Unlocking Life: A Philadelphia Fourth

We just got back last night from an extra long weekend in Philadelphia. We went up there for a Red, White and Blue Wedding on the 4th and ended up exploring the city...one cheesesteak at a time! We left early Thursday morning from Greensboro with our new NC neighbors, Matt and Carrie! We are so excited to have them close by :) We got in town, checked into our hotel and as we walked around the historic district after a quick breakfast, we ran right into Betsy Ross's House. Of course we stopped for the Uncle Sam photo op!

We met up with the groom and some of the wedding party at Geno's and headed to pick up wedding tuxes for the guys. After a quick stop back at the hotel, we headed to Reading Market for Delila's homemade Mac and Cheese. Our $5 nibble was COMPLETELY worth the trip! We were thinking about catching a minor league baseball game across the river, but after realizing the ferry only ran until 6pm we decided to do dinner with everyone who came in town early.

We slept in on Friday thanks to our super sunlight shielding hotel room curtains! Once we got up and moving it was quickly decided that we would head to Tony Luke's for a cheesesteak lunch. We took a cab and grabbed what turned out to be our favorite cheesesteaks of the trip.

We made it back to the hotel in time for Matt and Carrie to head to the rehearsal dinner and for us to grab dinner at Triumph. The wedding party met up with us afterwards and we enjoyed a night out with all of our friends in town!

Saturday was wedding day! We headed to Jim's where we had another cheesesteak lunch. We stopped into a local bar to catch the Hot Dog contest at Coney Island and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was in the historic district at 4pm. It was at Christ Church right in the middle of the July 4th celebrations. The church was closed for the wedding but immediately re-opened after the ceremony for July 4th visitors.

After the ceremony, we walked 4 blocks to the cocktail hour and reception location. We had a little time before the wedding party would be finished with pictures so we decided to take a quick trip to the Liberty Bell for pictures in our formal wear.

Tyler also took a break to fit in a little relaxing with Honest Abe.

We made it to the cocktail hour which was out on a terrace overlooking Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. What an incredible location for the 4th!!

We danced the night away and enjoyed a few breaks out on the terrace. The wedding was SO much fun and as always we enjoyed getting together with our friends more than anything!

Tyler enjoyed showing everyone just how festive and patriotic he could be!

We left the curtains cracked on Saturday night so we would get up early enough to get some final sight seeing in on Sunday before we left for home. We had a tasty brunch and headed see Rocky!