An Adventure in Philadelphia

Philadelphia here we come! Before I came over, Adam and I planned our days together and one of those days was a day to explore around Philadelphia. It began with a bus ride from New York City with Mega bus, a bus service that does long haul travel throughout the US and Canada via road. Adam surprised me with pre-booked seats on the upper level right at the front. Not a whole lot of space but sitting at the front was great.

We arrived in Philadelphia around about 11.30am and made our way to view the Liberty Bell – 6th St & Market St, Philadelphia at the Liberty Bell Centre. It took us about 20 minutes to get through the line; we headed in and got a quick photo. As you can see there is a crack in the Liberty Bell. And as many stories state it was cracked when it was rung.

We walked only a couple of blocks where we stopped for lunch – Sonny’s Famous Cheesesteaks and Burgers. This was so yummy that I recommend you try the Cheesesteaks at least once in your life. A steak with melted cheese in a long sandwich bun.  Just watching people enter the store you just know it’s that good.

After we finished at Sonny’s we caught an Uber and headed to the Reading Terminal Markets. An indoor market place full of different types of cuisines and snacks most which are made from local produce. This places gets really busy so be sure to get in early. We walked up and down the aisles scouring for some yummy food to taste.  Here we got ourselves a chocolate chip cookie and shared it. We then made our way to Miller’s Twist where we got some pretzels. We found ourselves a table to sit down and enjoy them. These were amazing. Huge, but amazing. I opted for the cheese sauce which was so good. A delicious combo. After that we fought the crowd and bought some ice-cream at Bassett’s. I’m not a huge fan of cones so I asked for 1 scoop in a bowl and even one scoop was too big for me.

We then ventured off and it was time to head to the Eastern State Penitentiary. No longer being used as a prison, ESP offer guided and audio tours which are narrated by Steve Buscemi (Actor & Director), officers and inmates. This was the option we chose and it was great. It gives you an insight as too what it was like to work at ESP, to live in the cells and everything else in between. This took us approximately 2 hours to do as you can do this at your own pace. The Audio tours give you the option to skip over parts that you’re not interested in. For information about certain things keep your eye on the boards on the walls. They’ll have the number you need to press to listen. To check out more photos click here. It costs approximately $14 US to get in and is located at 2027 Fairmount Ave Philadelphia. I recommend doing this if you’re ever in Philadelphia.

After ESP closed we walked across to Jack’s Firehouse for a couple of drinks and decided to head down to Penn’s Landing on the Delaware River. Here you can view ships and boats along with cute little eateries out of shipping containers along the boardwalk. There are even some hammocks to use. Perfect for those hot summer days. Not far from there is South Street. An area buzzing with great atmosphere. Here you’ll find street art, restaurants and shops.

We decided to have dinner in the area and chose to eat at South Street Souvlaki. A cute little Greek restaurant with friendly staff that had excellent customer service. We ordered some Hummus which was fantastic! The best I have ever tasted along with some Pita Bread. For my main mail I ordered a Gyro. A combination beef and lamb served on pita with lettuce, tomato, onion and tzatziki sauce. The meal was too big to even finish but it was so amazingly good!

It was time to head back to New York City so we left the restaurant and caught an Uber back to the Bus station. While we were in the car, the radio was playing and it was advertising Taylor Swift. She was in town performing. So instead of catching our bus back, we decided to buy last minute tickets to go and see her!  We were dropped off and headed inside the football stadium. 50,000 people came and saw her. Our seats were positioned on the side of the stage with some site restriction but I didn’t care. I was having the time of my life.  It was such an amazing concert and now I can say that during my trip to America & Canada I saw someone famous. If you’re an avid fan of Taylor Swift you will not be disappointed. I won’t give any secrets away for anyone reading this who hasn’t been to her show yet.

Philadelphia, you were amazing! Thank you for the amazing day.