Day 19 - The Final Day

After 18 days of traveling half of the country, today was the last day away from home. We spent most of the day at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. And when I say most, I mean we got there around 10:30 and left when the place closed at 5:00. Debbie and I spent 4 years of our lives in Philly, and neither of us had ever been there except for a Phi Sig formal in 1990. The kids loved it there. There were so many hands-on exhibits, dealing with things like the Earth (where you could do your own weather report), Electricity, Trains, Planes, Sports, Gravity, etc. There was also a planetarium, which turned out to be an excellent place for a nap.








When we were all done at the museum, we (stunningly) went to the gift shop to buy some of the most unnecessary items, then headed back to the hotel. One of the nice things about staying at an Embassy Suites, in addition to the large rooms and made to order breakfasts, is that they have a complimentary happy hour from 5-7 daily. So we stopped at the bar for some drinks and snacks.

Then it was off to the Penn campus. First stop was the Penn Bookstore. I have to be honest. The new book store (although I guess it's not so new anymore) is a nice Barnes & Noble, but I still prefer the old book store on Locust Walk. That was a true college book store. Anyway, we all bought Penn clothing, and then took a short walk on Locust Walk. I had to drop the book store haul in the car while the others headed to the button. I entered Locust Walk at 37th Street, and the button is around 34th or 35th Street. Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's the fetus I have growing in my uterus, but that walk seemed a lot longer today than it did 25 years ago.



After walking up to take the obligatory photo with Ben Franklin, we drove up to 41st and Walnut for Lee's Hoagies. I couldn't find a spot right near Lee's, so we ended up parking on 40th Street right near the McDonald's. In our time at Penn, this was not an area that I would park my car, or feel comfortable walking around with my kids. But today the place is terrific. There are a ton of new restaurants and stores, and there are Penn Police on every corner, and sometimes between corners also. We talked to one of them, and they are there 24/7. As a parent of 3 future Penn students (because I know my kids are reading this blog), it would make me feel very comfortable when they live at 219 S. 41st Street (Apt. D) in a few years.

And now for the food orgy portion of the blog. Lee's Hoagies was a tradition for Debbie and me when we were at Penn. Most of the time I got a tuna hoagie with lettuce and provolone, sometimes with onions and/or hot peppers. In a nod to my age, and the daily Prilosec I take, I eschewed the onions and/or hot peppers. I think the "Jan" hoagies were better (more tuna, more mayo in the tuna), but it was still very good. The kids seemed to enjoy them also, and got a kick out of seeing Debbie (and Auntie Allison) in some sorority composites on the wall.



Before heading back to South Street for a repeat performance at the yogurt store we went to last night, we decided to stroll down 40th Street to see if Smoke's was still there (it was) and what else was there. As we passed some people sitting at a Mexican restaurant (located where Uni-Mart used to be), Debbie did a double take and spun around. It was friends from Great Neck who also went to Penn (10 years older) and were moving in their daughter. Small world.

We then headed to South Street for more yogurt (once again a big hit) and headed back to the hotel for the final night away from home. Nothing scheduled tomorrow other than driving home, and back to reality, and weeks and weeks of cereal for dinner.