Pennsylvania Archives - Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com

Gettysburg National Military Park Museum

Cyclorama, Movie

We arrived at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center, checked in, purchased our tickets, and began our tour. We began by watching a short film that showed in the theater at the visitor center, and then headed upstairs to view The Battle of Gettysburg, a cyclorama painting by Frenchman Paul Dominique Philippoteaux. The painting, which depicts Pickett’s Charge, is 360° and stands 42′ high and 377′ in circumference. It’s quite an impressive work of art, and is supplemented by a light show, narration, and artifacts on the ground to “extend” the painting.

Cyclorama

Cyclorama Panorama

Museum

We spent the rest of the morning visiting the museum, which has nearly endless information about the war, the battlefield, and the preservation efforts for the area. We learned so much interesting information, but a few things in particular stood out to me:

(1) Seeing recruiting pamphlets in foreign languages was interesting. I had never thought about the state of immigration at the time, and how a lot of people, particularly in the north, were still flowing in from other continents, bringing their native tongues with them.

(2) I didn’t know anything about the conservation efforts made by the people of Gettysburg. After the battle, almost every building in the area had to be converted into a field hospital or some kind of shelter. All the farmland was a huge mess, and the locals knew it would be years, if not decades before the land could be farmed again. They also realized the magnitude of what had happened, so they immediately began efforts to preserve the area, rather than to try to use it again. Thus, it’s one of the best preserved battlefields in the entire world, if not the best.

(3) The 1913 Gettysburg Veteran’s Reunion, which marked the 50th anniversary of the battle, was the largest gathering of Civil War veterans ever. All honorably discharged veterans from both sides received invitations, and over 53,407 veterans (mostly Union) attended. Episode 9 of Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War provides even more fascinating info about the reunion.

"We have found one another again as brothers and comrades in arms, enemies no longer, generous friends rather, our battles long past, the quarrel forgotten—except that we shall not forget the splendid valor."

President Woodrow Wilson // Remarks at the 50th Anniversary

Battlefield

It was now noon, and since we’d gotten a later start to the day, we decided to delay lunch a while. After grabbing a quick snack from the car, we began the driving tour of the battlefield, which loops you through the key sites on one-way roads, guided by a National Park Service audio tour.

Tommie's Pizza

Leaving the battlefield, we drove over to Tommie’s Pizza to grab a quick late lunch. Tommie’s is a pizza parlor nostalgic of somewhere I’d been in my childhood, with a self-serve drink machine, lots of circular booths, and a typical menu. Faith and I got a pie with pepperoni and pineapple, which was very good, with a nice crispy crust and charred cheese. The done-ness came with a price: I burned the top of my mouth so badly it hurt for days afterwards!

Tommie's Pizza

Battlefield, Part II

Post-pizza, we resumed the battlefield driving tour, heading to the Longstreet Observation Tower for a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. The tower is right next to the Eisenhower National Historic Site, the farm and retreat of our 34th President.

As the sun began to descend, we continued the audio tour, stopping a few places of particular interest. Unfortunately, Little Round Top was completely closed for maintenance from all approaches. William was especially disappointed, since he’d spent much time studying the battle here. I think he was ready to re-take the hill all over again!

We ended our day at Gettysburg by stopping at the High Water Mark of the Confederacy, the farthest the Rebel Army advanced during General Pickett’s infamous failed charge, which ultimately led to the final downfall of General Lee’s armies.

The view from here was spectacular, and we spent some time reading the signage and monuments. Finally, thoroughly chilled by the wind, we returned to our vehicles and began the journey back to Havre de Grace.

The Pennsylvania State University

Long Way Home

Instead of going around the outskirts of Baltimore and dealing with I-695, Faith and I decided to drive due east through southern Pennsylvania and then cut down through Bel Air, MD. It was a beautiful drive through the Pennsylvania countryside, and I’m glad we went that way, even though it cost us some extra time on the road. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures during the drive, so you’ll just have to take our word that the scenery was spectacular. Just after dark, we arrived back at the house.

