It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Thursday was a fun day of touring Philadelphia, PA. On our trip to Princeton, we drove through a quick section of Pennsylvania but never had the opportunity to look around or do any site seeing. So, we have been anxious to go to "The City" (as locals call it...as opposed to "The Big City" a.k.a. N.Y.C.) and get our tourism on!
















It turns out that the "City of Brotherly Love" is only about a 50 minute drive from our apartment and we were able to squeeze a day trip in during Chris' reading week. After we made a quick stop at the Philadelphia Visitors Center, we were equipped with a tourist map and tickets to tour Independence Hall. We visited The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall,
Benjamin Franklin's burial site, and had a Philly cheesesteak from Pat's (a must do in Philly!). Here are some highlights of our day...




The Liberty Bell:
Aside from Disneyland or eating an In N Out burger, there may not be a more important symbol and tangible icon of liberty and freedom in America than the Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell was our first "must see" site and happened to be the closest to the visitors center where we were currently standing at the time. After walking across the street to the museum that is now housing the bell (it is no longer in the bell tower of Independence Hall), we waited in a short line for about 5 minutes following a class of 6th graders on a field trip with their teacher. The museum was pretty amazing. There were pictures, video clips, newspaper articles, dishware and even jewelry that all described how the Liberty Bell has been an important icon of freedom for many nations, not only in the United States. We read a few of the articles and then found ourselves walking toward the bell. It was pretty amazing! The infamous crack, the size (not as big as I had thought), and the color was amazing. This bell has inspired our nation to continue pursuing independence and also freedom from slavery, equal rights for all people and liberation from oppressors. It was amazing to be privileged enough to visit such an influential icon! Enjoy the pictures...




Independence Hall:
This part of the trip was surreal! We loved walking through some of the great parks and squares in Philadelphia that were all right next to Independence Hall (Fall is a great time in Philly). Independence Hall did not disappoint. We visited the room where the Articles of Confederation (the first proposed Constitution that was rejected by the founding fathers of America) was created. We visited the first Supreme Court room. And, we were privileged to see the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence & Constitution were debated and later signed by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and many more great leaders of our American history. It was awesome!

We also visited the first house of Congress & Senate. Unfortunately, the bell tower was under some construction, so we were unable to get a good look of the tower this trip. Next time we'll see it. Check out some of the pictures below.





Pat's Philly Cheesesteaks:
Alright, everyone knows that when visiting Philadelphia one must eat a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. The instant dilemma of, "Whose cheesesteak is the best?", immediately fell upon us. There's Geno's, Pat's, Jim's, and even the local vendors on the streets. We had heard from a friend at Princeton that Pat's was the place to be. Pat's is one of the original Philly Cheesesteak shops in South Philadelphia that is located in the Italian District (we felt right at home!). With old black and white pictures of old baseball players, famous musicians and actors that included Frankie Avalon above the windows we ordered from...we knew we had chosen a winner. Ordering was an experience...("Wit" means with onions, "Wit Out" means no onions...then choosing a cheese...beverages and fries were ordered at a separate window). The workers were rough around the edges as we expected, and it was everything we expected from being in the heart of Philadelphia.






Right across the street was the rival cheesesteak shop of Geno's. We might try Geno's next to see how it fares against Pat's. We'll see!! Enjoy the pictures.

Just livin' the dream...

Here's what we've been up to lately...

Flag Football:
We have enjoyed getting to know the community at the school by immersing ourselves in a wide variety of activities. We joined a "newly weds" affinity group to meet some recently married couples, "The Well" contemporary worship community, Ultimate Frisbee club and....FLAG FOOTBALL!! It's true, both of us are on the "Back In Darker Black" flag football team that plays weekly. We have loved competing in sports again with games that play every Saturday morning. Our team is 2-2, but we have learned that we have qualified to make it to the playoffs. We even had team shirts made (Carly wears #8 and Chris wears #6). It has been fun and there's no better way to meet people than by running around, sweating (a Baldwin necessity), and high fiving people.This is the team we played last weekend, "The Fünkes" (aka Never Nudes). Arrested Development anyone?

Princeton vs. Harvard:
Thanks to friends on our flag football team, we were able to score free tickets to the Princeton vs. Harvard football game. The stadium here at Princeton is state of the art and huge. I think the stadium holds somewhere between 20,000-30,000 people when full. Key words here are "when full." The stadium was empty for this game which apparently is normal for this school. It turns out that Ivy League football (even when it's one of the oldest rivalries in the nation) is just a notch up from high school football that just does not get the draw of spectators that one would hope. Players here are much more academic than athletic. It was definitely still fun to go support the Tigers and hang out with some friends from the school.


