FLORIDA!!!

As soon as we get some sunny weather, this grocery store purchase will come in handy!

Final Philly Pics

We visited La Colombe, a Philadelphia based coffee brewing company.  It reminded me of being in a European cafe.  The cappuccino was fantastic as well as the chocolate croissant.  

The next stop was brunch at The Continental.  This was quite possibly the coolest restaurant we ate at.  I'm not saying the food was fantastic, it was solidly good but the atmosphere was amazing.  We got lucky and were seated in hanging wicker chairs.

Another picture of the cool vibe at The Continental.

After our waiter found out that we were engaged, he brought on desserts complete with sparklers.  It was the best!

And what Philadelphia trip would be complete without a trip up the art museum stairs.  Once we have internet fast enough to handle videos, you'll all get to see Steven make the trek.

and that was the end of Philadelphia.

Now we're in not so sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  It's rained all day and we haven't done much.  We're still recovering from our 5:30 am wake up call.  Surprisingly traveling with the entire cast was not too bad.  Thank goodness for rental cars, though!

Philadelphia History

The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ is the largest working organ in the United States.  It is located in Philadelphia at Macy's Department Store.  It is played twice daily Monday through Saturday.  Peter Richard Conte, the current organist, is only the 4th person to hold this job since the organ's beginning in 1911.  

We were listening from the first floor.  However, the organist is situated on the 2nd floor.  

 Our next stop was at the Liberty Bell.  The bell became widely famous after an 1847 short story claimed that an aged bell-ringer rang it on July 4, 1776, upon hearing of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence. While the bell could not have been rung on that Fourth of July, as no announcement of the Declaration was made that day, the tale was widely accepted as fact, even by some historians.

Continuing our historical tour, we stopped at Independence Hall.  As you can see they are doing renovations to the exterior of the hall.

Steven is standing in the room that would have been used by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

I am standing in the room where the Continental Congress met.  The chair just to my left would have been the one used by Benjamin Franklin.  The area behind my head was where George Washington sat  while the Constitution was drafted.

Because January is a slow tourist season in Philadelphia (I wonder why, only 9 inches of snow fell the night after we visited Independence Hall), we were allowed to visit the 2nd floor.  This is the room where the governor of Pennsylvania worked.

This is me walking through Chinatown in Philly.

We also visited one of the four mints in the United States.  The Philadelphia Mint along with Denver produce the circulating money.  That day we were able to watch pennies and nickels being made.

Philly Visitors

We were lucky to have 2 sets of visitors on Saturday.  Our friend, Jasmine, was in town playing a recital and met us for brunch.

 Then my cousin, Alexa, and husband, Eddie, came down for dinner and to see the show.  I'm so glad they got a chance to meet Steven.  And who knows, maybe we'll see them again sometime on our travels!

A visit with Rose

Rose took us jean shopping and then to Sonny's Famous Steaks.  

Yes, that's a Philly Cheesesteak.  Cheez Whiz and all.  That's how you make the "original".  Surprisingly or not surprisingly quite yummy.  And now the gym is going to be calling me for many days after ingesting that.

Here's a picture taken backstage at the theater.  This is the area where the actors do their costume changes.  

Philly Tourist Adventures

Our first day in Philly we checked out some of the local sights.  Fun fact of the day, Mother's Day was founded in Philadelphia.

Opening night party was held at the Kimmel Center.  Here's Steven in his new party theads.  

Wow, check out that back of that vest!

Steven at the Academy of Music by our sign.

The cast on opening night.  No, the orchestra is not included in this picture.

Our 2 keyboard players

At JFK Plaza checking out the famous love statue.

Steven in front of an interesting statue in what looked like a giant board game plaza.

Yes, that's the wheelbarrow from monopoly.

Day 1 in Philadelphia

After a quick 2 hour bus ride, we arrived in Philadelphia.  We're staying at the Radisson Warwick Hotel.  Our room is spacious, however it has the smallest beds and the least amount of furniture I've ever seen in a hotel room.  We luckily won the lottery for a refrigerator.  We found a grocery store right near the hotel and loaded up for the next 2 weeks.  

We headed over to the hall and unpacked the music for tomorrow's rehearsal.  We found our trunks in the 2 orchestra green rooms.  One for the ladies. . . .

and one for the men . . . . .