Dinner and a Movie

Back home in Havre de Grace, we ate some turkey sandwiches and soup for supper. Once the kids were in bed, we made some affogati and started the movie Gettysburg, a 4h 31m depiction of the battle starring Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Stephen Lang. After watching a couple hours of the movie, we decided to save the rest for another night and head to bed.

Affogato

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “sunset at Gettysburg and driving through the Pennsylvania countryside”.

The best thing I ate today was… “affogato for dessert”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the Pennsylvania countryside”.

The best thing I ate today was… “pizza at lunch”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re heading to Annapolis to tour Maryland’s capital, visit the Naval Academy, and hopefully chase down some crab cakes.

– Isaac

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Pennsylvania Day 2/3

Isaac Church — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 02:24:28 +0000

Before I get started: sorry that this blog is coming about a week late; I’ve been very busy since I got back, and haven’t had time to work on it until today.

The Morning

Saturday morning, we awoke around 7:00 and enjoyed the remainder of our donuts from Krumpee’s (2 Bavarian cream, a coconut, and a glazed chocolate cake) for breakfast. We stopped at a gas station close to our hotel for fuel, and then started making our way up to State College, Pennsylvania.

There is no good way to get to State College. We were feeling adventurous, so we opted to take the most direct route, which was certainly not the easiest. We were mainly on US-522, US-22, and PA-26, but our path wound its way through the Pennsylvania mountains with numerous turns and side roads. To our great annoyance, we got caught behind an enormous tractor for almost 30 minutes, and finally ended our suffering when the driver decided to turn off into one of the thousands of corn fields we’d been driving through. It was a very scenic drive, but we thought it was never going to end!

The Pennsylvania State University

It seemed as if State College just materialized out of nowhere. It is very isolated, but the campus itself is quite expansive. After getting stuck on some side roads, we finally made it to the yellow lot (which was just one of the intramural fields), and parked. Those people know how to tailgate! I’ve never seen so many people crammed into one space. Everyone was very friendly, and it was definitely the most welcoming crowd of all the Power 5 schools we’ve faced.

After we parked, we walked around campus for well over an hour, seeing the soccer fields, swimming complex, tennis courts, intramural facilities, practice facilities, dorms, and several academic buildings. The most interesting structure we saw was the Millenium Campus building, which housed life sciences, design, and several other programs. It is a very bizarre shape, and had an open space with a garden in the center of it.

The Tailgate

Finally, we met up with Cody and Morgan McKinney (my former roommate/fellow accounting graduate and his wife), and Kenneth Davis and his friend Blake, who we know from other Appalachian sporting events. We’d planned to tailgate with some friends of Kenneth, so we waited around until we finally found where they were parking. Somehow, they’d managed to secure a spot in the green lot right next to the visitor’s gate. We enjoyed a wonderful tailgate, and Cody, Morgan, and I walked around the stadium some more.

The Game

About an hour and a half before kickoff, we entered Beaver stadium, and climbed up to our seats. It was a fantastic game! I’m sure you’ve seen multiple highlights from it by now. It was wonderful to hear the fans silenced as we far surpassed all reasonable expectations for a small Group of Five school.

I’m still disappointed that we lost in overtime, but it was one of the best football games I’ve ever seen, and I have great confidence that we are well-situated for the current and the next several years. All I really care about is that we destroy UNC-Charlotte next weekend in Charlotte at Jerry Richardson Stadium.

The Post-Game Meal

After the game, we finally found the truck (there were so many people and cars we weren’t sure we would), and headed out of town to I-99. Along the way, we dropped off Kenneth and Blake at their hotel. We decided to take the Interstate back, rather than attempting to navigate the Pennsylvania backwoods in the dark. A few exits down, we stopped at an Outback to take care of our hunger and exhaustion (we felt like we’d been down on the field playing alongside the team).

We took I-99 > I-70 > I-81 back to our hotel, about a 2h 40m drive. Finally we arrived back at the hotel, and immediately showered and fell asleep, only pausing to watch our highlights on SportsCenter before we headed to bed.

