Liz and Steven: Willy Nilly in Philly

At the end of April, I had the good fortune of traveling with some coworkers to the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia! I had never been there before, so I was really excited about this opportunity to be flown out there for a conference. We flew out early Wednesday morning and came back late Saturday evening.

I thought Wednesday would seem very short since we were flying that day, but it was anything but: We got into Philly before noon and decided to check into the hotel before moseying to check in at the conference (which started Thursday). Fortunately, my room was (the only room) ready, so I let everyone throw their travel goodies into my abode for the next few nights. As we walked to the room, I took the opportunity to give my head and patience a break from loud voices that were seemingly incapable of shutting off the entire morning, flight, shuttle ride, etc: I reiterated the signs in my hall that said my floor was a "Quiet Floor," and if you wanted to enter my room, you had to abide by one rule: It is a "quiet room." ...seriously. Momma only has so much patience.

Our hotel was pretty conveniently located in the heart of downtown, and everything from end-to-end of the city was in walking distance. We walked toward the convention center and stopped for lunch at a little diner in the huge Reading Terminal. I had the best crab cake sandwich of my life! That night, a (much needed) small group went to a super cute English-style restaurant called The Dandelion. It's very historical looking, set in at least three stories, with quaint furnishings, delicious food, and great presentation. (Unfortunately, I didn't think to use my camera phone until my last evening there.)

Got up early Thursday for a very full day of conferencing! I've never been to a conference of that size, so it was really an amazing experience for me. Yes, I know, and nerdy...very nerdy. I'm proud of that! Some sessions were literally blocks apart because the convention center is so big, similar to the Indy convention center. I took a couple videos of the "home base" for the conference, which you will probably only be interested in if you are a math teacher and really wanted to go but weren't able to. Otherwise, you might want to keep scrolling... :-)

Friday was another very full day of conferencing. When you have work obligations from 7 am to almost 5 pm, it makes any sort of sight-seeing quite the challenge. I did find a loophole in the art museum, of all perfect places, stays open until 8 pm on Fridays. Jackpot!! After my Friday sessions, I began my beautiful stroll along the streets of Philly to visit one of the largest art museums in the United States.

Along the walk is the Rodin Museum, an extension of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the largest collection of Rodin's work outside of Europe. It is currently closed for renovations until fall, but I still meandered around the beautiful gardens, which are part of the museum. I wasn't completely heartbroken since I visited a huge Rodin traveling exhibit while in Switzerland. THAT was impressive.

A few minutes later, I made it! ::cue "The Eye of the Tiger":: Oh, wait, someone already did: There was a vendor sitting on the stairs of the museum trying his darnedest to sell Rocky gear, listening to "The Eye of the Tiger" for probably the 300th time just that day. Lucky him.

A beautiful view of the city on a beautiful day. I'm not gonna lie...after that long walk through the city and hauling my pregnant self up all those stairs, I felt like I should strike a Rocky pose! Alas, I refrained.

There was a fantastic Van Gogh exhibit at the museum when I went there, but it required reservations. I was bummed for about half a second until I realized that I went to THE Van Gogh museum in the Netherlands. Funny how quickly you can forget all the places you've been and things you've done...

The gorgeous master staircase inside the museum.

I found this painting really interesting. Click the caption below to enlarge and read it if you have the time.

The museum stays open past five on Fridays because they do this amazing thing called Art After 5 every Friday night, where they bring in some form of entertainment: musicians, comedians, etc.! They line the balcony around the grand staircase with little tables with black table cloths and candle sconces, and the same tables form a seating area at the bottom of the staircase. It is a cocktail, wine, and hors d'oeuvres filled evening of fun!

People have reserved seating on the stairs, and when it was completely full, reminded me of the Spanish Steps in Rome.

I continued to wander the museum and check out my homeboy, Monet. I was quite pleasantly surprised at the vast number of his works they had at this museum! There were so many of his pieces, both early and late, that I really took my time in the Impressionist rooms. I could have taken so many pictures of so many pieces, but I always document the new Monet pieces I see...

A close-up of the previous painting.

His use of color was so exquisite.

I did not take a picture of the painting that this is the caption for, but the caption itself is quite hilarious. Read if you have time!

Another close-up.

The impressionist room luckily had some benches to allow for greater absorption of all the art. Love it!

The performer for Art After 5 when I was there was a drag queen who enhanced the show with audience commentary in between songs. Quite humorous. I wish some family or friends had been there to enjoy it with me!

Still beautiful outside for my walk back to the hotel!

I don't know if my pregnant body was entirely appreciative of all the traveling, and in response it retaliated by making my feet swell up like watermelons! By the time I made it back to the hotel, I could barely walk from the bed to the bathroom to soak my dingos! I took the opportunity to enjoy a little room service pampering with one of the most delicious burgers I have ever eaten in my entire life! (And for what I paid, I'm glad it was!)

I got up early (again) on Saturday and enjoyed a solitary stroll to and from the conference for a morning of browsing vendors before flying out around noon.