DAY TWO-- Philadelphia Take Two

 

Thanks to jet lag, we got an early start to our day two.  

The first stop of the day literally brought tears to Faith's eyes.

Do you know what it is yet?  

There was music playing as they ran up the stairs...

The Rocky steps!!

The Skeeters

This is a very lovely scene in Philadelphia.  And there are probably lots of lovely scenes in Philadelphia.  But we didn't see very many of them.  Most of what we saw as we drove around was... not lovely.  I'm sorry to be so harsh on the City of Brotherly Love, but there it is.  Sadly, and especially around the historic sights, the whole city felt pretty run down and not very safe.  There were lots of homeless people on the streets and the smell of weed permeated the air wherever we went.  

 

 One of the fun parts of the city to me was listening to the soundtrack of Disney's The Happiest Millionaire.  This is my very favorite childhood movie and it is set in Philadelphia in 1916.  We drove through neighborhood the family it was based on lived.  

The Philadelphia Temple

Skeeter LOVE

Foxy LOVE

This was a fun thing-- we strolled down the oldest continuously inhabited street in America. 

And it was SOOO CUTE!!!! 

 

 

 Yours truly at the Betsy Ross House

Some historians believe she is mistakenly credited with sewing the first American flag.  

We pay them no mind. 

Although Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, he chose to make Philadelphia his home.  So his name is everywhere and he's basically the patron saint of Philadelphia.  This was a cool instrument he invented.  I don't remember the name of it and don't feel like looking it up.  How is that for truth in reporting?

Skeeter-ing in the place where Ben Franklin's 1st Philadelphia home stood.

Then it was time for one of our longer drives.  We started out for Boston and arrived about 5 1/2 hours later. 

 

But on the way we stopped by the Hartford, Connecticut Temple.  After some of the less desirable scenes we witnessed in Philadelphia, we were all big fans of Connecticut.  It was really nice and pretty and safe and it smelled great.  So for the picture, instead of saying "Smile!", we all sang "Connecticut!!" and wouldn't you know if made for a great picture!   

I can't remember why the three of us were sitting on the floor outside our hotel room, waiting for the boys to come up with the key, but I do remember that we were inappropriately joking that we were homeless, complete with paper bag containing strong drink.  And in our tiredness we thought taking a picture of our condition would be funny.  As I type this, I realize it's not funny.  But I do still think Greta's complete fail on trying to look sad is funny. And clearly, I cannot distinguish between sad and mad with my facial expressions.  Faith understood the assignment.

The kiddos got along remarkably well throughout the trip (all things considered).  However, shortly after this picture was taken, there was a rather intense disagreement (that turned violent) between two of the children at the hotel pool. It was ugly and there were tears.  I shall not say who was involved, but they are in this picture and it was the two that one might expect to be past such shenanigans.  But a good night's sleep soothed spirits and injuries.