Yo Adrienne!!

Since I have the weekend off, we decided to spend it in Philadelphia! This was my first trip to PA. We drove so we traveled through Delaware and New Jersey on the way to and from Phila. It cost $9 just in tolls to get there, but it was only about an hour drive.
We parked near the Independence Visitor Center. We had bought Philadelphia Passes onling the night before so we had to wait til 11 to pick them up. First, we went to the Reading Terminal Market. This market is really interesting. It has fish and produce stands, bakeries, used books, cheesesteaks, dutch goods, crafts, music, and a beer garden. It was neat just to see and we got cookies from Famous Cookies and they were delicious!
Next we went to Hard Rock Cafe to pick up our Phila passes. They are also available at the Independence Visitor Center. From there we walked about a mile to Pat and Geno's Steaks. These two Cheesesteak Restaurants both claim to be the original and the best. They have been shown on Food Network and The Travel channel. They are literally right across the street from each other and have been the two biggest steak rivals for decades. We decided to try both. First Pat's! As a beginner, I learned quickly they don't like u to be slow. You must know what u want when u get in line and have ur money ready. We were a little disappointed at Pat's. Drink was flat and cheesesteak not the best we'd ever had. We headed across the street to Geno's. The line alone was proof it was probably better than Pat's. We were satisfied. The guys working were exactly how you would picture them. Greased back hair, tight shirts, and gold chains. The italian look i suppose.
Afterwards, we decided to take a Ride the Ducks tour. This tour was included in the price of our Philadlephia Pass and would have been 25 dollars without it. The tour is a bus that shows you highlights of philadelphia and then turns into a boat for part of the tour and takes you into the delaware river. Our guide was upbeat and fun! He sang songs and acted crazy! We all got quack kazoos to play during the tour that looked like duck beaks. It was well worth it.
After the Duck tour, we hopped on the subway to see if we could get tickets to the Phillies game. It was soldout but we were hoping we could buy some outside the stadium. I now know the subways in Phila expect u to have exact change. The man working at the turnstyle was extremely rude because I didn't know it had to be exact. We got to the stadium and tryed to buy tickets. We ended up with some awesome tickets behind 3rd base on the first level. The game was a lot of fun!
After the game, we went to McGillin's Old Ale House which is stated to be the oldest continuously running tavern in the US. The atmosphere was great! It was dim in the bar and had old wooden tables and doors. The beer was also tasty! We headed home after because we were tired. We will return tomorrow for Part 2. We plan to do most of the historical parts tomorrow.