Apple Picking & Ice Cream:
A couple of weeks ago, our neighbors below told us about a great orchard and local dairy farm. On a Saturday afternoon (post flag football game, of course), we decided to go apple picking at Terhune Orchard (http://terhuneorchards.com/). We had so much fun! The orchard was filled with tons of apples (Fujis, Jonagolds, Jonathans, Red Delicious, Gala and others) and we took a couple of bags full home with us. The Fall season out here is unbelievable. Also, Halo Farm is a local dairy that is famous for their unbelievable ice cream. In the downtown of Princeton there is an ice cream shop called Halo Pub where you can purchase Halo Farm's ice cream for cheap. Much to our surprise, we found that same ice cream at the farm and picked up 3 pints for fun. We had fresh apples and now local ice cream at our disposal. So, what does Carly do? She decides to make a delicious apple crisp cobbler topped with local ice cream!! YUM! The Fall season here is incredible!

















The Fall:
The colors of the trees are turning and there are bright oranges, yellows, pinks and reds all around. It is so pretty and unlike anything Southern California has! Our apartment is surrounded by trees and the campus colors are changing as well. The urge to run, jump and play in the leaves is pretty irresistible. Enjoy some of the pictures of the trees changing colors and a view of the campus.

We have now been in Princeton for 6 weeks and are working on getting a steady routine. This coming week is a "reading week" for Chris' class which means it is already time to prepare for midterms. "Reading week" is a full week without class/lectures on campus, but there is plenty to do. We're going to try and sneak in a visit to Philadelphia this week as time permits. We'll see!!

(F.Y.I - Chris' courses this Fall long term is Intro Greek, Orientation to the Old Testament, Systematic Theology & Speech Communications)

Settling In

It is has been 3 weeks since we moved into the neighborhood. This is what I have learned....
1. Squirrels are my (Carly) new BFFs.
Seriously, they are everywhere and if you are lucky you will even see a black one. Legend has it that years ago Princeton did a lab experiment that went wrong on the squirrels turning them black. They escaped and can still be found roaming around on campus.

2. I (Carly) am not good at small talk
Although we are finally becoming settled in, the first few days were tough. We met A LOT of people. Everyone at the school is really nice, however we have found that you talk to them for all of three minutes and never see them again.

3. YES it is like Hogwarts.
Although there are no ghosts lining the stairways, the buildings are really cool and have tons of history to them.

4. Bow ties
Yes, I wrote bow ties. Why? The dress code here is slightly different than in California. Everything is very formal and people wear bow ties to class. On one of our first outings at the school, Chris and I showed up in flip flops and hoodies (you know, California formal wear) because we had been over dressed at just about everything else. When we walked into the room everyone was wearing sweater vests and ties. Oops!!!

5. "California Rolls"or "Hollywood Stops" should be re-named in traffic school as "All New Jersey Drivers When There is a Red Sign That Says Stop." Seriously, driving here is scary. My apologies to Irvine, CA drivers for all of the negative things I may have yelled while driving. I (Carly) need an Ambien when I drive in Jersey. There are rarely left hand turns which means you have to do this figure 8 like configuration on the road. Although it gains points for creativity, it scares me.

In all seriousness we are settling in. Princeton is beautiful and has many wonderful quirks. Our place is finally put together for the most part and Chris and I have plenty of space. We can actually be in two separate rooms now as oppose to our previous loft where everything is out in the open. Our place backs up to a canal with a running trail and a golf course. We enjoy taking walks and trying to get to know our neighbors along the way. The past few days it has been raining so we have not been able to take our nightly walks. The rain is a whole new experience. There is thunder and crazy lightning that excites us every time. We have gotten to know our neighbors and are enjoying our living situation. There are eight families to a building and each of the buildings BBQ every week which is pretty cool. Chris is loving class and is reading 24/7. Although it is a lot of hard work, he is finding it is really rewarding. I go and study on campus for my upcoming boards for my PT license while Chris is in class. We have also joined a flag football team and are starting to feel like we fit in. More pictures and stories to come!

