Philadelphia and NYC with Dad

My dad and I like history and museums so we have always wanted to go to Philadelphia.  We used my American Airlines miles so we had some wonky flights.  We flew from Bloomington -Normal to Chicago to Cincinnati to Philadelphia!  long day.

We arrived in Philly and took the SEPTA train to the city center around 4pm.  Our hotel was the Alexander Inn which was near everything.  The hotel was great and the staff was helpful.  We went to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell that evening.

Some of the furniture is replicated, but the chair behind the table in the back is George Washington's actual chair. 

The next day we went to the Museum of the American Revolution that just opened in April - it was amazing!  I had my Supernatural shirt on and museum worker noticed it and started a conversation about Supernatural and two of her co-workers joined in.  They were excited that I am going to the Convention in Chicago in a couple weeks.

We went to see Betsy Ross's House and the Benjamin Franklin Museum.  We went to Reading Terminal Market and we perused all the stalls.  I had a traditional Philly Cheesesteak while I was there which was awesome!

the only version that had 15 stars

They decided they wanted it completely different than England so they started using stars after this one. 

On Friday, we took the Amtrak to NYC which took about an hour and 20 minutes.  We arrived at Penn Station and our hotel was about 2 blocks away - the Fairmont Inn and Suites right near Madison Square Gardens.  I have been to NYC a half dozen times, but my dad had never been to NYC so we walked around for him to just feel what the city is like. We saw the old post office, NYC public library, Grand Central Station, the Chrysler building, St. Patrick's cathedral, and spend a lot of time in Central Park.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

We spent quite a bit of time in Central Park because I knew Dad would need a break from the busy city sidewalks.  

Dad with a snake in Central Park

The reason I convinced Dad to come to NYC was to see Ellis Island.  We took the subway down to Battery Park and then got a ferry to go see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Wall Street and the financial district is close to Battery Park so we went down to the 9/11 memorial.  It started raining so I just a few quick pictures and we left.  The first time I was at Ground Zero was just a few months after 9/11 and there were still posters of missing people everywhere and there was tons of rubble.  I have been to it a few more times when there just a big pit etc.  It was nice to see it rebuilt and some day I would like to go to the museum.  

My friend Sara lives in NY so she came to have dinner with us, then we took the train back to Philly.  We flew back to IL the next day and again, because I used my miles, we had wonky flights.  We had to fly all the way to Dallas, then to Illinois, but we got to ride 1st class so that was great.  For someone who does not enjoy cities and crowds, Dad did like the little bit of NYC that he saw.