Celebrating the 4th- in the company of Philadelphia...

Ever since Jason moved to Jersey, my dad's been asking if he has tried an authentic phillycheese steak. With only 20 minutes seperating Jace from downtown Philadelphia, it would be a crime not to seek out the sandwich that's known not only in Philly, but around the country.
Jason was well acquainted with the two famous phillycheese steak places downtown- Pat's and Ginos. Each have made their debuts on the food channel, and Hollywood favorites are known to stop here often. Later I learned that my long-time boyfriend Michael Buble frequents Ginos, and our lovely President Obama ate Pat's- just as we did today.

At noon, Pat's and Ginos were well at their prime. Lines snaked around both joints, and hungry phillycheese-goers battled over the few tables available. Located in a run-down part of town, I never would have pegged these hole-in-the-wall stops as award winning. But alas, that is exactly the point. Both Jace and I were teetering on starvation, and the newsbreaking summer heat made records as the hottest since 1995. So when we finally got ahold of our loaded sandwiches, cold drinks and scored a free table, we were highly satisfied. Sadly I can't accurately judge whether Pat's is as good as experts believe, because I was so famished it tasted just fine to me!

Downtown Philadelphia was a diamond in a lump of coal. Poking out of the streets were incredible ornate buildings around ever corner. Who knows what their named or what magic goes on inside, I was simply overwhelmed with the extravagant exteriors that pop out from nowhere.

Touring Indepence Hall was a great review of the commencement of our country. The room with the beautiful red window coverings was once used for balls and events, then later as a home for priceless artifacts. Our guide compared it to our current Smithsonian. After visiting Independence Hall in person, seeing the same place in National Treasure once I got home made the movie even better.

Seeing the Liberty Bell on July 5th was the ultimate way to celebrate our nations' independence. What a surreal experience.

This was so much fun. Some random building had all these life-size game pieces. My white knight found his favorite piece. ;)

How cool is that?

I really wanted to find Love Park, so Jace and I tracked it down and enjoyed the mist of the fountain.

Monday was one of our more relaxing days. We headed back to New Jersey early and took advantage of the gift cards Jason has earned from Pinnacle over the past month. With a $150 gift card to Nordstrom's, and a $60 gift card to Cheesecake Factory, we had an expense free date night. First we headed across the street from his apartment to the Cherry Hill mall and picked Jace some good lookin' threads. Then we ordered it up with our favorite nachos, drinks, entrees and cheesecake. (My entree of salmon, steak diane, and my favorite-ever mashed potatoes below)

Isn't he good looking?? ;)

The next day before we went out selling together we made a trip to California Pizza Kitchen. Not surprisingly, Jason and I really put a priority on food. What would a good vacation be without food anyway?