Day 8: The end is in site

We woke up mid-afternoon, packed our belongings and headed for our new "home." Countless toll bridges later, we finally made it to Jersey. I would like to say we fist pumped and danced our way into the state the whole drive in, however we ended up having a tough stressful deadline to meet. We were given instructions by a rude office lady that if we did not arrive by exactly 4:30pm we would not be getting our apartment keys. To make matters worse, our GPS was having a melt down and the office lady could not give us directions to the campus to save her life. Her excuse was she was from Pennsylvania and she did not know the Jersey area for which Chris responded, we just drove from California and you drive to work everyday so figure it out. Arriving at 4:29pm we stormed the office and were able to get our keys. Excited and nervous, we arrived at our new home. With mixed emotions we opened the door to find a huge apartment that needed some lovin' and a pink bathroom. That's right, a pink bathroom. Come to find out weeks later at a BBQ we are not the only ones to have a pink bathroom, everyone has a pink bathroom. I thought we were the special ones that got the retro pink tiled catastrophe but apparently pink tile is the cheapest to build with hence the pink. Although we have come to love our apartment. Initially we were in shock in part because of the exhaustion from the drive. We settled in to our new home for the night with a blow up mattress (our things arrived the next day) anxious for a good night sleep. Chris leaned in to give me a good night kiss and as he did so all of our weight shift to one side of the air mattress causing his whole arm to swiftly smack into my face. With tears welling up from the blow to the nose we both laughed hysterically. It was the perfect end to our crazy adventure.

Day 6 and 7

It's Alabama day!! Resting in Alabama was a dream come true for the journey. It had only been a few days since we left California but we were already in need of some quality time with friends and time off the road. Emily and Scott Hawkins treated us to a tour of Birmingham including an art festival, a lookout point over the city (The Vulcan), a car ride through downtown where many of the civil rights actions took place, and of course Southern BBQ.











After we stuffed our faces and got some R & R we were back on the road for the last leg of the trip. We drove from Alabama all the way to Washington, DC. I slacked a bit on taking pictures on this part of the trip. Honestly we passed through so many states I lost track. Late Sunday night we found ourselves in Washington, DC where we met up with our friend John O'Neill. John is studying at George Washington University and was kind enough to lend us his bed for the night. In addition he gave us an amazing late night tour of Washington, DC. Although I (Carly) have never been to our nation's capital, seeing it at midnight was really special. There was no one on the streets and the night sky was so clear. We got an 11:00pm tour of the Lincoln Memorial pretty much all to ourselves. This was one of my favorite parts of our trip. After being in a car for 14 hours walking around the city was just what the doctor ordered.

Day 4 and 5 of the Road Trip: The South

The saying is true, everything is bigger in Texas including the drive. 10 hours later from leaving Las Cruces, New Mexico, we arrived in Dallas where we promptly ordered pizza to the room and flipped on the tv. Our plan for the next day was to wake up early and begin our next 10 hour drive to Alabama to Scott and Emily Hawkins' home. The next morning began well....eventful. We definitely got up ready for a day of excitement. At 7:45am I (Carly) woke up to a blaring fire alarm. Normally 7:45am would be late for me to wake up but in reality it was 5:45am since we had fallen back two hours with the time zones. Chris screamed get some sweats on and we both headed for the door. As we were headed for the door the alarm stopped. We smelled smoke but there was no fire. We called the front desk and a nice lady came up to inform us that it was just the heater. Turns out Chris was had tried to warm up the room before I got up and was trying to turn the air conditioner up but instead the heater kicked on. Since it is blazzing hot in Dallas (in the middle of summer), the heater had not been turned on for months. So, the smoke came from our own heater that definitely woke up the entire hotel. Oh well! The next event during the eventful morning was flooding the bathroom. How does one flood a bathroom, one may ask? Well it is quite easy when your shower has the streamline of a fire hose and blasts towards the wall at 100mph. After I (Carly) mopped the floor I attempted a "take two" into taking a shower by putting the shower head at toddler height in attempt to direct the water towards the drain. After successfully power-washing the bathroom floor and managing to direct some drops to get clean, we were ready to head back on the road. This leg of the trip was gorgeous. We were on the Interstate-20 East freeway for about 600 of the 638 miles for the day, however it was beautiful. The freeway was lined with lush greenery and trees. Even the rest stops were nice (especially in Louisiana!!). We got to cross the Mississippi River which was enormous and pass the football stadium for the Independence Bowl. The best part of the day was ending the day and the warm embraces from Scott and Emily in Biringham, Alabama along with a hot plate of slowly smoked BBQ ribs. So good!