In case anyone was curious, We did indeed make it to Philly weekend before last. We had great fun. The hotel was just on the edge of, well, um, a not so great part of town, but mostly there were students where we were.
I was the official "Put your nose down, don't make eye contact, act like you know what you are doing, and the subway will be perfectly safe" person! I have never used public transportation (except with parents when we visited DC a zillion years ago.... I think it was the Roosevelt administration (actually Carter)) and I was a pro on the subway! had to transfer trains and everything!! We also used the Philly Phlash a couple times, and that was fun! smelled better, too!
We did the Historical stuff. Missed the mint, as the lines were long and DH wanted to leave. (We saved it for the last day so he could go with us, since he is a bean counter!) Saw the Franklin Institute Science museum (where Tut was) but skipped the Tut part since we had already seen it.
We ate at Pat's... were gonna do a comparison, but did not have a chance to get back to Gino's! Of course, everybody at Pat's said it was the best! I did hear one brave soul say (softly!) that Gino's had better fries, but he was quickly admonished by his friends! It was really good... Provolone pepper steak wit; cheese fries.
We also ate with our whole group at a Moroccan restaurant... that was an experience! You eat with your hands for the most part, using pita bread when possible. There was one germ-o-phobic lady with us, and I thought she was gonna die!! (The subway nearly did her in... she needed a vat of purell, and knew the kids were going to contract some horrible disease!) I think had it just been she and her hubby, she still would not have enjoyed it too much. My family loved it!
Dh also discovered he liked Vietnamese food, although I think that day dd and I were having s'barro or Wendy's for lunch... what an injustice!
All in all a wonderful trip! DD wanted to "Ride the Ducks" but that was very expensive. Hope we get to go back sometime.
I think next year's non-essential work-related trip might be to DC, so I may be asking more q's, tpg!