Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
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Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Visit: Liberty Bell {Philadelphia, PA}

October 27, 2012 · Narrative

LB - pillar
So when I found out that the Philadelphia Zoo was only 12 miles from where we were staying on Nick’s belated birthday celebration weekend, it was a given that we would visit it.

I mean, seriously. My kids + animals = no brainer.

And when we were renting a stroller at the zoo because we seriously had to walk like a mile just to get to the entrance, I asked the friendly stroller rental girl how far exactly the Liberty Bell was from the zoo.

“Less than 15 minutes.”

So it stands to reason that we couldn’t NOT visit the Liberty Bell.

And I could have totally taken this line of rationale until we ended up somewhere in the middle of the country looking for other national treasures. But four kids, busy weekend, I didn’t want to overdo it, you know?

I mean, a girl’s gotta know her limits.

Which means another trip to Philadelphia is definitely in the offing because there’s still so much to see and do.

But the Liberty Bell? I don’t know, for some reason I was fixated on it.

I’m 42 years old. And, doing some rough math, we’ve lived under two hours from the Liberty Bell for about 30 years of my life.

And I’ve never seen it.

And little facts like those are how my future bucket lists with the kids (oh you should see the things we want to do together!) get made.

Because while I have been to Brussels, and Crete, and Scotland, and Paris. I haven’t seen the Grand Canyon. Niagara Falls. And a million other places in the good US of A.

Growing up, with my Dad’s old job, there was a lot of international travel, not so much domestic.

So there is a lot of ground to cover.

Like literally.

So the bell.

When we left the zoo, it was after 3 pm on Sunday. I seriously debated. Go find the bell or just go home. Should we? Shouldn’t we?

We went for it. I told the kids, who really wanted to go see it, that we would see if we could find it, how busy it was, and the parking situation. We would give it a go.

Using the GPS, I found the area and went up and down the streets. Partially because the Google’d address wasn’t specific. I could tell the general area of where the bell was supposed to be, but couldn’t tell specifically. As in there it is and here’s where I should park.

And part of the problem? Because for some wild reason, in my mind’s eye, I pictured the bell being at the top of some grassy plain, open and out. I know, weird.

Because it’s clearly not.

Which is why I was having trouble figuring out where exactly the darn thing was.

So I deduced it was in a building (for all you future Liberty Bell hunters!) and decided to look for parking. I really wanted to avoid paying for a parking garage (even though it was pretty cheap – $12 or so), and ended up finding a side street right across the street from where the bell was.

With one lone space. That was only slightly illegal. Like it said “no parking,” but not in the technically the very exact spot where I, um, parked. So as we got out and I ushered the kids to the sidewalk, I mostly said a silent prayer that the car would be there when we got it.

And, spoiler alert, phew, it was.

LB - entrance

We got in the line outside the bell’s building, making our way to the inside, through security guards who made us turn around and do the hokey pokey while they looked through my bag.

And if you’ve ever held my purse, you know what a trip that was.

And then Nick wanted to know why we had to spin around and why they wanted to look at our backsides.

So yeah.

The line moved super quickly, and we were inside in minutes, reading the panels, and totally taking in the history. Madeline was too young to really take it all in, the enormity of it, and I did my best to break it down. For the boys, it was more important, because they knew some of the history behind the bell.

And for me, it was a good refresher. And a check off the bucket list.

LB - proclaim

After reading all the background and getting our history on, there it was.

The bell. Something so big in our history books was suddenly much smaller right in front of us. But wow, how cool to be there, and step into the pages of the history.

And there were five of us, age 4 to 42, and it was the first time any of us had see the Liberty Bell. How cool is that?

LB-  the crew

The kids asked if they could touch it.

Um, no. And thank goodness it was cordoned off a bit and there was a security guard or six.

Because you never know.

So we read. And stood in awe. And took it all in. Got our pictures.

And exited stage right, into the crisp clear, blue sky’d afternoon. Walking past the horse and carriage rides.

And thankfully to the car, which was still right where I left it.

If you visit the Liberty Bell, Coco Key is less than 15 minutes away, so you can easily make a fun little weekend out of it.

And the zoo? Coming soon!

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Posted In: Narrative · Tagged: CoCo Key, day trips, history, Liberty Bell, Philadelphia, Revolutionary War, things to do in Philadelphia, vacation

Comments

  1. Cathy says

    October 27, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    that poor security guard…

    Reply
    • Cate says

      October 27, 2012 at 11:46 pm

      Haha took me a sec to figure out what you meant. In my defense, my purse was only heavy this time because I was carrying provisions for four other people who are unable to carry anything for themselves. ;) that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

      Reply
  2. Joanne says

    October 28, 2012 at 8:08 am

    I’ve never been to see the Liberty Bell either! Or to Philly in general. One of these days…

    I’ll probably have to plan to run a race there to get myself to go. :P
    Joanne recently posted..Recipe: Banana Cake with Mocha Frosting and Salted Candied Peanuts

    Reply
  3. patsy says

    October 28, 2012 at 7:59 pm

    You know, we tried to find it when we went to the Franklin Institute in Philly… and NEVER figured out where the Liberty Bell was… so, we left without seeing it. :( I’ll be in touch next time we decide to try so that you can give me an idea of what I’m looking for!
    patsy recently posted..Halloween Treats and a Storm is on the Way

    Reply
  4. paula says

    October 29, 2012 at 10:02 am

    I honestly don’t know if I’ve seen the Liberty Bell up close. I’ve walked by it plenty of times, but I can’t say that I ever went inside.

    Reminds me of one of the coolest things about living in Philly, walking along and night and finding yourself sharing the same sidewalk as Ben Franklin on his way home. And once the Phantom of the Opera was walking along warming his voice up a few blocks from the theater when Phantom of the Opera was in town. At least I hoped he was with the show – I was half impressed, half creeped out when I saw him.

    Reply

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
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