Fall Day 7 - Goodnight Philly

Today was our last day in Philadelphia, but we made it count. We had some trouble driving around the city though. A popular police man was killed recently, and today was the funeral (or some event). There were hundreds of cops near the church (which was near the museums were were going to). It was so sad and so touching to see them all. We somehow found parking at a hotel, and walked most of the day.

We went to the Children's "Please Touch" Museum in the morning, with Lori and Alec. E "built" a tree house, had a tea party with Alec, rode the many modes of public transportation, and did some grocery shopping.



We then went to Reading Terminal Market, where there is just about every type of food one can imagine under on roof (both raw and prepared). This is the only place we've been to where E could get everything he requested (rice with soy sauce, corn, fries, and chicken taco). Han and I had cheesecakes, then I found a crepe place (nutella banana, yum), and got some Chow Chow from the Lancaster people (since I somehow didn't remember to buy when we were actually in Lancaster). Yes, food is a big part of our trips. We obviously couldn't hit all of our favorite places, but I think we did a good job. Sadly, the Belgian Chocolate House was closed, and we didn't have time to get food from our favorite street vendors (although I saw both my morning fruit truck and my evening Chinese truck near Penn).


After lunch, we tried to take a cab to the Franklin Institute, but after 10 minutes and only going 2 blocks (many roads were blocked off still), we just walked. It was so nice to just see different parts of the city, watch the kids get out of school, and enjoy the cool air (the feet didn't enjoy this quiet as much as the heart, soul, and mind, but it can't all be perfect). We finally made it to the Franklin Institute, where we learned all about the heart (even took a walk through one), electricity, trains, space, etc. We tried an IMax movie, but it was too much for E.



E and I waited on the steps of the Franklin while Han wen to get the car. We said goodnight to Philly as the sun went down and the lights went up. E says Philly is his favorite city too, and we'll all miss being here. But, we didn't get to do and see nearly all that we wanted to, so we'll just have to come back soon :-)



We had a great dinner with Ashesh and Lori, and E and Alec got to play with puzzles and trains again. It was fun to reminisce about old times and how the city has changed since they were all undergraduates here. I hope it won't be quite as long before we see them again. Did I mention we want to come back soon???