Philadelphia, New York City, and Atlantic City

        We had so much planned at our campground in New Jersey, and one of the first things we did on our list was spend some time in Cape May.  This beach town is very nice and has lots to do.  We went there on two different days, the first of which was Thursday.  On Thursday we went to Congress Hall, America's oldest seaside hotel, and the beach across the street, which was beautiful.  Mia and I had so much fun running along the shore and taking pictures by the algae-covered rocks. We also walked the Washington Street Mall, which has a lot of shops and restaurants (I bought a cute dress there that I wore the next day to Philadalphia).  To finish off our first day in Cape May, we visited the Cape May lighthouse, which stands at 157.5 feet.  On our second day in Cape May we took a tour of Congress Hall and learned lots of cool facts, like how three U.S. Presidents stayed at the hotel and a fourth even used one of the rooms as an office.  Then we went on a couple of streets with a lot of colorful historic Victorian homes.  I was snapping pictures like crazy.  For our evening entertainment we drove to Sunset Beach, whose claim to fame is having the best sunsets in New Jersey.  This beach is also home to the Cape May diamonds, which are small quartz stones that wash up on shore.  There's also the concrete ship, the SS Atlantus. The ship was originally built for World War 1, but the war ended before the ship could be used.  So instead, the SS Atlantus became a ferry to take passengers from Atlantic City to Cape May. However, the ship was beached during bad weather and all attempts to refloat it failed.  During our evening at Sunset Beach we saw the concrete ship, found Cape May diamonds, spotted several dolphins,  and watched a lovely sunset from the shore.

Our tour guide in Congress Hall

The Brown Room in Congress Hall. This room was a secret bar during the Prohibition

This hallway in Congress Hall has a bunch of flags from before all 50 states were a part of the Union. Though I don't think they are originals, they are still pretty cool!

The Congress Hall ballroom

Congress Hotel from the outdoor area

The beach right across from Congress Hall 

Cape May has a lot of beautiful historic Victorian homes that I enjoyed walking around and seeing. One of the things I love so much about these homes is that they are all unique--the colors are different, the accents or trim vary, and they have so much personality. 

More flower pictures!

We went to West End Garage and I found these really cool old cameras

Tacos for an early dinner

While we waited for the sunset we took photos with this crab as our model

The concrete ship is on the left out in the ocean

        Philadelphia was about an hour and a half away from us, and I really wanted to visit the historic city, so we drove there on two different days as well.  On our first day we did some of the popular attractions such as the Rocky statue and the Liberty Bell.  We ate lunch at Reading Terminal Market, a big food hall that was bustling at lunchtime.  That afternoon we visited the Franklin Institute, which was really cool.  They had fascinating exhibits on the heart and brain, as well as a planetarium.  I definitely recommend the Franklin Institute.  On our second day in Philly we started out at the U.S. Mint, where we got to learn about and watch people make money.  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside the Mint. We also went to Elfreth's Alley, which is one of the oldest continually inhabited residential streets in the United States.  It was so cute and colonial, as well as a great place for photos. Our last stop before lunch was Independence Hall, and the tour was very informative--we got to see the actual chair George Washington sat in during the Constitutional Convention (the convention where our Founding Fathers came up with the U.S. Constitution).  That afternoon I got my long-awaited Philly cheesesteak--and it was everything I had imagined and more.  I absolutely loved it.  If you ever go to Philadelphia, visit HipCityVeg for the best cheesesteak ever.   

Reading Terminal Market is worth a visit on your trip to Philly. There's a ton of options for snacks, coffee, dessert, or meals.  We ate at Luhv Vegan Deli and I got the Argentinian empanada which was yummy. 

We see such beautiful buildings as we are walking around different cities

The Franklin Institute

Benjamin Franklin, of course

There was a giant heart you could go inside and explore, which was super cool and unique. Mia and Dad are at the top of the heart to the right.

One of the optical illusions in the brain exhibit

The electricity exhibit was really cool 

In the air exhibit 

One of the original Model B airplanes the Wright Brothers created. The Model B's were the first of the Wright Brothers' designs to be built in quantity. 

Flying a model plane in the air exhibit

In the brain exhibit at the Franklin Institute

A model of The Thinker

The view from the top of the Rocky steps

When we were walking back to the truck we saw this super cool splash pad 

The Liberty Bell!🔔

Washington Fountain, across from the Rocky steps and statue

I love houses with bright cheerful colors!

Elfreth's Alley

The Assembly room in Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were written. 

The Supreme Courtroom, where the Supreme Court met throughout the 1700s

My Philly cheesesteak🧀🥪😍😋

        We also went to Atlantic City and Ocean City while in New Jersey.  In my opinion, Atlantic City was kind of like a trashier Las Vegas.  I wouldn't recommend a visit to Atlantic City, but I WOULD recommend Ocean City.  I loved this small beach town, it was so nice and had a lovely boardwalk.  I really enjoyed the shops and restaurants on the boardwalk and in downtown Ocean City, and we got some taffy on the boardwalk from a business called Shrivers.  Shrivers was the first business on the Ocean City Boardwalk, and is known for its fudge and salt water taffy.  

Atlantic City Ferris wheel

Atlantic City Boardwalk is the oldest, longest, and most famous boardwalk in the world.

