Philadelphia
Happy Halloween from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After a lot of careful consideration, we found the perfect Halloween costumes!
We choose to be Bengals, in honor of our recent time with the VMFA(AW)-224 the Fighting Bengals. Unfortunately, there was a lot less people dressed up in Philly than we anticipated so that was an adventure. We did see a lot of dogs dressed up, and there was a hot dog and unicorn in our tour of Independence Hall. I wonder what our founding fathers would have thought if someone showed up dressed up like that back in their day.
Upon arriving we headed to the most important part of Philadelphia, Tun Tavern. As many of you hopefully know, The Marine Corps was born in a bar in 1775 in Tun Tavern, PA. Unfortunately, much to our disappointment, there is no longer a bar there to date. Honestly, I am really disappointed that some retired Sergeant Major hasn’t set up some sort of bar there. But needless to say, it’s going onto our “Our Millionaire Bucketlist.” Anyways, there is a sign signifying the existence of this bar, but it’s very underwhelming. Sorry to disappoint, but Semper Fidelis!
After viewing practically the only reason we came to Pennsylvania we decided to head to the historic district. There we viewed the Liberty Bell, got our tickets to tour Liberty Hall, and viewed the history exhibits they have set up there. Liberty Bell is tucked away inside where she is being preserved from further cracking.
When our time came to tour Independence Hall we were greeted by our friendly historian tour guide. He lead us through the rooms of old building and knew an incredible amount of history. Going into great detail and pointing out every small detail, we felt very educated of the under workings of Independence Hall. The tour itself is free, you just have to visit the Park Rangers in the Welcome Center across the street for a touring time. It is a very informative 30 minute tour, and I would encourage any history lovers to attend.
Learning so much history, really worked up an appetite for the two of us. So we decided to venture out in search of some lunch. What better dish to indulge in than A Philly Cheesesteak. There is a long time rivalry between two cheesesteak joints named the “Great Cheesesteak WAR.” Pats vs. Geno’s have been competing restaurants since 1966. Both of places are set up right across the street from each other, and tempt anyone passing by with strong smells of fresh steaks. The rivalry runs deep, and these competitors even buy their bread from competing bakeries. Even though they are competitors, both have a similar menu and a certain lingo that the locals have adopted. For example, if you want cheese and onions you are supposed to use the term “whiz wit.” It is even said that Bush got elected by Pennsylvania because he ordered his sandwich “whiz wit,” instead of John Cerry who ordered it like a tourist. In order to get the full experience, we decided to get one sandwich from each joint, and compare. Our verdict is the both were not bad. We were torn half and half with Daniel crowning Pats king, and myself liking Geno’s better. The bread and steak was better at Genos, but Daniel argues you get a lot more cheese and better peppers at Pats. Either way, I guess the war will live on.
Geno’s 
Pats
With our stomachs full, we continued to explore the city. There are a lot of beautiful building and a ton of brick all throughout the city. You can easily rent bikes or scooters and get through the town pretty quickly. We enjoyed walking the streets and getting a feel for Philly.
One of the Parks that really drew pour attention was Race Street Pier. It is a neat little hang out spot with trees and benches lining the whole walk out to the water. Once you reach the “lookout point” you find yourself out over the water, with a huge bridge to your left, and the river on your right. There are plenty of places to sit and gaze at the passing boats. You get a really nice view of the city and the skyline of building across the water. It is a really nice place to listen to some music or catch up on your reading.
It was a little windy 
Some of the Benches for Relaxing.
After we finished at the park, we headed to a artsy coffee shop to knock out some school work. We found a very cute little coffee shop called, Menagerie Coffee. They had no problem letting us chill there for a couple of hours and get some work done.
Thankfully, we have a buddy that we used to work with in the Marines, that is currently living in Philadelphia. Steve opened up his trendy apartment and we spent the evening catching up with a good friend. The view from Steve’s apartment is really incredible and he has an awesome little balcony so you can truly enjoy it. His brother came over and the four of us walked down the street and got some delicious pizza. We spent the evening chilling at home eating pizza and watching the office. It turned out to be a very much needed relaxing evening.
In the morning, we packed up and started towards NYC. That pretty much wraps it up for our little Philly Expedition. God Bless!
Cheers,
McKayla