Outback

The Sunday Travel

The next morning, we woke up around 7:30, and left our hotel by 8:00 for our journey home. We made it through most of the Shenandoah Valley in good time, only stopping once at a rest area. Around 11:30, we stopped at a barbecue restaurant in Christiansburg, VA (halfway between Roanoke and Blacksburg) called Due South BBQ. Dad got a brisket sandwich, mac & cheese, baked beans, and banana pudding; I got a pulled pork sandwich, mac & cheese, and fried okra. The sandwiches were excellent, and we enjoyed some live music from a local while we ate.

Around 13:45, we arrived back where I had dropped my car in Wilkesboro. I journeyed back up the mountain for my weekly Sunday afternoon soccer match at the Valle Crucis Community Park, and Dad headed back to Granite Falls.

Overall, it was a great trip, even though we lost, and we are looking forward to many other Power 5 road trips in the future. We are also traveling to Charlotte for our game next weekend, but I likely won’t break out the blog for that, since it’s just a day trip.

Thanks for reading! I hope to have my email links fixed soon.

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Pennsylvania 2018 – Introduction

Isaac Church — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 15:55:29 +0000

Greetings everyone!

Our family trip happened in March instead of August this year, so I’ve all but neglected the blog for the summer. I’ve sort of been looking for even the slightest excuse to publish something, since there are a lot of updates to give! It’s been a summer of exciting changes, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to share a bit about the happenings.

Major Events - Graduation

I guess I should go in order…

First of all, I graduated! If that sounds like déjà vu all over again, it is. This was my third [and likely final] time graduating from ASU. This was my official graduation with two master’s degrees: a Master of Science in Accountancy, and a Master of Business Administration in Applied Business Analytics. I graduated as the top MBA student, and was invited to be the student speaker at graduation! This was a huge blessing, and I’m very grateful for that opportunity.

Graduation 2018

You can watch my commencement address in the video below:

Major Events - Employment

After an extensive job search, I accepted a position with Lowe’s Companies, Inc. in Wilkesboro, NC. I will continue to live in Boone, and commute off the mountain. I’m on the projects team in the accounting department, so I’ll be working on a wide variety of material, including a good bit of data analysis, so I’ll be making good use of all my degrees.

Major Events - Engagement

Last, and certainly not least, as most of you already know, I got engaged this summer!

A quick fun fact rundown:

Faith and I have known each other for a little over 6 years, but only dated for a very short time! We both knew very quickly we wanted to marry each other.
She is from Valle Crucis, and is a senior violin performance major at ASU (think professional weddings/symphony/teaching lessons).
We are getting married in Boone on December 15th.
You can find more info on our wedding website, isaacandfaith.com.

About 30 minutes after the proposal - Wiseman's View, NC

We are planning on taking a short honeymoon in December, and later (maybe in the summer) will hopefully travel somewhere awesome together! So, stay tuned for a blog series featuring the adventures of Isaac and Faith…

Major Events - Power Tools/Soccer/Website

In other less exciting news, the Church Family’s lives have consisted of wedding planning, yard care (our weedeater died, and Dad and I are very excited about the opportunity to use new power tools), the occasional picnic, and the occasional Saturday road trip. In the fall, I’m also going to be playing on a High Country Soccer adult league team in the Appalachian Mountain Brewery Premier League.

Also, you might–or, more likely, might not–have noticed that my website is slightly revamped and significantly faster. I finally gave up on my pocket computer server in my living room, and am now hosting the site via AWS Lightsail. In simpler terms, this means it will be faster, and less likely to go offline.

I basically recreated the site by hand because my old server was too decrepit to do any kind of data transfer, so there might be a few bugs or inconsistencies here and there. I was also unable to transfer any comments anyone may have left on posts. However, the email newsletter should still work, and I hope this site will last for many years to come!

Major Event - Football Season

I mentioned I needed a reason to fire up the blog again (other than just to give a life update), and what better excuse than Appalachian State football? So, finally, the reason that I’m posting on my travel blog: it’s road trip* time for the Church Family^!

*Note: by ‘road trip’, I mean a one and two-halves day trip.

^Note 2: by ‘Church Family’, I mean Dad and me, but that’s no surprise to those of you who know Mom’s football game attendance record.

