Philadelphia, PA

For me, PA is a first.
And so far it's been a great experience!

We flew into Philadelphia on United Airlines...
(Travel Tip #1: Sometimes you're able to get better rates for flights just a day or two before departure. Of course that only works if your time is a bit flexible. Also, you can get out of paying the extra baggage fee if you bring your extra roll-on with you to the gate and have them check it in there.)

Roy found a really unique hotel experience for us: the Sheraton "Aloft" Hotel...

(Travel Tip #2: When booking your hotel room in a town that is generally known to have small rooms: ask for two beds! Also, ask if they have free upgrades available. You might get lucky and get a premium room for the same price! And be sure to always ask for the highest floor possible. Generally speaking, better rooms and amenities [including more comfortable mattresses] are found in the higher floors.)

We arrived around 1:30am so we didn't get out to see the town until the next day.
It was an amazingly beautiful, sunny day!
Our rental car was a Kia Soul, another first for us. Cute car...

(Travel Tip #3: carrentals.com is a great source for rental cars. Compare the different companies. Dollar and Budget are known to have the best deals and are the two we normally use.)

We drove around Philly for the first time and enjoyed the sites very much.


1-freeway sign for Independence Hall exit
2-quaint little row houses line the beautiful streets
3-amazingly beautiful historic church buildings can be found everywhere
4-Independence Hall
5-cute carriage rides give tours for $30
6-Liberty Bell
7-the most beautiful food court we'd ever seen
8-"greatest cheese steak in Philly" in business over 25 years... so the sign said
9-our first Philly Cheese Steak, yum!

Then, another first for us, we went on THE DUCK!


(Travel Tip #4: Go online to see if they have any coupons. Ask if they give discounts for AAA membership and/or senior citizens. [if applicable, of course])

1-duck tours sign, registration is in Independence Visitor's Center
2-they give away quackers for each duck tour
3-on the boat

We had an awesome time in Philly the short time we've had there so far but are looking forward to coming back on Monday to spend some more time there before we head home on Tuesday!

In the meantime, on to Lancaster, PA for the AQS Quilt Show!