together “Philly,” but the Hard Rock was just what we needed after a super long day flying, riding, eating and walking around. Oh how I love Philly.
FRIDAY
Our next day started at Reading Terminal Market at The Dutch Eating Place, where the little one picked out cinnamon apple French toast, the man picked out fresh blueberry pancakes, and I indulged in something simpler, a bacon, egg and cheese bagel.
With the most important meal of the day in our bellies, we were ready and raring to go on our historical adventure through Philly, starting with The Liberty Bell.
Now, this attraction is something that I’ve seen so many times. We went there as kids for field trips, and I went with my parents for weekend outings, but it was really fun to go with my family, and enjoy it like it was the first time, along side them. The kiddo loved the bell, and the history, which sort of surprised me in the best ways ever.
We continued our history lesson over at Independence Hall, where we were guided through the old building, learning and seeing all the cool stuff that went on in there, from the obvious to the less so. It’s amazing what all went down in there, when you stop to think about it. I mean, The USA wouldn’t be The USA without all of that work that went on in there. Crazy to think about, huh?
Once our tour ended, and we were through exploring, we headed over to The United States Mint. Now, I had no clue this was in Philly, so easily accessible. We were able to see the history of the mint and then watch the factory floor as all the countries coins were being created. Yeah, no joke. I had no idea all the coins were made there, and I had no idea what all went into it. Super cool, you guys. We weren’t allowed to take photos there, but I assure you, it was awesome.
We worked up a huge appetite and satisfied it with the single best thing ever: A Jim’s cheesesteak. Now, this stop in our Philly adventure was one of the most special ones for me on a personal level, being that Jim’s Steaks on South St. is a place that I hold close. I have wonderful memories associated around the food and the establishment, and getting to share those things with my husband and kiddo and bun in the oven was really special to me.
That and that cheeseteak, man. That. Cheesesteak. It’s legendary for a reason. And yeah, I know it’s not Pat’s or Geno’s, but let’s really be honest here. I put it to my husband like this: Do you want to go somewhere that’s famous for a rivalry? Or do you want to go somewhere that’s actually amazing? Amazing wins out every time in our house.
We made the 15-minute walk in the cold down to South St., and got in the lunch line for our sandwiches. They really mean business over at Jim’s, and can make any length of line bearable, just by smelling and watching those before you get their creations made.
Before we knew it, it was our turn. A pizza steak with provolone for the youngin’, and two cheese steaks with wiz for us parents. I added grilled onions to the mix, where Michael opted out of that, but all three of our steaks looked out of control, and the smell alone brought back joyful memories.
Once we paid, we walked up the steps to the dining area, and got to eating. So good, you guys. The formula of thin-sliced and flat-top-grilled meat, melty Cheez Whiz stuffed into the crevice of a crusty yet chewy Amoroso Roll is just magical. Plain and simply explained, it’s magical. Oh my gosh. I just… yeah. I need a moment of silence.
Thank you.
Anyway, after we stuffed ourselves silly with meat and cheese and bread, we decided the smartest thing to do would be to walk it off, so walk it off we did on South St., Philadelphia. And guess what? One of my favorite stores as a kid/teen, Zipperhead, while not in the same location or under the same name, is still in existence, and we were able to stop in, have some fun and I was able to hardcore reminisce.
The store, now called Crash Bag Boom, is pretty much the same as it was way back when, and plus, I got a really cool shirt.
Once we were done there, we headed back to the hotel. It had been an extremely long day, and we needed to rest our dogs before dinner. But where oh where would we eat? I put it to Facebook and got an overwhelming response from Philly-local friends, and the most recommended place in the thread was a little spot called Monk’s Café on S. 16th. Known for their amazingly broad beer list and their many variations of mussels, Monk’s looked sure to please. We arrived with the Happy Hour crowd, which probably wasn’t the way to go, but hey, you live, you learn, right?
Anyway, we were seated promptly, which was impressive considering how many people were packed into the tiny space and after checking out their menu, we decided to go with a hummus platter and two variations of mussels: the DeKoninck with DeKoninck ale, apples, guryere, carmelized leeks & garlic, and the Red Light featuring Hoegaarden, fumè, toasted spicy chile de arbol peppers, chervil & garlic.
The hummus plate was delicious, and featured 3 kinds of hummus: original, sweet potato and roasted red pepper. While the boys preferred the tried and true and the roasted red pepper, I actually leaned toward the sweet potato. It was pretty insane, and something I’d never even thought about, let alone heard of. It was creamy and spiced and wonderful.
And as for the mussles? They were great too – but the best part of all was their fries. I could just skip over the whole hummus and mussels thing here and just talk about all the fries. The. Fries. They were fresh cut, double fried locally grown bintje potatoes. They were so so so crispy and so so so flavorful and seasoned and joyful and mouthwatering and happy-happy-joy-joy and… bliss. I didn’t think anything could make these fries any better, but then I dipped them into the accompanying sauce. Their bourbon mayonnaise is stupid good, and it was stupid flavorful. I couldn’t even… I can’t even talk to you about it right now. It’s just creamy, spicy, tart and plain old GOOD. My word… I wish I could have a giant plate of those fries with a giant bowl of that dip. Right now. Oh well. These are things fantasies are for.
We finished our meal and left with smiles on our faces and NEAR-full bellies. But we needed a sweet treat to cap the night off, so we stopped at the first ice-cream-ish place we saw, a little place called Lite Choice.
They’ve got all kinds of flavors of hard and soft serve, and can make up to 80 flavors using their all natural, organic syrups and flavorings. Fancy. We enjoyed our treats while watching a little bit of The Santa Claus, and then were back on our way to the hotel. It was a long, amazing day of history, food, walking, laughing and enjoying each other in the most glorious city of all. And it was only going to get better.