On Labor Day weekend, ASU opens their 2018 football season at Penn State, and Dad and I are going to make the trip to Beaver Stadium in State College, PA to see the game! We plan on leaving NC Friday afternoon and driving to Hagerstown, MD (about 5h 20m through the never-ending Shenandoah Valley), and then driving the remaining 2h 30m to Penn State University the next morning; kickoff is at 3:30pm. After the game, we’ll return to Hagerstown, and will journey home Sunday. On our way home, we might stop in Shenahdoah National Park, or somewhere else along the way.

That’s all the life updates for now! Thanks for following our travels (even if this round will be brief). You can click the button below to subscribe to posts, if you haven’t already.

Beaver Stadium

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Day 10: New York

Isaac Church — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 03:58:41 +0000

Today was a long, hot day in the concrete jungle of New York City, so I will keep the post short in an effort to go to bed as soon as possible.

Staten Island Ferry

This morning, we took the Staten Island Ferry into New York City, enjoying a view of Lady Liberty from the boat.

New York City

Statue of Liberty

New York City

Central Park // Belvedere Castle

We took the subway north to Central Park, and enjoyed the view from Belvedere Castle, near the museum of Natural History.

Central Park

Levain Bakery

Next, we took a bus over to the Upper West Side and stopped at Levain bakery to get breakfast, consisting of a jam/butter filled baguette, a blueberry muffin, and one of their famous chocolate chip walnut cookies.

Levain Bakery

New York City, NY

Everything here was excellent, but if you read reviews you’d think they are the best pastries in the world. While good, I’ve had better – but, they are definitely worth visiting. Levain has multiple locations in NYC.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

Grand Central Station // New York Public Library

After stopping briefly in a Marshall’s to look around, we took the subway to Grand Central Station via the Times Square underground shuttle, stopping inside the station and also walking in the the New York Public Library.

Grand Central Station

New York Public Library

Empire State Building

We walked down the street to the Empire State Building and briefly visited the lobby to snap a quick picture.

Empire State Building

Lunch

Now starving, we grabbed lunch at the first pizza place we saw, and then headed to Herald Square Park to grab dessert from Wafels & Dinges. The pizza was pretty good, and the waffles were excellent.

NY Pizza

Wafels & Dinges

New York City, NY

A great place to get a sweet treat. Look for their multiple locations around the city.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

World Trade Center

Another subway ride brought us down to the World Trade Center, where we visited the 9/11 Memorial and the newly opened Oculus building that connects all the WTC buildings.

One World Trade Center

Inside the Oculus

One World Trade Center

Staten Island ferry // Shake Shack

The subway line that runs back to the ferry terminal was closed for some reason, so we found a bus stop and waited and waited and waited for the bus, which finally came close to 17:00. We took the bus back to the Whitehall Ferry Terminal, boarded the 17:30 ferry, and departed Staten Island to head south towards Delaware.

Staten Island Ferry

We stopped briefly off of I-95 in Delaware to eat a quick supper at Shake Shack, and then journeyed through Baltimore down to Alexandria, arriving at our hotel around 22:15.

Shake Shack

Conclusion

Tomorrow, we might explore DC for a short while, or we might head straight home. Thanks for keeping up with our travels!

Half dead in NYC

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Day 1: Travel // Hershey

Isaac Church — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 02:05:29 +0000

Day one of our travels was relatively uneventful, but productive, thanks to 700+ miles traveled. We departed Granite Falls shortly after 05:00, and didn’t stop until we grabbed a couple American muffins (they’re not actually English) and a biscuit at a Chick-Fil-A near Blacksburg, VA. We only made one more pit stop along the never-ending Interstate 81, and after enduring what seemed like 10,000 miles of the Shenandoah Valley, we finally arrived in Hershey, PA around 13:15. Our first stop, of course, was to find food, since we were very “road-sick” and hungry.

Lunch - The Hershey Pantry

We dined at a neat little sandwich café called The Hershey Pantry. The food was excellent, and we each got a sandwich and split a small crab Florentine dip for an appetizer.

Mom got a Tex Mex wrap (grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, ranch sauce, grilled onions and peppers, served on a sundried tomato wrap).
Dad got a beef cheesesteak (onions, lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise, mozzarella cheese, and tomato sauce on a multigrain roll).
I got a grilled turkey sandwich (on thick cut cinnamon bread with Swiss cheese and cranberry spread).

