The bus with the Disney Frozen cast didn't arrive in Philadelphia until about 5 am on 12-22, so after Joel slept in and recovered from traveling, we began a wonderful visit together. We didn't do that much on that Monday, but we did go to the downtown area where the Liberty Bell is, saw the Liberty Bell from an outside window, and my dad got to eat Philly Cheesesteak at Johnny Rockets.
On Tuesday, Annabelle and Joel and I had an amazing day at the Museum of American Jewish History and after we went to that museum, we saw the Liberty Bell, but his time, we saw it directly and from the inside of a warm building.
On Wednesday, in the pouring rain, drove drove to the University of Delaware so that he and Annabelle could do off-ice lifts together and skate together. They got to skate with their friend Jennifer Strand too. Not only did Joel do pairs with Annabelle, but the kids got to learn steps and have fun together on the ice. We all went out to eat after that with Jennifer and her father, David. That night, Joel, Annabelle, and I got to see the new modern version of Annie at a local movie theater.
On Thursday, 12-25, we had the treat of getting to watch Joel do an on ice class with his cast and then seeing him skate in the show! After the show we got some food at a local (CVS) since nothing was open and made a nice little holiday dinner for ourselves and then Joel. Grandpa and I had Marie Callendars Pot Pies and Annabelle had some sort of noodle dish and we got Totinos Pizza Rolls that he ate when he got back to the hotel since the cast did a 2 pm and 6 pm show.
On Friday evening, we ate at the City Tavern, which was the place the men that signed the Declaration of Independence relaxed. I was told to have the turkey pot pie there and it was so good!
On Saturday, we spent an amazing day at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I think seeing Van Gogh's famous Sunflower painting so close, is a memory I will never, ever forget! It was also great to see things from as early as the 6th and 7th Centuries, see American art, Picassso's paintings, and suits of armor!
Sunday was a day to socialize and also learn. We went to Independence Hall and took the tour and then visited with my pen-pal of 35.5 years, Debbie Knauss Hackman and her daughter, Rachel. What also made the encounter extra awesome was that through local politics, Deb knows Lisa Threston who I went to junior high school with! Lisa came to see me too. It was so fun to hear names and places from my childhood in Bel Air, California.
Speaking of Bel Air, there is also a Bel Air, Maryland, and that is where we went next to meet my friend Lynn McCoy halfway for dinner at a Cracker Barrell restaurant. It took two hours to get there since there was a lot of traffic, but only 1.5 hours to get back to Philadelphia.
On Monday, after we were packed, we hung out at the hotel until noon since we had a late check out, and then had another great FB encounter with Emily Batista who I know from the Ice Dancers Online Forum and also FB. It was great to hear about Emily's skating and the Philadelphia Skating Club.
During Joel's "three show days," Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday,...etc., we only saw him in the morning before he left for the Wells Fargo Center and late at night before we all went to sleep. We stayed at Joel's hotel and his room was across the hall from us, so visiting was easy.
We flew home to Colorado Monday night. It was so great to spend time with Joel and I'm also so glad we went to Philadelphia. It's a city I never thought I'd ever visit, but Joel's job has taken us to new places. It's been a good experience vistiing the east coast so much and seeing places that I read about in books when I learned about American History as a child. The east coast is where our country's history is, and it has been nice to see it!
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