Last week, Cameron and I traveled to the East Coast for a whirlwind trip to NYC & Philly. One of my sorority sisters was getting married near Philadelphia and a lot of my friends from college were going, so I didn’t want to miss it. We ended up deciding to extend our trip to the East Coast and make a stop in New York first to see my sister and her fiance as well. I’ll be sharing some pictures from our time in the Big Apple next week, but today I thought I’d share some photos from our weekend in Philly!
First off, we had quite the ordeal getting from New York to Philadelphia; our plan was to rent a car and drive since it’s not too far, but we ended up having major issues getting our rental car (seriously it was a joke) and it cost us a couple of hours of frustration. And then by the time we finally got our rental car, we had to make the drive in the peak of rush hour traffic and it was not a pleasant experience. We were hoping to get to Philadelphia earlier on Friday afternoon to check out the city, but that didn’t end up happening and we were pretty exhausted by the time we made it to our hotel on Friday night. We ended up just going straight to dinner with some of my friends that had flown in from Michigan for the wedding instead, which was a good way to relax after a stressful day! 🙂
Saturday, it was wedding time! Even though I wasn’t in the wedding, it’s always crazy to me just how fast the time goes when you have to be the church by 2pm! Honestly, this wedding couldn’t have come at a more a perfect time during my pregnancy. I definitely look pregnant now, but I’m not too pregnant yet and I’m still feeling really good so I was really able to enjoy myself. And thankfully, I was able to wear a non-maternity dress that I had and it worked out really well! I was so glad it still fit (and had enough stretch to be comfortable!) and it really showed off the bump!
The wedding was at a country club west of Philadelphia, and it was such a gorgeous setting! Plus, the weather was really beautiful too – it couldn’t have been a more perfect day!
The bump definitely got lots of attention at the wedding (and not just from Lisa after a few cocktails…ha) and random people kept coming up to Cam and I to tell us congratulations, which was super sweet! Everyone also kept asking if this was our first baby, so I assume that we have that wide-eyed look of excitement that comes from having no idea what we’re getting into, ha!
My favorite part of any wedding – cake! It was so good 🙂
It was a really lovely wedding and it seemed like everyone had a great time!
My friend Dani was such a beautiful bride, and I’m so happy for her and Adam! Plus, it was great to spend time with friends from college that I hadn’t seen in awhile, I wish we all lived closer!
Later in the night, they did sparklers and they also lit these wish lanterns which were really pretty!
Sunday, we didn’t have too much time before we had to head to the airport, but Cameron and I really wanted to see some of the historical sights in Philadelphia before we left town. We are both pretty interested in American history, and the city played a really important role in the birth of our nation. Plus, one of the nice things about being pregnant is that you can plan to wake up early morning after a wedding with your college friends without having to worry about possible effects from the night before 😉
We ended up having breakfast at this cute place called
Fitzwater Cafe – it was delicious!
I had creme brulee french toast with fresh berries which was the stuff preggo dreams are made of, and then Cam really enjoyed that giant hunk of a breakfast burrito you see in the background 🙂
A lot of the historical sites in Philadelphia are located in a fairly small area, so it was easy to walk around and see everything in a short amount of time. The weather on Sunday was a little iffy and we got rained on a few times, but overall, it was a really nice day!
We didn’t wait in line to go see the Liberty Bell, but we got a glimpse through the window instead.
The front of Independence Hall, which we toured later in the afternoon.
Benjamin Franklin is buried in Philadelphia and his legacy is evident all over the city.
The bump and I in front of the Betsy Ross house 🙂
Inside of historic Christ Church that was founded in 1695 – crazy!
We visited the Benjamin Franklin Museum, which was really interesting! It gave lots of detail about his life as well as some of his inventions on display, like this instrument he designed, the glass armonica. It makes tones like the ones you get from running your finger around the rim of a wine glass.
Carpenters’ Hall hosted the First Continental Congress back in 1774!
The city has lots of beautiful architecture, so it was fun to walk around.
Finally, we toured Independence Hall, which was where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. The rooms looked familiar from historical paintings and it was really cool to see this place that is essentially the birthplace of the United States of America!
And of course, we had to stop to get Philly cheesesteaks before heading out of town! There are a ton of different places that have them around the city, and it sounds like there is lots of debate over which one is the best. We ended up going to Pat’s because it was the oldest and it was…good. Not amazing in my opinion, but then again, I don’t really love cheesesteaks so I’m probably not the best judge 🙂
It was a quick trip to Philly, but we had a really nice time and always love seeing new places! 🙂