The Hershey Pantry

All the food was outstanding, and we were all very impressed with the restaurant!

The Hershey Pantry

Hershey, PA

Surprisingly good food, though looks are a bit deceiving. I’d recommend this place to anyone visiting the area.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

hershey's Chocolate World

After lunch, we ventured back towards downtown Hershey, driving past the many marks of the company, including kiss-shaped street lights. We headed to Hershey’s Chocolate World, found a great parking spot, and headed inside.

The factory offered a free tour, so we hopped/scrambled/fell in a rotating train car and rode through a simulated factory tour, complete with the history of the company and the production process. It was fascinating, and best of all, we got a free miniature Hershey’s bar at the end.

Desserts by the Hershey Pantry

Desserts by The Hershey Pantry

In the interest of eating food we can’t buy at home, we opted not to get anything from the giant Hershey’s store, and instead traveled back across town to a bakery operated by the café at which we ate lunch. It was simply called Desserts by the Hershey Pantry, and was across the street from the restaurant in a little grey house.

We split a blueberry muffin, a chocolate muffin, and an Oreo fudge bomb. The fudge bomb was by far the best, but all three were excellent. The blueberry muffin came in second place.

Desserts By The Hershey Pantry

Hershey, PA

We finally felt like we’d had an authentic chocolate experience after visiting here. You have to try the fudge bombs!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

Scranton, PA

After dessert, we made a quick run to the local Tanger Outlets, found nothing, and to our great dismay returned to I-81 and resumed our journey north. We made a quick stop in Scranton, PA to take a picture (if you don’t get the reference, don’t worry about it).

Scranton, PA

Conclusion

Around 17:00, we realized we were farther up the road than we expected, so we called and moved our hotel room for the night from PA to upstate NY, and opted to drive a few extra hours in an effort to be able to sleep in tomorrow. We arrived at our hotel in Oneonta, NY around 21:00, and retired for the evening.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, we head to Cooperstown, NY and the Adirondacks.

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Graduation (Halfway Point) // May 2017

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Introduction // Church Trip 2017

Isaac Church — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 21:00:22 +0000

Before we get too far into the details of this post, I think I’ll give a quick update on what’s going on with the family.

If you’d like to skip all that and get to the new stuff, click here. If not, you can keep reading at your own risk.

I completed my Master of Science in Accountancy degree from Appalachian this June, and I’m currently in the second half of my graduate program working on an MBA in Data Analytics. Mom has been working on the pastoral search committee at church, and Dad has been keeping the Town of Granite Falls functioning amongst a collapsed bridge and a massive fire.

In May, I studied abroad in the Alps to complete the global requirement for the MBA program. You can click below to read about my adventures in Switzerland, Italy, and France!

Lausanne

In July, my roommates and I conducted a water taste test (long story), so if you’d like to find out what brands of water to buy/not buy based on the scientific observations of a handful of college students, click here.

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Church trip 2017

For those of you who don’t remember, our family went on an unprecedented trip up north last summer. I’m still not quite sure how we got Mom to travel that far, but she enjoyed it so much that she essentially demanded that we take a similar trip this summer!

It didn’t exactly take much convincing for Dad and me to agree to travel back to the land of Red Sox games and lobster rolls. Since we now have some experience galavanting around the New England, we hope that this will be a more streamlined, yet equally adventurous trip.

Our itinerary includes, among other things: Hershey and Amish Country, Baseball Hall of Fame, northern Appalachian Mountains, Maine, New England, NYC, DC, and more. Along the way I expect we’ll have lots of good food (I know that’s shocking—I’ve been researching hole-in-the-wall restaurants for months), see some beautiful scenery, explore some new territory, and experience some inevitable craziness.

For those of you who would like to follow our adventures, you can subscribe by email. (If you’ve subscribed to a previous blog, there’s no need to subscribe again.) Once again, the link so subscribe is below.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to sharing our adventures with you!

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Day 8: Niagara Falls and Ontario

Isaac Church — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 01:15:34 +0000

This morning, we left our hotel outside of Rochester and drove down I-90 towards Buffalo and Niagara Falls. We arrived on Goat Island around 8:30am, and visited the American side of the Falls. After getting soaked from an unexpected rain shower, recovering, and then snapping a few more pictures, we decided to head into Canada for lunch.

