This past July my husband Alex and I took a quick but jam-packed trip to Philadelphia. Here is a recap of what we did, how much it cost, and what we would do differently in the future!
Lodging: For our hotel, we wanted to be in the city-center and knowing that this would cost us more money then we wanted to spend, we decided to try out hotwire.com. Yes, that H-O-T-W-I-R-E, hotwire.com of the jingle from the early 00’s. You go onto their website, pick a city, and it shows you the discounted rates of hotels along with the ratings without revealing the hotel name. We booked it and received Club Quarters Hotel right where we wanted to be in the city center. The cost was $115 for the night. Without discounts the usual cost for the room with fees is $150/night so I feel good about the savings. Cost: $115
12:00pm Arrived in Philadelphia– We parked our car in the hotel parking lot. Cost: $29
1:00pm Reading Terminal Market We walked to the famous Reading Terminal Market. It was super busy when we arrived, peak-lunch hour. After walking around the entire market, we decided to try a roast pork sandwich at DiNic’s. We had read that these were supposed to be the best roast pork sandwiches in the area (and voted best sandwich in America by travel channel) but we found them to be kind of bland… Next time we would definitely check out some of the traditional Amish restaurants. We grabbed some pastries (a canoli for me, an eclair for Alex) from Termini Brother’s Bakery and headed over to Love Park. Cost: $30
2:00pm Photo Op! We got our picture taken at the world famous Love status, a symbol for the city of brotherly love. It was not too busy when we went mid-day on a Friday. There was another family there that we took their photo and swapped so they took ours. Free
3:00pm Check-In We checked into our hotel and freshened up. Afterwards, we headed over to a bar nearby for a couple of drinks. Cost: $30
4:00pm Liberty Bell We walked down from our hotel area in Rittenhouse Square to the Old City area where everything is historic and awesome! We really wanted to go to Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were both signed) but failed at booking the timed tickets in advance and they had sold out for the day by the time we got there. We were out of luck for this trip but will definitely make it a priority next time! After that, we got in line to see the Liberty Bell. We waited in line for around 15 minutes before going in to watch an educational video on the symbolism and history of the bell and to see the bell itself. The bell was surprisingly close and there were not too many people crowding it so it made for a very cool experience. Free
4:45pm Paddys Pub Alex is a huge fan of the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia so we had to visit the real-life pub that the show is based on: Paddy’s Pub. We walked to the pub (which is actually located in a very nice part of town) and when we got inside we could DEFINITELY see how the pub influenced the show. It was locals only, the place reeked of smoke, and everyone was drinking beer from the bottle. We followed suit and eavesdropped on some of the locals’ conversations while we enjoyed our bottled Coors Lights. It was a success. Cost: $8
6:00pm Dinner For dinner we went to 2nd Story Brewing Co because we love to check out the local beers wherever we go. The food was pretty good (tip: if you get a salad ask for dressing on the side) and we enjoyed tasting the local brews! Cost: $70
7:30pm Walking Ghost Tour Cannot recommend this enough! We booked the tour through Free Tours By Foot and it was a definite highlight. The tour group met at Betsy Ross’s house and out from an uber bounded our fabulous guide, Toni. Toni led us through the historic streets of Philadelphia telling tales of ghosts from the American Revolution who haunt the houses, parks, and cemeteries with lots of suspense. The tour is technically free (pay what you will) but we tipped Toni $20 each for the 2 hour tour. Cost: $40
10:00pm We walked back to our hotel and called it a night.
7:00am We woke up early after not sleeping so great on the Club Quarters beds. The location was convenient but the accommodations were so-so. We had read that Federal Donuts were the thing to get in Philadelphia, so we walked to the shop which was a couple of blocks from our hotel. We tried six donuts, all of which we found to be way too sweet and a few too tart. It was the sugar smack we did not want or need. West Coast Donuts > East Coast Donuts Cost: $22
8:00am We walked around a bit in Rittenhouse Square. A Farmer’s Market was getting set up which seemed cool if we had arrived a little bit later in the morning! Free
9:00am Rocky Re-Creation One of the items on Alex’s bucket list items for the trip was to run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art like Rocky. We hopped in the car and drove over to the museum and found parking. We got in line for the Rocky statue photo-op and the people in line yelled at Alex to flex his muscles (like Rocky), which he did and it was a fun moment. Then, we went over to the infamous steps and Alex ran up the stairs and hopped in triumph! We walked up the stairs and grabbed a quick pic before heading back to the car. Free
10:00am Eastern State Penitentiary This was my favorite thing we did during the trip! As a ghost show lover, I was very familiar with the Eastern State Penitentiary as one of the most haunted places in America. The prison was operational from 1829-1971 and was the world’s first prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts aka a penitentiary. Guests wander through the prison led by an audio tour narrated by Steve Buscemi. There is an introductory part of the tour that leads you through the main prison with general history, but then you are free to explore and each cell tells a different story. Some highlights included Al Capone’s cell, the cell of a famous prison break, and the cell of a dog who was imprisoned. The tour also reflects thoughtfully on mass incarceration in the United States. The Eastern State Penitentiary is a must if you visit Philadelphia! Cost: $32
1:00pm John’s Roast Pork The last item on our list was to try a truly authentic Philly Cheesesteak! Alex had done a lot of research into this and while most tourists go to either Geno’s or Pat’s (these two restaurants have a rivalry as they are situated across from one another), we did some research into where the locals go and landed on John’s Roast Pork. It is a little bit off the beaten trail but when we got there it was packed so we knew we a made good decision. We waited in line for about 20 minutes before ordering and then waited another 10 minutes before our food was ready but when it came it was AMAZING! This was definitely one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. I still think about it sometimes and cannot wait to go back for another one. Cost: $30
2:00pm Our 26 hour trip in Philadelphia complete, we headed back to Jersey City and our cat, Emma.
The total cost for our trip was $406. At the time, we were not trying to be on an extreme budget so there are definitely areas that I would cut back on if we went back again. That said, we felt really good about our experience in Philadelphia and enjoyed our first trip to the fullest!
Sister Hack 