 |  |
Our first and last stop of our driving trip on the East Coast was Philadelphia. Although we would stop here for a cheese steak on our way to New York or New England over the years, the last time we did any sightseeing in Philadelphia was back in 2000. This time we wanted to show our daughter the historical sights and so decided to spend more time here. Because my husband attended a university in Philadelphia, he knows the city pretty well so we didn’t do any research at all, assuming not much had changed. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find the historic area very different, newly renovated and with a lot more to offer than just the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
First, we found a new, modern Visitor Center opened in 2001. The National Park Service now offers many programs here, including an introductory movie on Independence, interesting new exhibits and previously unavailable sites to tour, along with a fabulous calendar of live events and a detailed map of the historic district.
The Liberty Bell is housed in a larger building that opened in 2003, and in addition to the bell itself there are exhibits on its history and a movie about it to enjoy.
Even better, Independence Hall now featured an expanded, excellent ranger program, with additional exhibits that were not available before. These included Congress Hall, where the legislative government met in the early days of federal USA, and where John Adams took his sworn oath as a second president of the United States. Historic copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are now on display in the West Wing and well worth seeing. Other sites in the historic district have been renovated to include new features as well, including Franklin Court, the Todd House and Bishop White House, Carpenters’ Hall, the Declaration House where Thomas Jefferson lived while he wrote the famed document, Betsy Ross’ house, and many more.
There are also new museums constructed in the vicinity, such as the National Constitution Center, featuring a state-of-art interactive constitution hall and other interesting exhibits. In place of the old visitor center, there is a new Living History Center where one can venture on a Heritage Adventure tour of the historic district with a colonial character. It also includes a huge archeological facility in action.
For kids, there is a special junior ranger booklet and trading cards available at most sites. Story telling benches throughout the historic district feature “Once Upon a Nation”, where dressed up colonial characters such as Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, and many others can be met and spoken with. Just this year, Franklin Square was opened featuring a carousel, mini-golf, and other activities for children. Philadelphia is a perfect place to introduce the kids to American history.
Some things don’t change, and a visit to Philadelphia is incomplete without having a cheese steak. We find our favorite cheese steaks at Jim’s Steaks on South Street.
Our best dinner in Philadelphia was at new restaurant by Eric Ripert, 10 Arts. The restaurant is located at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the downtown Philadelphia and is housed in a gorgeous room with marbled columns, high ceilings, and beautiful chandeliers. This chick bistro lounge offers “the market to table” cuisine featuring local and seasonal organic ingredients.
We started with a Wild Boar Prosciutto served on warm grilled flat bread and accompanied by sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, and arugula. We loved a touch of tangy citrus from the sauce that complimented the salty flavor of prosciutto.
Our second course was the Heirloom Corn Chowder, delightfully buttery and light, sweet with a touch of smokiness from a special sea salt and a bit of spiciness from cayenne pepper. We really liked the fresh and juicy Heirloom corn kernels in the soup.
Next, we tried the Pennsylvania Brook Trout, an excellent fresh local fish, accompanied by a baby bok choy. The sweet hazelnut brown butter sauce with tangy capers and hazelnut chunks perfectly complimented the delicate trout.
We also tried the Rabbit Paillard, lightly battered and fried, and served with a light salad of baby arugula, oranges, thinly shaved fennel, olives, and a whole grain mustard sauce. Although I thought that the breading could have had a bit more crisp to it, I found the rabbit delicate and very tasty.
For our dessert, we sampled deliciously light cinnamon sugar-coated tiny beignets served with a shot of chilled chocolate topped with salted caramel foam.
Philadelphia is better than ever, and for those with an interest in history it is a must-visit, fun place to spend some time!
***
I am now officially back and will continue to report on our travel and dining experiences during the next few posts. I am also looking forward to catching up with everyone's blogs!
I would like to thank my guest bloggers: Lori at Fake Food Free, Olga at Mango & Tomato, Zerrin at Give Recipe, Erica at My Colombian Recipes, LK at Healthy Delicious, Eralda at The Split Pea, and Angie at Angie's Recipes for their fabulous guest posts!
I would also like to thank Ivy at Kopiaste for the Lovely Blog Award; Diana at A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa and Anthony Sepe at From A Dietitian's Perspective for Kreativ Blog Award!
