NY Trippin'- DC and Points South

First, let me try to post some pics from Philadelphia and the beautiful Amish country of southern Pennsylvania. First up, here we are on the double decker bus. Which-by the way-is a great way to see the sights when you are just passing through a city:

The building below is in the middle of Philly. The road goes in a circle around it. In the old days the road actually went through the building....for horse and buggy! This is Philadelphia city hall. It is an amazing building. And HUGE! The city doesn't even use the entire building.

Museum of art below:

These are the steps from the Rocky movie (can't you just hear the music??)

Betsy Ross' house. Smack middle of downtown.

 Having a Philly cheesesteak in Philly. Just a mall version. Would love to have found a hole-in-the-wall place with the best in town!!

 Behind me below is Independence Hall. Where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Wow....just felt unbelievable to be walking on the same ground as people like Thomas Jefferson, George Wasington, Benjamin Franklin......

 And of course, the Liberty Bell.

 And did you know that the game Monopoly was fashioned after places in Philadelphia? Streets, railroads, etc.

Philadelphia is chock full of stuff to see. And its a beautiful city too. Definitely a place to spend a vacation. And now some pics from Lancaster. The beautiful Amish country. All I can say is Wow....

We found an Amish just finishing baling hay. Using a normal baler, but pulled by horses!

Passed by a horse and buggy.

That then went over a covered bridge!! We got to have such a perfect storybook experience!

We then went shopping/thrifting.....and found some great stuff. Janet had the find of the day...she found an Amish quilt made in 1968 for only $60!! It's beautiful!

And we found a little minor miracle called a Goodwill Bargain Bin! OMG!! Right down our alley. Everything was like $.75 and $.85....Oh Yeah!!!

All that thrifting made us very hungry, so before we left Pennsylvania, we stopped at Jennie's Diner. A real, true traincar with little Jukeboxes on each table. Check out the mint green and red blinds in the window.

This place was as authentic as it gets. The waitresses were older and had been working there for years. You know when the back parking lot is full of 18-wheelers, that you've picked a good place to eat. We sat next to a trucker from Maine. We struck up a conversation and found out he had a border collie waiting for him in his truck who had saved his life when he had a heart attack on one of his previous trips. He told us his wife used to ride with him for years, but when the economy staled she had to take a job in Maine in a factory that makes chalices and robes for Catholic priests. When we asked him which truck was his, he said his had a lavender grill and fenders. Thats why other truckers started calling him Lavender Larry! What a great guy. We really enjoyed our visit with you Lavender Larry! Happy trails!!

Well, I was going to tell you about D.C. in this entry, but just didn't have time. We are due to hit Texas today. I'll be able to finish this trip blog when I get home and to a solid internet signal. Stayed the night in Alexandria, LA., about an hour or so out of Texas. Gotta go! Love.