City of brotherly love

So D and I decided to come to Philly this morning and leave tomorrow afternoon. We planned the trip a while ago and it turned out we couldn't cancel it without paying the full price for the hotel. I am glad we went through with it, because I am mostly feeling better, and it's really cool to be in a new place. We've spent some time in the suburbs of Philly, but never in the city proper, which is much nicer.

After we got here, we went to Little Pete's Diner for lunch. It was basic but enjoyable. Then we went to the Philly art museum which definitely exceeded my expectations. I think we are the only people who have ever walked there. The sidewalk actually ended en route so we were walking in the breakdown lane. It wasn't a real highway, but still. E was on D's shoulders. Then we had to walk up the famous Rocky steps (D estimated that there were 99 of them). So we definitely got our exercise for the day.

I liked how the museum was a little more relaxed than the Met. People smiled at our little puffin running around. He stared at the Hindu statue of Ganesh and said "Oooh!" when he saw a two-headed lion nearby. He wasn't so interested in the Impressionists, but I thought they were lovely. I took a picture of a Monet I hadn't seen before and one that I had. If I remember later, I'll put some pictures up.

Then for dinner, we were planning to go someplace casual, maybe Mexican, but everywhere was booked up because it's Valentine's Day weekend. So we went to Smith & Wollensky, which happened to have a spot, and was convenient. I always forget that steakhouses have great vegetarian sides. This place was no exception. I had a delicious chopped salad and then we shared some truffled macaroni and cheese and broccoli florets. The mac and cheese was divine. Tomorrow we are going to try to go to the zoo, after some challah French toast.