fun in philly!

oh my gosh, blakey & i had so much fun in philadelphia with julie byrd & benny boo & mr malcolm!  this was my first time to philly & it certainly lived up to the hype.  big city, much history, so much identity, great food.  & my sister is there!  & my bro-in-law!  & my nephew!  i am already looking forward to going back for more.

{so you are not confused by the lack of malcolm pictures...

mr malcolm will get an entire post to himself.}

wednesday morning, julie & i headed out to do our thanksgiving grocery shopping super early.  as it turns out, grocery stores are not bad places to be the morning before thanksgiving... if you arrive right when they open.  win for us.

{most beautiful pear display i've ever seen.

well done, whole foods folk.}

it would not be a love, the porters' vacay post without me showing you some awesome food we ate.  after our grocery shopping, julie took me to their favorite brunch spot in their neighborhood, green eggs cafe.  i wish i had a picture of their amazing peanut butter & jelly french toast or their tiramisu french toast or smoked lox benedict that we had on our second green eggs cafe breakfast.  or the gigantic red velvet pancakes that really is the size of a cake.  they are all a work of art.  but so was my super delicious apple & vermont cheddar melt with mushroom bisque.  so good.  

you can not go to philly without having a philly cheesesteak.  it's a rule.  & although pat's & geno's are the most famous cheesesteak joints, tony luke's is the best.  & we go for the best.

you also have to know how to order.  good thing we brought ben along to teach us.  "a whiz whit".  that's what you should get.  a philly cheesesteak with cheese whiz {not provolone.  whiz is the way to go.  you can turn up your nose to processed cheese all you want.  but not on a philly cheesesteak.} with peppers & onions.  oh my gosh, yum.

believe it or not, we did take some time out from eating to see philadelphia!  our first stop was the comcast center in center city.  it's the tallest building in philly & home of the "comcast experience", a beautiful 2,000 square foot LED screen that runs shows eighteen hours a day.  this day was the first day of the holiday video.  it was so festive & so fun.  

& at the end, it snowed in the building!  merry christmas time!

next up, LOVE park!  christmas village was up in love park, so we got to walk through the festivities while enjoying some tasty mulled wine.  love christmas time!

{funny fact: the sculpture was much smaller than we imagined it.

& then seeing it in these pictures... it's smaller than it looks!

weird.}

after walking through beautiful city hall, we went to reading terminal market for some tasty treats!  originally where farmers sold their produce, the market is full of all kinds of vendors from fresh fruits & veggies to fresh meats & seafood to chocolates & candies to jams & amish cookies & so much more.

{delicious cannolis!}

on our night out in the city, we went to this awesome farm to table called the farmers' cabinet.  one side had a beer bar with all sorts of manly reclaimed wood & chalkboard-esque beer signs.  the other side had a snazzy liquor bar with a seriously good beverage menu.  & the back was a fancy little restaurant with a seriously good food menu.  if we lived in philly, we would frequent the farmers' cabinet.

philly, you were so lovely to us.  looking forward to it again soon.

love love,

kjp.