After a wonderfully leisurely Sunday with my brother – sleeping in, church, yummy dinner, hanging out, we woke up early Monday morning, and got ready to head to Philadelphia.  I was not looking forward to driving in Philly – the roads really are insane there, and the traffic is awful.  Because of that, we researched the train as an option, and decided to drive to Lancaster and take the train to Philadelphia instead.  And I am so glad we did.

Arthur was beyond excited to get to ride on a train, and we had the best time.  Matthew got caught up on some things he needed to do to prepare for his work meeting that evening, and I read a book on my phone, while Arthur switched back and forth from playing games on an iPod to looking out the windows.

When we got off the train in Philadelphia, we tried using Uber for the very first time to take us to Matthew’s hotel, since we didn’t want to tour with his suitcase.  His room was ready, and so we got him all checked in before we began our adventures.  Then we were on a mission to get Matthew his authentic Philly Cheesesteak.  

We had done some research, and one of Kevin’s old Army friends who grew up in the area, told him that Steve’s Prince of Steaks was the place to go, and so to Steve’s we went.  And it turned out it was literally around the corner from Matthew’s hotel.  Awesome.  And they opened early, which was perfect, since it was just after 10am, and so we had a very early lunch.  The food was delicious too.

Our next stop was a really exciting one – we walked over to the Philadelphia Temple.  Matthew had been really impressed with the Washington DC temple, but that was nothing to how awed he was by the Philadelphia Temple.  It really is amazing.

Of course, we had to get pictures in front of the temple :).

The temple was closed, because it was a Monday, but the grounds were still open, so we got to wander around.  And we had the whole place to ourselves – I didn’t even see anyone in the visitor’s center.  In fact, the only person we saw, was someone sweeping leaves on the grounds.  Arthur loved visiting the temple :).

After visiting the temple, we hopped in another Uber, and headed to the Independence Mall to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.  Arthur was enthralled by the fun kid stuff at the visitors center, where we got our tour tickets.

We went to see the Liberty Bell first, and it was so nice to be there on a random Monday in December, because the place was practically empty.  And Arthur was just a little upset that the bell was broken, but other than that, he really liked it too.

After the Liberty Bell, it was time for our tour of Independence Hall.  I love that building – it is so beautiful.

We visited Independence Hall back in August, and it was so crowded and so busy.  Well, on a random Monday in December, it was a ghost town.  That meant that we got right into our tour, and that it was a small one – but it also meant that they took us into rooms that you never usually get to see – like the whole upstairs.  So cool!

The only little hiccup in our tour, was when five minutes into it, Arthur told me he had to go potty.  I told our Park Ranger, and he told me that the nearest restroom was across the street, and so I left the building, ran down to the gate where I could get out, took him to the bathroom, and then had to go through security again before I could go to Independence Hall to rejoin our tour.  I wasn’t loving having to go back through security again, but like I said before, the place was empty, and security was not only fast, but the guards remembered Arthur and went on and on about how cute he was :).  Luckily we didn’t miss too much.

After Independence Hall, we walked right on to a tour of the senate building, which was awesome.  It was another beautiful building, and I’m glad we got to see it.

When we finished up there, we had just enough time to spend about thirty minutes at another location before Arthur and I had to go back to the train station to catch our train.  We decided on the US Mint, and it was so cool!  The only bad thing about it, was that I couldn’t take any pictures there, because it was against the rules.  At the mint in Philadelphia, they make nickels and pennies, and we loved watching them be made – especially the giant rolls of sheet metal that go through the machine.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Matthew, which was sad.  We had had such a fantastic weekend together.  Arthur and I took an Uber back to the train station across town, and got ourselves a late lunch at this cool place at the station called Milkhouse, and rushed to catch our train. (The station is so pretty, by the way.)

We made it to the train, settled into our seats, and then enjoyed some delicious fries and grilled cheese :), and an hour later, we were in Lancaster – which also has a beautiful train station, just smaller.

Then it was back in the car and we headed home.  It was such a great day, and such a wonderful weekend with my brother, and I’m so grateful it worked out for him to visit.