The Korean War memorial on the Atlantic City Boardwalk

Enjoying coconut fro-yo in Ocean City

        One of the coolest things we did in New Jersey was take the ferry from Cape May over to Lewes, Delaware.  This quaint town was actually the first town founded in Delaware--so it's the first town in the first state of the U.S.!  We really enjoyed our day here; biking, eating local food, and enjoying Lewes' small-town charm.  

Chillin' on the ferry deck

St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Lewes is such a beautiful little church

Amen

More pretty flowers!

Cannoli for dessert 

WW2 lookout tower in Lewes is the sister tower to the one we saw at Sunset Beach in Cape May

           On May 31, we moved to our campground in Accord, New York.  We were close to the Catskills, which is a mountain range with lots of waterfalls and hiking.  The Catskills was actually the setting for Washingotn Irving's famous story, "Rip Van Winkle." On our first day exploring in the Catskills, we hiked to Kaaterskill Falls and visited the hamlet of Phoenicia.  The Catskills have a lot of these little hamlets, which are tiny "towns"in one large town.  For example, Phoenicia is a hamlet in the town of Shandaken, which encompasses eleven more hamlets other than Phoenicia. 

    

On the trail to Kaaterskill Falls

The view from upper Kaaterskill Falls

Reading at the falls

This pretty flower display was in front of a store in Phoenica

        The next day, we drove to Minnewaska State Park to hike the Sam's Point Overlook to Ice Caves trail.  Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side and on the way out to the ice caves we were basically hiking through a cloud, which rendered us cold and wet--but it was kind of cool to think about hiking through a cloud, honestly.  The ice caves weren't dramatic with icicles dangling from the ceiling, but it was definitely chilly in there, and we found a little bit of snow that was still unmelted even though it was basically summertime already. And on our way back from the ice caves we stopped by Sam's Point Overlook since the cloud cover had cleared a little.  

The overlook point as seen from the parking lot down below

        We also went hiking in the hamlet of Woodstock (not the place where they had the concert,) and though the hike was very steep, the fire lookout tower at the top gave us gorgeous views that were totally worth it. 

        

Walking down the steps of the fire lookout tower 

        But we're in New York. We can't miss the city that everyone pictures when they think of New York. The world-famous home of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. The most-visited and highest-populated city in the whole United States. Of course, I'm talking about New York City.  We took the train into the city, stayed overnight, and went sightseeing until we were worn out--but I had a fabulous time. The city has so much to see and do.  I'm so glad we visited, and I would like to go back someday to see more of this famous city. 

At the train station 

Waiting to board our train

On the train into the city

We walked out of the train tunnel and  arrived in Grand Central Station 

The skyline of NYC

Another instance of walking around a city and seeing a beautiful building

The Empire State Building

We saw a couple of beautiful churches while in the city, this one is called Saint Patrick's Cathedrel

St. Patrick's Cathedral from the outside

Central Park

One of Central Park's many bridges

Bethesda Fountain, which has been featured in many movies including Elf and Enchanted

Did you know that there's a miniature castle in Central Park? It's called Belvedere Castle. Here's the views from the castle balconies

Riding down the escalator in Trump Tower

On the High Line in Manhattan

Riding the NYC subway for the first time 

Times Square!

More awesome buildings, this time on the High Line in Manhattan

I can't remember the name of this church, but as you can see, it was absolutely beautiful

We took the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry on our second day in the city, and while we didn't go up in the crown, we still got to see this treasured landmark 

The museum at the Statue of Liberty had the original torch in its collection, which is pretty neat 

Ellis Island was so amazing. The original building in which the museum was housed had been somewhat restored but not completely redone,so it felt very authentic. It was just so fascinating to imagine all the people, my own ancestors, who had walked the same halls and  lived in the same rooms I was now standing in. Ellis Island is something you cannot miss on a visit to NYC. 

The Registry Room, or Great Hall, where immigrants would go through the legal and medical examinations

The Stairs of Separation: the staircase to the right in this photo was where the immigrants who were allowed entry and headed to the New York dock went. The left staircase was for those who were allowed entry but wanted to exchange currency or maybe purchase a railroad ticket before heading to their destination. The middle staircase was for those who were detained at Ellis Island for extra inspection, either for medical or legal purposes. 

Across the water from the main building are these buildings and the Ellis Island hospital. 

My first slice of NYC style pizza in NYC! It was delicious. 

Riding the ferry back to the mainland from Ellis Island, I got this spur-of-the-moment picture with my mom; which is one of my favorite photos I got this whole trip. 

        Once our stay in Accord was over, we stayed with our good friends, the Bechtolds, at another campground for a week.  We had so much fun, riding four-wheelers, hiking, and playing games together.  I will treasure the memories we made that week, and I hope we can see them again soon. 

Taughannock Falls

Cascadilla Falls

Hiking in Robert H. Treman State Park. 

Chalk at the campground 

Hiking in Watkins Glen

Girls Day Out with Boba tea!

        Soon our time in New York came to an end, and our next campground was in Massachusetts.  Stay tuned for my next blog, where I'll write about our time in Mass! Please comment once you finish reading this blog, I love replying to comments that you guys leave. Thank you for reading!