After the 4th of July, we headed out of Philadelphia. The day before, Cory and Emily had recommended we eat downtown at Reading Terminal Market which is a huge market inside an old train terminal, I think. There are lots of different kinds of booths with ready-to-eat food as well as groceries. We'd gone the day before but it was closed for the holiday, so we stopped there on our way out of the city (although it was definitely not on the way). Miraculously, we found nearby parking downtown.
Per their suggestion, we went to a grilled cheese place that had lots of different kinds of grilled cheese. The one we tried had steak on it, I think, and macaroni. It was delicious!
We also got a fruit-filled crepe and stopped for some Amish donuts, too, as well as a pretzel, since Philadelphia is apparently famous for them (who knew?).
We went to the U.S. Mint that morning to see how coins are made. It was pretty interesting, even though the workers weren't actually there that day. You can't take pictures at the Mint, though, so instead you get this picture of me with a sign of my doggie name twin.
We visited Valley Forge, which was an important encampment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Jaime was pretty disappointed that it wasn't an actual battleground, but it was still pretty cool to see places where people like George Washington had been.
This was George Washington's house while they were camped there.
Indiana twins in the parking lot! What are the chances?
There's a church there, still in operation, which has the most incredible woodwork and stained glass inside. The entire chapel is decorated with symbols of the states.
They also had a bell there that is a sister bell of the Liberty Bell, but with no crack.
Our next destination was New York City, but we stayed in New Jersey with the Van Wagenens - the parents of our MTC friend Leah Van Wagenen Jesperson. Jaime had forgotten a skirt for Sunday, though, so we stopped at a Target before we got their house and then had some delicious burgers for dinner.
The Van Wagenens were wonderful hosts - we even each had our own room! They were gracious and helpful and wonderful. We sat and talked with them for a while and they helped us make our plan for our two days in the City, gave us maps, offered to drive us to bus station, let us do our laundry, etc. We loved staying with them and appreciated so much their hospitality.
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