Horseshoe Falls

Niagara Falls

Burlington, Ontario

We crossed Rainbow Bridge, went through Canadian Customs, and headed up the Queen Elizabeth Way toward Toronto. We decided that going into the city was a bit too far of a trek, so we headed for Hamilton (a city in the “Golden Horseshoe” of over a half million people) and ended up stopping for lunch in Burlington, Ontario (a city of about 180,000) at a restaurant called Pepperwood. The restaurant was across the street from the Great Lake, and we had an excellent meal with a great view; that is, until a severe thunderstorm blew in off the lake and forced us to finish our meal inside.

Mom got fish and chips; I ordered a caesar salad and a half pizza with a five cheese garlic base, prosciutto, spy apple, red onion cheddar cheese, baby spinach, cheese curds, and a honey mustard sauce; and Dad ordered poutine–a dish originating from Quebec that consists of Yukon potatoes with sliced prime rib, gravy, and cheese curds on top.

Lake Ontario

Pepperwood

Pepperwood Bistro

Burlington, ON, Canada

A nice spot by the water with well-prepared bistro favorites, plus some Canadian specialties.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

Molly Cakes

After lunch, we walked down the street to a bakery called Molly Cakes, where we got ice cream sandwiches made with homemade chocolate chip cookies. It was definitely one of the best sweets I’ve had on this trip.

Molly Cakes

MollyCake

Burlington, ON, Canada

Delicious ice cream cookie sandwiches!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

View Of American Falls from Canada

Niagara Falls

After lunch, we headed back to the Canadian side of the river and had a different–and better–viewing angle of the Falls. We left Niagara Falls, headed back down the lake on the Canadian side, and reentered the U.S.A. at Buffalo.

Conclusion

From Buffalo, we headed west alongside Lake Erie through Erie, PA, down to Pittsburgh, and then to our hotel near Morgantown, WV. Tomorrow, we head back to North Carolina and close out our journey.

Two things to note:

Our hotel room is enormous! It’s bigger than my apartment. I’m not actually kidding–I stepped it off, and it’s slightly bigger than our 4 bedroom, 2 bath apartment in Boone. Somehow, this was the cheapest hotel of the entire trip…probably because it’s in the middle of nowhere.
Dad had some fun with some of the people at Niagara Falls.

Dad photobombing

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Day 1: DC, Philadelphia, and Travel

Isaac Church — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 16:58:37 +0000

Today marked the beginning of the “Church Trip”, or whatever you want to call it. I still haven’t even made up my mind. We spent most of the day in the car, so the day was fairly uneventful, and by the end of it we were pretty “road sick”.

Washington, D.C.

We left Granite Falls a little after 5:00am, stopped for breakfast along the way, and managed to make it to Washington, D.C. (through some of the worst traffic I’ve ever seen) around 2:00pm. We stopped at District Taco on F Street for some barbacoa, carnitas, and pollo asado tacos, which were excellent!

Originally, we planned to take a walking/circulator tour of the monuments and National Mall after lunch, but because we were running behind and it was drizzling, we opted to drive around the Mall one time and then head out of the city.

Library of Congress

Philadelphia

We finally arrived in Philadelphia around 7:00pm, which was unfortunately too late to tour any of the historical sites. After we found some parking, we walked around the Independence Hall area, toured the President’s House, and walked around the outside of the Liberty Bell museum (thrilling). After our rather uneventful tour, it was on to better things: cheese steaks!

Independence Hall

The Libery Bell and Independence Hall

Our first endeavor was to find a place called Joe’s Steaks + Soda Shop that supposedly had great steaks. By this time, it was close to their closing time at 8:00pm, and we were headed towards a rough part of town, so we opted for Plan B, which was basically whatever Dad had pulled up on his phone. It turned out to be a good decision. We ate at a place on Broad Street called Jimmy G’s Steaks that was outstanding.

Jimmy G's Steaks

Philadelphia, PA

An authentic Philly steak. Unfortunately, Jimmy G’s is now permanently closed.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there