Philadelphia & Atlantic City

After Washington DC, our next National Landmark city was Philadelphia. We did a walking tour of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Betsy Ross House.

While in Philly, Sallie’s bucket list item was to run the Rocky stairs at the Art Museum (just hum the Rocky theme as you look at this section). She did as she ran up the stairs.

We did our own version of Philly Cheesesteak taste testings. Sue tasted the full meat versions and Sallie tried the meatless versions (we’re sure that Sallie’s mom would have said to Sallie, “what’s the point?). Jim’s Cheesesteak vs. Pat’s vs. Geno’s. We both decided that Jim’s Steaks won. The seasoned meat was nicely chopped, the seasoned mushrooms and onions were fully cooked and the provolone (with meat)  was warmed on the grill before they served the sandwiches. Sue enjoyed the hot peppers too.

As a part of our walking tour we went by the City Tavern, where back in the day, big business and the laws of the land were developed. We went back the next day for lunch and had a long conversation with Benjamin Franklin. On his recommendation, Sallie ordered a fried tofu dish that he developed.

We took a self guided audio tour of the Eastern State Penetentiary. It is currently worn down and delapitated, but we were able to visualize the condition of the prison in its heyday.

After a couple of days in the city, we then spent time on the beach in Atlantic City, NJ. We enjoyed the cool waters of the Atlantic, the junk shops on the AC boardwalk, the original salt water taffy and the massive casinos. While in Caesars casino, we had dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s Pub and Grill. The chef, Latasha, was the season 13 winner on the television show “Hells Kitchen”. She made Sue a beautiful scallop dinner and Sallie, a wonderful vegetable medley. As big fans, Sallie asked if we could meet Latasha and we were both escorted back into the kitchen. Latasha was very friendly and appreciated meeting her fans.

We did a day trip to the southern tip of NJ to historic Cape May. We shopped down the main street, had a good lunch and then drove around looking at the beautiful ocean side Victorians. Then, being reality TV junkies, we had to visit the “Jersey Shore” area of  Seaside Heights, NJ. We saw the house they filmed the show in and went to the Shore Store where they worked. We enjoyed the boardwalk, but were surprised to find that you have to pay to go on the beach.

We love the Ron Jon Surf Shops and have been to all of them in Florida and South Carolina. We learned that the original Ron Jon Surf Shop was in NJ, so we HAD to go. We visited the small Brigantine Beach area, where we also had to pay to be on the beach. We couldn’t get over the fact that we had to pay to be on the beach, a very weird concept to us. But, we paid, because we love the beach, the sun and got rewarded by watching a dolphin pod going up and down the beach as our afternoon entertainment.