So, after being cooped up in our little 2 bedroom Brooklyn apartment since the start of the pandemic in March, and by extension, stuck in New York City, my husband and I decided we were going to brave a trip out of State…but only to Philly, which is an hour away on the train.
Both of us love history, the movie National Treasure and we were dying to try an authentic Philly Cheesesteak, so we booked our tickets and hotels and off we went!
Philadelphia is beautiful. The pace of the city felt laidback, and just the right amount of fast. The architecture of the buildings literally takes your breath away, and I promise you, it happens on every corner!
Where we stayed:
We stayed at the Loew’s Philadelphia hotel. Now I’m not the biggest fan of hotels because I always feel like they tend to be very clinical and business like… I prefer a little bit of character and a homey vibe. But because it was our first time there, and we were travelling amid an ongoing pandemic, we picked a hotel.
Loew’s Philadelphia is a decent hotel, it has an amazing location and the staff were extremely helpful and friendly all the time. The rooms were clean, but it was obvious that the hotel had not had too many guests, obviously due to Covid. My favourite part about our room, besides the location was the ginormous, super soft King size bed that made for great sleep!
What we saw:
Our hotel was centrally located and in walking distance of so many beautiful sights such as the iconic City Hall, the Philly Convention centre, Love Park and Liberty Park where the Liberty Bell!
We visited the famous Reading Terminal market which was filled with so many amazing vendors and products. We picked up some chocolate and small items, and it definitely made me wish NYC’s markets looked like this one.
We also had wanted to visit Independence Hall, the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed all those many years ago. The tour was free but the wait time was incredibly long (about an hour minimum), so we opted to see Congress Hall instead moved on to the awe-inspiring Liberty Bell. I still can’t believe I was in front of this iconic bell that holds so much history and represents the best things about democracy and freedom!
Love Park was a quick stopover for us, it really was just a photo opp type place (though there was a bit of a line and I didn’t get the best photo).
What we ate:
We absolutely pigged out in Philly! We really made sure not to limit ourselves and try out every single thing we wanted to! Our first dinner was at Ironhill Brewery, which was within two minutes of our hotel. The food wasn’t spectacular, but it was good and the vibe in the restaurant was quite lively.
We had brunch at a place called Café Lift in Callowhill that was very industrial and cool-looking where I had the most amazing and (I kid you not) life-changing ginger and coconut matcha latte!
And of course, we couldn’t leave Philly without getting our hands on authentic Philly Cheesesteaks! We looked up a place called Cleavers that was (also) within walking distance of our hotel that had good reviews and presumably phenomenal cheesesteaks. We were not disappointed. They had so many variations of cheesesteaks, from the classic to chicken (and even) vegetarian! I ordered the barbeque cheesesteak and it was as delicious as I’d dreamed it would be! The steak, the cheese and the additional bacon bits all mingled together and took me straight to heaven! I will admit, the sheer size of it was overwhelming but it made for great leftovers the next day!
The best memory from Philly though, was the sheer joy and relief people expressed as they poured out into the streets to celebrate the results of the Presidential election. It lended itself to such a cheerful atmosphere throughout the city and in every person, we interacted with.
P.S. You can watch the entire vlog on my Youtube channel!
