Girl's Day in Philly

This past weekend, my girlfriend and I spent most of Saturday roaming Philadelphia and enjoying being out together while our girls were home with our hubbies. It was so nice to be able to finish our sentences and indulge a bit in what we wanted to do. A perfect Mother's Day present to us!

We started off by browsing the stands at the flea market that took up the entire perimeter of the prison. It was incredible! So. Much. Stuff. And it was all so fun to take in - things from old pictures, hats and bags to antiques, collectibles and some just plain, old junk. But you know what they say, one person's trash is another person's treasure.

After "shopping" we took a self-guided tour of the Eastern State Penitentiary. I have never been before, have heard a lot about it and it turned out to be a really cool place. It made for some great photography practice too. I've always seen it on those "Things To Do in Philly" and now I'm glad to be able to say that I've seen it. Might be a fun place to take out-of-town guests and it only took us less than 2 hours to see the whole thing.

Kind of a neat shot of the switchboard in one of the cell block rows, with my friend in the background. Some of the pictures I took came out looking very eerily and that was not done on purpose. Guess it helps to have a place that is just plain, ol'eery to begin with.

The barber's chair.

Al Capone's cell, he had a much nicer cell than the other inmates with a desk and nice linens for the bed.

There were these very creepy white sculptures of cats all over the place that made me jump more than once. Later we found out from an employee that they were part of an art exhibit. They added to the eeriness of the prison.

I loved this one. The color of the cracking paint and the black entrance in the background sort of fuzzed out...so creepy.

Hello! Random huge mirrors in the one entrance of the cell blocks.

There's another cat again.

For some reason, seeing this mop set gave me a weird feeling, like they were just used or something. They were definitely from back in the day and part of the whole ambiance, but it was a nice touch to keep them there for effect.

Another cat. I did not like them.

Can you spot another cat in this picture? On top of the roof of the building in the foreground.

Gorgeous blue skies. Gloomy, dark tower.

*******

Off to our third part of the day....eating! We had lunch at The Pita Pit and it was inexpensive and delicious! I felt like after all our walking, it was the perfect place to just eat a ton and know you were eating healthy.

Then to Rittenhouse Square for a walk through the best.store.ever. - ANTHROPOLOGIE! Trish and I love this store and very rarely do we get to check it out. And what's best is that Rittenhouse location is huge and there is just so much to look at. I didn't buy anything, but just had so much fun taking it all in.

There was a magician at Rittenhouse Park that just made me smile. Big red feather in his hat and a big, fat cigar in his hand. Oh and yes, that is a bottle of alcohol in his other hand.

And the perfect end to a perfect day...Max Brenner. Trish has been before and I've only heard good things from her, but this was my first time and I will most definitely be making a return trip. It was a chocoholics dream come true! Remember when I said we had a healthy lunch?? Well, that was because we knew we were going to overindulge at this place. All the walking we did, all those calories burned...it was so worth it though!

Can you say delizioso!!! I ordered the S'mores concoction. If you ever find yourself at a Max Brenner, do yourself a favor and order this. It was incredible!