The Texans are coming! The Texans are coming! Ok, so doesn’t have the historical significance of Paul Revere, but still interesting! Over the last weekend, my dear Aunt Edna and my cousin Stephany came to visit from Texas. I had a few days off from work, so I made sure they got the most out of their trip to Jersey/Philly.
As soon as they got off the plane, I took them to Geno’s for the classic Philly staple – a cheesesteak. You can’t go wrong being greeted by a warm piece of steak, on a good roll, slathered with onions and cheese whiz – YUM. Afterwards we went back to my house and had a nice home meal of lasagna, salad, and bread. Jennifer and kids joined in.
Sunday, we went to Carlos Bakery in Hoboken, home of TLC’s Cake Boss. It was awesome. Sadly I didn’t meet Buddy, but we did meet his older sister Grace and got some delicious goodies (of course Grace’s eyes are closed in the picture I had with her). I got a 1/2 lb of cookies and two red velvet cupcakes. I’m not much of a sweets eater, but this was delicious. Afterwards we went to a nearby pizza shop for lunch and then headed home (side note, I can’t wait to go back and visit Hoboken – looks like an awesome town!!).
Monday we headed to Atlantic City. I lost $30 playing, but at least Aunt Edna and Stephany came home ahead. Since I’m not much of a gambler to begin with (I hate losing money), I went to the outlets and did some shopping. We had a delicious dinner at Carmines (if there is a Carmines restaurant, you can be sure I can sniff it out of anywhere!)
Tuesday we went to Philly and did a lot of historical sight-seeing. We started with a tour of Independence Hall followed by the Liberty Bell. Afterwards we headed the National Constitution Center. We watched the show “We the People” and walked around learning about the early developments of the Constitution and how we have moved forward as a nation. Aunt Edna even got sworn in as President! We also saw the Art of the American Soldier Exhibit. It was completely moving to see art from the front lines for wars in the 20th and 21st Centuries. I highly recommend it. We ordered lunch from Carmens Deli in Bellmawr and then I dropped them off at my Aunt Lillian’s for the remainder of the week (sadly, I had to go back to work).
I’d say it was a successful vacation – we covered a lot in 4 days (including eating all local staples – Italian food, cheesesteaks, pizza, and hoagies). I completed two more tasks on my 101 things in 1001 days challenge. We laughed a lot, enjoyed listening to my Aunt’s stories about the old days! I’m looking forward to getting to Texas soon (another item on the list) and seeing all that Houston has to offer!
Check out my vacation pictures on Snapfish (to be uploaded soon on Facebook as well)
Shannon's Shenanigans 