Buck Wild, NJ/PA - Part 1

So, I realized a few things from our short trip to NJ and PA:

1) Read ahead when traveling to another state to learn about where they sell important things: beer, liquor...food, beer.
2) Read ahead when traveling to another state to learn about their interesting or ridiculous (perspective here people) traffic control mechanisms.
3) Read ahead when traveling to another city to figure out, at least a little bit, about where you want to go - especially when, in this age, you realize you do not have internet access the day of your visit.
4) Rolling solo with a baby in a city = not the easiest day in the world.

So, thus begins my short trip to NJ and PA. Well, not PA, but a whopping 4 or 5 hours in Philly.

I'll make this easy to read and won't bore you with one, droning, relentless work of rambling. Multiple parts, people, multiple parts. So, part one in a series.

We headed to Moorestown, NJ, for (enter not my own reasons). I originally had thought we were headed to Morristown and would be able to hit up NYC. OK, OK. I screwed up, so instead I get Philly for a day. Good enough.

We stayed in Mt. Laurel, NJ, only 20 minutes or so from Philly. I get up the morning after our arrival to a lovely, soulful, and completely whining baby. I love her, but damn did she cry all morning. I realized when we left the hotel at 9am that she was really tired. Whatever. Parking in Philly was ridiculous, especially since I did not and do not know a damn thing about that city (#3 above). Twenty bucks. For 91-12 hrs of parking, $20. Good enough. I told myself that I would pay up to 20 or 30, so good enough, all around. However, a tired, fussy baby and a Jackson on
parking? I'm not so sure about this joint.

I thought we'd try to hit some history before food and drink, so we headed straight for the hot shit: Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc. Well, again, tough shit, jerk. Too many people, too many tour groups, too many kids. So, we just took random photos - here's my favorite:

Needless to say, we walked this day. We strolled for awhile around a lot of historical sites, then finally decided to find the Reading Terminal Market. If you've ever been to Boston, it's similar to Faneuil Hall. Just FYI. It was fun to roam, but not the easiest thing in the world with a baby, rolling solo (#4 above). Regardless, I ate some fried clams from Wan's Seafood (seriously, it's fried clams - not rocket science). But RTM is pretty cool. Lots of selections of food styles, a beer garden, and places to buy (relatively) fresh food items. Really, I was pissed when I saw frozen poultry items. Poultry is poultry, but don't roll with frozen. Damn. Whatever. Here is my one photo from there:

So, that's my first part of the day in Philly. Totally uninteresting, but it does get better. Regardless, I roamed for awhile which I really, really like to do in big cities. More will come later, including baby diapers in Chinatown, South Street, and my first beer of the day!