More Adventures with Rachel

Although I'm a little behind I want to finish blogging about the rest of Rachel's visit since we had so much fun and packed a lot into 3 days. The same day that we visited Eastern State Penitentiary we also visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I must admit I haven't been to an art museum in a few years, so it was a nice treat. I loved the variety they have in the museum. Sculptures, stained glass, paintings from various eras, furniture, clothes, etc. One of my favorite rooms contained modern art, however you are not allowed to take pictures in that room. I also really enjoyed the stained glass and they had a display of uniforms from knights, which was very interesting.

This is the view of the city as we're leaving the museum. Of course I had to take pictures of the infamous Rocky steps. There were kids running up and down them pretending they were Rocky :)

Rittenhouse Square is always a good people watching spot. We grabbed coffee and croissants one morning and enjoyed the sights. This guy was a serious acrobat. He was collecting a decent amount of money from on lookers.

This band was probably my favorite! I'm assuming they are a family and they were really entertaining. As you can see there are young kids all the way up to adults. They were playing upbeat jazz music that made me want to dance. It kind of reminded me of the music hear at parades in New Orleans.

They were also offering free Tango lessons in the square. A lot of people gathered and were having a good time.

City Hall has wonderful architecture. I walk by and through it frequently, but hadn't taken the time to really appreciate all the details until then. I definitely want to take a tour of City Hall to learn more about it because there is so much history there.

We went on a food tour. It was great! We ate cheesesteaks (I had a veggie one), pizza, pretzels, hoagies, and chocolate chip cookies. It was nice to learn a little more about the city and eat along the way. The tour culminated in Reading Terminal Market (which I blogged about previously) and we were so full at the end. Rachel and I also won a Tasty Kake for answering the most trivia questions at the end of the tour. I didn't know that Tasty Kakes were made in Philly and they have sooo many different flavors.

Lastly, we had to go to Love Park to see the Love sign. This was my first visit and I didn't know they had other statures there. They were all game pieces, which I thought was really fun.

Eastern State Penitentiary

As I mentioned below, while my best friend was visiting we headed to Eastern State Penitentiary. It was amazing! It was probably one of the highlights of the long weekend. If you're ever in the area you should definitely check it out.

We took an audio self guided tour throughout the penitentiary. They also have tour guides that give specific tours about various topics throughout the day. The penitentiary was operational from 1829 until 1971. It was the first penitentiary to use the system of solitary confinement. The cells were set up in a way, so that the prisoners entered from the outside and never had contact with other prisoners. It was very interesting and haunting to imagine how the prisoners lived. Al Capone was imprisoned here at some point and was actually given special privileges. There is a picture below of his cell, which was immaculately decorated with items that he wanted there. Prisoners didn't usually get this type of special treatment.

The other fun fact about Eastern State is each fall they set up a haunted house inside the walls of the penitentiary. I love scary movies and haunted houses, but I get scared pretty easily. I guess that's part of the fun! I hear that people come from miles and miles away to visit the haunted house. It actually starts next month so that'll be on my to-do list for September or October.