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Philadelphia

With summer half way through we wanted to go on a mini getaway; Philadelphia was the perfect place for us to explore.

Under 2 hours from NYC it’s the perfect place for a quick weekend road trip and a great place for kids to learn some of our nations history!

To help plan your trip, we tracked down some of the most popular things to see and do in Philadelphia and put them all in one convenient place for you.

Where to Stay:

We wanted a place that was centrally located within walking distance to some of the main sites we wanted to explore.

Aloft Philadelphia Downtown did not disappoint!!! This hotel was in the perfect location, right next to the Philadelphia Convention Center and within minutes to all our favorite sites!

The Aloft Philadelphia Downtown is located in the original 1925 Liberty Title Building; as soon as you walk into the lobby you can appreciate the grand ceiling height and some of the original architectural charm.

Aside from its great location this hotel offers the following great services:

Pet Friendly
Onsite Gym
Parking (additional fee)
Free WiFi
Indoor & Outdoor Bar Area
Quick Service Grab & Go Meal AreA
Lounge Area with games and pool table (this was the perfect area for us to unwind after a day of exploring)

Our room was the perfect size for our party of 3. We stood on the 17th floor and had gorgeous views to the Philadelphia City Hall right down the block.

The beds were super comfy so we felt extremely relaxed and refreshed in the morning.

We highly recommend staying here; can’t be the convenience and great amenities this hotel has to offer at an affordable price.

What to do/Where to eat:

So we arrived in Philly Saturday afternoon, our room wasn’t ready so we valet our car and left our bags with the concierge.

We were starving but wanted something quick, so we walked towards City Hall and grabbed a few sandwiches from Subway then headed back to eat in the hotel.

We hung out in the lobby area and devoured our food (did I mention we were starving??).

By the time we were done eating and took a few pics our room was ready, we grabbed our bags and headed right to our room.

After relaxing for a bit and settling in we called an Uber and went to explore the Blue Cross River Rink. (It was way tooooo hot for us to walk so we jumped on an Uber - $8 ride)

The Blue Cross River Rink was the perfect place for us to spend our Saturday Afternoon.

Mike and Sam tried their luck at the boardwalk style games... but ended up empty handed.

Then we walked around and took in the views of the water.

After exploring the area we got our skate rentals and where ready for some fun on the rink! This was such a fun experience... it transported me back to my childhood!

The music was fun, the atmosphere was great and I only fell once... but the hot weather got the best of us so we decided to end the day with some delicious lemonade!! During the winter months this boardwalk themed area turns into a winter wonderland. Including an ice skating rink!!

We then jumped on another Uber and headed straight out the Liberty Bell. Entrance is FREE but be prepared to wait in line especially if you go in the afternoon like we did.

Afterwards we walked around the corner to see the first post office in the US. We were a bit tired so we opted to just take pics of the outside.

We started to make our way back to the hotel and decided to walk back now that the sun was going down.

We finally made it back to our hotel and relaxed before heading to dinner.

For dinner we headed over for some delicious Peruvian food!! Trust me guys the food here did not disappoint! And the service was outstanding. Make sure to save some room for dessert!

Our energy was starting to wear off so we decided to make our way back to our hotel.

We hung out in the lounge area and played a few rounds of pool.

The following morning we were sooo tired so we decided to sleep in. It was time for us to get ready for a full day of exploration.

Unfortunately our time at Aloft came to an end and we checked out of the room.

Love that we were able to keep our car parked with valet while we explored around. (Make sure to check with the concierge on the time limits)

We are not big breakfast people so we decided to just grab some Dunkin Donuts. On our way we first stopped at Love Park - literally less than a 5 minute walk from our hotel.

We then walked towards the Philadelphia Museum of Art and stopped to take some great pics along the way.

We were sooo happy when we finally made it... just like any tourist would do we ran up the 72 steps just like in the Rocky movie!!!

After successfully running up without passing out we celebrated by taking a pic right next to the Rocky statue.

Due to time constraints we didn’t get to explore the Rowboat Section which is a few minutes from here.

Instead we walked over to explore the Eastern State Penitentiary. Once we arrived, we were handed an audio set, which used on our self-guided tour. The prison was easy to navigate and we were transported in time to the days these cells were filled with people. Life the notorious Al Capone who served a sentence in this prison. The Eastern State Penitentiary was the first prison to keep it's prisoners in complete solitary confinement.

We then took another Uber and decided to grab some lunch.

No trip to Philly would be complete without a stop for their famous cheesesteaks... so we went to the #1 place... Geno’s!!! But be prepared to wait in line AND don’t forget to bring cash as they don’t take cards.

This was Sams first time eating cheesesteak and she LOVED it!!

We then decided to walk off all the food and walk to our next destination.

Another highlight of the trip was visiting the Philadelphia Magic Gardens.

TIP:Make sure to get tickets in advance as this place sells out - also don’t worry about the time on the ticket, the ticket will be valid for entrance anytime before closing.

AND just like that our weekend trip to Philadelphia came to an end. A huge thank you to Aloft Hotels, the Eastern State Penitentiary, and Blue Cross River Rank, for hosting our stay.