The birthplace of patriotism

I hope everyone had a lovely 4th of July. I journeyed down to Philadelphia for the holiday because 1) I'd never been before despite it being so close, and 2) it seemed like a patriotic thing to do. So yesterday, I put on my most flag-like ensemble and took the train for a day trip. Philadelphia is a lovely city with a very chill energy. Although I suppose it's hard to tell what it's like under normal circumstances because according to the friend we went with who grew up in the area (and served as our wonderful tour guide!) all the non tourists clear out and go to the Jersey Shore for the 4th of July weekend.

At any rate, it's still the holiday weekend and I'm holing up inside because it's very, very hot out, so I don't want to spend too long at the computer or it's pretty much like working from home (well except for not actually working). That and I need to go buy cheesecake fixings for a certain husband's birthday this weekend. Consequently, this will be a short one, but I did want to post some photos from Philadelphia.

This artist Isaiah Zagar has covered a number of the buildings in South Street with mosaics. Really gives the city a lovely shine.

Us in front of some Zagar mosaics. You can't really tell here, but my shirt is red and white striped, so I was clearly trying more than Sam

We got a lot of mosaic pictures. We didn't pay to actually see Zagar's studio and Magical Garden, but we enjoyed the free ones plenty. 

The Liberty Bell! There was a long line of patriots waiting to go in and see it, so we chose to just view it through the window. Still counts!

Independence Hall! Where all the July 4 magic happened.

Sam enjoying his Philly cheesesteak. For the record the redness in this photo isn't an Instagram thing;  the restaurant put these odd filters on the windows giving everything an eerie red light. 

Philadelphia City Hall and the William Penn Statue! There's nothing super patriotic about this statue although we were able to stand in the middle of the street to take this one because they were setting up for a parade, so that probably counts.

When we got off the train back in old NYC, we caught a few fireworks over  the Hudson. Well done, Macys.

So that about wraps up our jaunt to Philly! I'd love to back sometime for a weekend because they had a number of very nice looking bars and restaurants in the Old City that would be fun to try out. Alas, we wasted all our stomach space during our short time there on cheesesteaks. We didn't even get to try the artisan donut place a girl at my gym recommended. As long as there is plenty of food left to try, I will return someday! Plus, it's still so close.