Chipotle!

Here we are at our favorite taco joint. Yummy!

Haunted Forest

Here is Jamie and her RA's Rachael and Matt at the Thomson Haunted Forest. Scary!

Out and About...

Here are Jamie, Heather, and Heidie out on the town.

Pictures from Philadelphia Below!

Be sure to check them all out! There are lots...

UPDATE: Since this site was getting spammed with bogus comments on the posts, I added the thingy where you have to type in some wierd letters and numbers to post comments. In case you want to post, don't be alarmed...

Independence Hall

Here it is. On the left is the security building we had to pass through to get to the Bell and Independence Hall (It was just easier than airport security. We didn't have to take off our shoes, but that was the only difference. Come 45 minutes early!) The building on the right houses the Liberty Bell.

George is out front.

Here is a plaque talking about all that went on inside.

And yes, Mom, I stood in front of Independence Hall, just like JFK.

Inside Independence Hall

Here is the inside. This is the stairway to the top (where the Centennial Bell now hangs.) They wouldn't let us up there. No, Mom, I didn't jump the railing.


They only let us into the two main rooms on the main floor. This one was the Pennsylvania court house. Between the windows in the back (you can hardly see it) is the seal of the state of Pennsylvania. On July 8, 1776 the British coat of arms that used to hang there was ripped down by constitutional militia after the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Philadelphia in the courtyard outside.


Here's where the magic happened. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed in this room. However, the only authentic piece of furniture is Washington's chair that stands at the back of the room.There is a half-sun on the top of the back of the chair (I bet you can't see it in my picture.) As the delegates argued over the Constitution, it was said that Benjamin Franklin sat and wondered if the sun on the chair would be a rising sun or a setting sun. It turned out that it was a rising one.

Liberty Bell

Don't forget this! If you can imagine, we spent a bit of time in this room. As you can see, the 'ol Liberty Bell is in a building so you can see Independence Hall in the background. I have dozen of pictures, but here are just a few...





It's the coolest. I says: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

Boat House Row

Here is the view of "Boat House Row" from below the Art Museum. Pretty much, the boat houses are rowing clubs' little clubhouses. The day we where there they were having a crew tournament. From the look of the houses it looked like they were fraternities for old guys...

In the bottom of the picture is Philadelphia's old water treatment plant (according to Riley?) Off to the right you can see the boat houses.

Here's a closeup from the same spot.

Here are two of them. I thought they were the coolest...

And here is the extreme closeup from right close to the river.

Benjamin Franklin

For all you history buffs...

Here is Ben's grave (it cost $2 to get in to the cemetery, and since we were doing our trip on a limited budget...)And here is the chronology of his life. Click to enlarge!

Philly Art Museum

I was slightly obsessed with this building. Isn't it awesome?

Has anyone seen Rocky? Here's Riley and Jamie...

Here you can see how amazing the architecture was.

And here we are with the city in the background...

Phillies and Eagles!

Here's the home of the Phillies: Citizens Bank Park.



Here's where the Eagles play. Only now do I realize I forgot to take a picture of the building the 76ers play in. Oops.

All of us with Riley...

Here we all are. Riley in his Navy getup:





Here are some pictures of Riley's little row house.

Other Sites

Here are some other things we checked out.

Here's the US Mint in Philly. You know the quarters that are stamped with a "P"? They're from here. Oh, and all the pennies in circulation. I forget how many exactly, but they make something like 6 billion pennies a year. You can't bring a camera or a cell phone in there, and behind the pink concrete barricades in front of the building that are there to keep someone from driving a truck loaded with explosives up to the front door of the building is an armed guard. Friendly...
Philly cheese steak anyone? This is where to get one. Jamie had one with "whiz". Yes, that's a Philly cheese steak with cheez whiz. I had one a bit more normal...

Look who was at Geno's! There were a ton of famous pictures there, and one of a famous doctor!


And here's the Constitution Center. We didn't actually go inside, but the inscription on the front was cool...

Philadelphia!

Here are some preliminary pictures of our trip Philly!

Here we are next to the river with boathouses in the background.

Grundy Center Football!

The afternoon before the game, the Coach goes over the plays with his #1 Assistant...


Before the game Phil does his thing...
The Spartans hit the field to start the game...

The Spartans hit the field to start the second half. (Do you like the streak? I didn't mean to do it, but it looks cool...)


The team listens to a talk from the Coach after the game.

Remember - click to enlarge!

PS - I apologize for any dark or fuzzy photos...