Spring in the city of Brotherly Love

....Or should I call it the City of Sisterly Love?



It's finally warm in Philadelphia and summer break is about to hit. Like many of you non-working people who are trying to delay the inevitable 9-5 job by being a perpetual student, I've been trying to find every reason NOT to study for my finals. A couple things have been keeping my mind occupied as of late. They include a workout boot camp that one of my friends started, watching Reality TV shows (DWTS being my favorite), and touring every inch of the city of Philadelphia. All three activities have been extremely productive. For example, going to the gym every morning allows me to gawk at the 76ers (Note: the 76ers basketball team practices at my school gym). Watching DWTS has led me to watch American Idol and now I even vote! And finally, exploring Philadelphia has led me to realize that this vibrant city is full of incredible history. It ain't just about cheese steaks here!?

I'm actually embarrassed that I only remember the history of Philly because of the movie National Treasure. Therefore my boot camp friends and I attempted to re-learn our American History 101. We strapped on our fanny packs and cameras and became tourists for a day.



Our tour included visiting Benjamin Franklin's hood + museum, Independence Mall, The Liberty Bell, a horse carriage ride through Olde Philadelphia, Reading Terminal market, lunch in Chinatown, the Love park, and posing with huge Monopoly art pieces at the public art center.

Oh, let's not forget the worst part of the tour...We got kicked out of the Pyramid Club because we were wearing jeans! The Pyramid Club is this snazzy business luncheon area that overlooks the skyline of Center City. All we wanted to do was take a look and leave and they wouldn't even let us do that! AUGH!

Independence Hall is directly behind us. The Liberty Bell is located in the building on the right side.

Did you know that George Washington made his second Inaugural speech off this tiny little balcony??


Emma is trying to fight back the septa train


City Hall


Game pieces

Inside the horse carriage around Olde Philadelphia. Our horse had some hearing problems so we almost got hit by a car a few times...BEWARE OF DEAF HORSES!

Umbrella dancing in Chinatown

My favorite artistic scene in Philadelphia



Our next stop is to visit the Philadelphia Art Museum because there's free admission on Sunday. Of course, it's free on Sunday because the museum would like you to make donations so please do make some donations....

Click here for more Philadelphia pictures

Brooklyn: the BK, the new Manhattan?

These are just some of the nicknames for Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs of New York City. I like the term the "BK" just because Destiny's Child called it that in their song "Soldier" (where they at, where they at?). To be honest, I don't know much about Brooklyn. When I think of Brooklyn I think of the Brooklyn Bridge and Peter Luger.

I suppose you can call this post a shout-out to the best steakhouse in
ALL OF AMERICA



A group of us drove up for a weekend trip to N.Y.C. so we could visit the sights and sounds (again) of the bustling city. However our Cali-steak-lovin' friend, Dennis, came along for the ride and reservations were made to his favorite steak joint in New York, Peter Luger!

If you love to eat and you love steak then you must visit this place at least once. They have two locations in NY- one in Brooklyn and one in Long Island. I've enjoyed steak at both of those locations but I personally prefer the Brooklyn atmosphere more.

Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn


Peter Luger steakhouse in Long Island


Each piece is carefully selected, aged, and then buttered up and broiled. Writing about this is making my mouth water so I won't go into anymore details. You can just read their website if you are interested in going! Keep in mind that it's hard for them to seat big parties. It's best to go in a small group (6 or less). Peter Luger Steakhouse Website

After our 5,000 calorie dinner, we worked off a sliver of those calories by walking back to Manhattan via the Brooklyn bridge. YES, you did not read that incorrectly. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan! It was a beautiful experience because we saw part of the skyline of Manhattan and the Manhattan Bridge across the river.


I found this fantastic picture of the Brooklyn bridge when the World Trade Center was still present in the background. This bridge was built over the East River from 1870-1883 and it connects Manhattan to Brooklyn. This picture shows the separate walk ways along the center line for pedestrians. One side is for walkers and the other side is for bikers. I recommend walking the bridge when the weather is warmer. A lot of people use this bridge for their morning workouts- something I'd like to do one day!

Here are some pictures from our invigorating walk:






This is the view of the Manhattan Bridge from the Brooklyn Bridge


Walk way at night


The start line