Trip to Philadelphia

      A couple weeks ago I was in Philadelphia. I had booked a one way flight there, not knowing when I would return home. Personally I like plans and I like to know what exactly I am doing each day and where I will be, but I decided to finally go with the flow and see where I would end up, take a chance and have an adventure. 
      I arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday and picked up my rental car. It was my first time renting a car and I was nervous because I'm so used to my Toyota. I was given a Ford car and later asked the valet parking guy how to open the trunk and the gas tank because I wasn't used to it. I figured out the sensitive break pedal though and was able to arrive in downtown Philadelphia. 
      I first walked around and took a tour of Independence Hall followed by the Liberty Bell. 

      After a few hours of walking around, I grabbed some lunch at Whole Foods before checking into my hotel. I stayed at the Windsor Suites so I had my own kitchen which was great for keeping a few groceries and saving money on eating out. 
      My first evening, I went into the Free Library and also walked around the museum area until dark. 

Free Library

taking pictures at a fountain

   On Wednesday, I went to the Academy of Natural Sciences in between interviews. I felt like a kid again as I explored the dinosaur exhibit. I also enjoyed seeing how they are incorporating newer technology with exhibits. When I went to dinosaur exhibits as a kid, these ipads didn't exist...(you hold it up to the picture and the dinosaur comes to life on the screen, you can tap it and it runs and you can turn it, zoom in, zoom out and examine all angles of it)

       Thursday was my last day staying in Center City, so in the morning I went to the Franklin Institute which I really enjoyed. My favorite exhibit was the one about the body and heart. I was able to see how big the heart is in different animals and also stepped on a scale to see approximately how much blood is in my body. 

I also found these water facts interesting.

    After that museum, I picked up my bags from the hotel and drove to my next hotel in suburb of Philadelphia and the next 2 days were spent apartment hunting and exploring the giant King of Prussia mall. 

        I planned out my Philadelphia trip rather well and luckily it did work out that my boyfriend Brian got some time off from work to pick me up in Philadelphia at the end of my week there. Then it was off to Binghamton, NYC and DC for the next week.