Ryan's Visit

I was very excited today because RYAN WAS COMING TODAY!!! My most wonderfuliest friend was driving all the way down from New Jersey to see me! (Ok, he was coming from Center Valley to see me, but he drove from New Jersey to Center Valley, so it still counts). Needless to say that I am a very lucky girl.

I was also a hungry girl and we started the morning off with a walk to Federal Donuts, which is another donut shop from the list that specializes in donuts and fried chicken. I didn’t know that the donut/fried chicken combo was a thing, but apparently, it is and I’m behind on the times. Since I’ve been trying a lot of trendy, designer donuts recently, I’ve decided to branch out a bit and try new flavors; I went with a strawberry shortcake donut! The strawberry glaze was a tad sweeter than I would have liked but the donut itself was wonderful.

Next, it was time to meet Ryan!! Now, I love him to death, but Ryan is almost always late. And by “almost always” I mean “always” and today was no exception. We were supposed to meet up at the National Constitution Center (free admission today in honor of Independence!) at 10, but Ryan didn’t arrive until 10:20. To be fair, the parking garage at the Constitution Center was full and he ended up driving to Camden, but a trend is a trend. I was so excited to see him! Gah! *insert awkward happy dance that I did when I saw him here*

Exhibit A

The National Constitution Center was very crowded since it was free today but we made our way through the large groups of campers and tourists to the Speaking Out for Equality Exhibit. It was an exhibit that detailed the history of gay rights and marriage equality. I am pleased to report that this exhibit is now woefully outdated because Love Wins and marriage equality for everyone. It was still really cool to walk around and see everything. I really liked the wall of post-its (see Exhibit A). Notice all of the green post-its?! We actually saw a woman put a yellow post-it for disagree on the wall while we were there, talk about being in the wrong crowd. Checking out the giftshop, we found a display that had one of our favorite things: Americana! It literally defined Americana. Our obsession with Americana is a long story, but for those of you who don’t know what it is, here is the sign!

I must also add that I really don’t think the founding fathers had shot glasses in mind when they wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of alcohol

After that, we went to Reading Terminal Market where I got a monstrously gooey grilled cheese for lunch. They literally piled a mountain of homemade cheese on a slice of bread and then bam, deliciousness! So good!

We walked to the Betsy Ross house and thus began our hours-long wandering around Old City to random historic buildings and non-landmarks for the rest of the day. We just walked around and saw   the sights. We saw Benjamin Franklin’s grave and lots of other old stuff. We went to the Declaration House which is a recreation of Jacob Graff’s boarding house where Thomas Jefferson rented two rooms and wrote the Declaration of Independence. The building was torn down but for the Bicentennial, someone gave the Parks organization a ton of money and that was how they spent it. The building had actually been closed for some time and just reopened last week.

We got some afternoon ice cream from Franklin Fountain which was voted the best ice cream in Philly. It was pretty pricey but very good. I’m not sure why it came in a Chinese food container because I’m pretty sure that Ben Franklin didn’t invent those, but I guess I can’t be positive. I got a scoop of chocolate because I didn’t want to buy the far more expensive milkshake, but I think I might need to stop back in tomorrow because it’s probably worth it!

Dats my best friend!

I seriously did not want to say goodbye to Ryan when all of this was over! I lay on top of his car to try to keep him from leaving. He was not amused… BUT like I said at the beginning of this post, I am a very lucky girl and I’m actually going to get to see him again next weekend. It feels like it is so far away!!!!!! He promised that he would look for postcards in South Plainfield, NJ for me but if not, we’re going hunting when I get there! It’s only been a few hours now and I already miss him.

After I begrudgingly said goodbye, we went on a hunt for dinner. We ended up at Mac’s Tavern, which is apparently owned by the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I was actually disappointed; you’d figure that a place with Mac in its name would have better mac and cheese…

Now, even though I miss Ryan like nobody’s business, tomorrow, I’m going to get to see lots of friends! My friend, Rose, is picking up me and Melissa tomorrow and driving us to Yardley, PA, which is where the Strine/Bajor wedding is happening! So many friends in one place! It’s going to be amazing.

P.S. I forgot to mention yesterday that in colonial times, squirrels were called skuggs and Benjamin Franklin used to give them to people as presents. From this moment on, I shall only call squirrels skuggs because I think it is a way better name for them!