Travis and Tara's New England Adventure
March 22 - 30, 2002



Saturday was the last day of our vacation. We took some interesting roads which seemed on a map to be a shortcut, which may have been if there were signs directing us what road to take. Eventually we arrived in Philadelphia, and were all set to tour the National sites after lunch. For lunch we grabbed a bite to eat at McDonalds, and then viewed the free and unguarded historic places. Just kidding, we ate Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches from Jim's or Joe's (we can't remember which) on South Street. Tara had wanted to visit the Liberty Bell and the Declaration of Independance, but this would have involved waiting in a 2 hour line in the sun in front of the historic buildings, then being taken on a guided tour by National Guardsmen in fatigues (with machine guns). (I'm guessing they had some sort of docent as well, but besides the hassle, it was very unsettling to be in such a militant environment. I understand now why off-duty soldiers aren't allowed to roam the streets in uniform.) Instead, we took a carriage ride around the hill with a semi-knowledgeable driver/guide. Oh, the weather was beautiful! After freezing most of the previous week, San Diego temperatures in Philadelphia were wonderful.


 some tracks
 some more tracks
Here's a view of Liberty Hall. In front of it, one can see the front of the line of people waiting in the hot sun for their turn in the buildings. We decided on the carriage ride instead.
 It was a beautiful day, and even the city of brotherly love looked appealing.

After site seeing, we checked into our hotel and established communication and a plan for dinner with Tara's Aunt Alice and Uncle Bob. The supper maneuver was successful, and Tara was able to catch up on family gossip with Aunt Alice, while marvelling at Uncle Bob, who looks a lot like Tara's mom (but different!)
Afterwards, we returned the rental car and took a shuttle back to the hotel, where we napped briefly until some wee-hour of the morning to return to the airport in time for a 6am flight. EEEK!
 


That's the end of the trip!
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