Birthdays
24, Apr, 2012
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Tags: best philly cheesesteaks, birthday trip, liberty bell, travel, vacation
I make no secret of it: I absolutely love birthdays. You’ve officially made it one more year on this earth…what better excuse for celebration? Although I love my own birthday (and the lavish attention it brings me), I can honestly say that I love celebrating my friends’ and family’s birthdays even more. Why? Because it combines my love of event planning with my love of surprising people!
My boyfriend’s 29th birthday (better known as “Tax Day”) just passed and was definitely cause for celebration this year. After a whirlwind decision to move to cross-country to New York City last October, we’ve finally just started to get the hang of the city. So what does that mean? Time to rent a car and explore nearby cities, of course!
First up: Philly!
We arrived in Philadelphia late on Friday night, so we decided to just crash in order to get an early start on Saturday. And what an early start it was! For whatever reason, both Wes and I were wide awake at 5:30AM, so we decided to shower and head out, instead of trying to get back to sleep.
We debated what to get for breakfast. I wanted to get a “normal” breakfast of coffee and an omelette. Wes, on the other hand, was determined to get a Philly cheesesteak — at 6:30AM!! Since it was his birthday trip, he won out, and I begrudgingly drove to the first two cheesesteak places on our list (yes, I made a list of the most recommended cheesesteaks in Philly).
We drove into Passyunk Square and debated who to try — Geno’s or Pat’s. These two places are touted as the best cheesesteaks in town, and Pat’s is credited with offering the very first Philly cheesesteak. We ultimately decided on Geno’s since it was the biggest eyesore on the Philly skyline. I ate about half of mine, and had to forfeit the rest. That was the first time I had eaten “non-Paleo” in over three weeks, and bread had somewhat lost its appeal to me.
After our tasty yet heavy breakfast, we parked the car just outside Center City and hoofed it to the Liberty Bell. We passed a lot of old historical squares and statues interspersed in the residential areas.
We spent the rest of the day exploring Philly — strolling down Elfreth’s Alley, soaking in the sun at Penn’s Landing, quietly touring Independence Hall, getting a deliciously buttery pretzel from the Amish stall in Reading Terminal, and gawking at the oddities in the Mutter Museum. We liked the Mutter Museum a lot, and concluded that it was the equivalent of the Internet, before the Internet. Like the original Rotten.com or something. Wes even got a shirt! I told him it looked like a Black Metal band shirt 🙂
We had such a packed day in Philly, and we didn’t even get to do the thing I wanted to do the most: the East State Penitentiary tour! I guess it’s a good thing though, because everyone tells me I should tour it on Halloween. Maybe we’ll save it for next October…
The next day, we drove to Atlantic City!
It was a gorgeous day, and we spent a lot of time exploring the boardwalk. I’m not much of a gambler, but Wes sure is, and he had been to AC many times before. He seemed to know all the best spots, which was a nice surprise for me!
The best part of the trip? ROULETTE!!! That is totally Wes and my game. We joined a table that was surrounded by a big tattooed dude with over $15grand in chips, a midget we later learned was named Morgan, and an old Asian dude who laughed the craziest laugh every time he won. I had a pretty good feeling about it, since Wes and I had a strategy: Rock-Paper-Scissors on every hand. If I win, we put it on Red; if he wins, we put it on Black; if we draw three times in a row, it goes to Green. Silly? It was — but it not only won us $200+, but everyone at the table seemed to love us (well, except the dealer — she didn’t seem to like us very much at all).
I had such a great time all weekend — I can’t wait until my next friend’s birthday!!
