east coast trip, part 1

a month or two ago, austin's parents were talking about their upcoming april spring break visit to new jersey. they were taking braden to visit jenna and ty in new jersey and spend a couple days in washington dc. we decided it sounded like too much fun to pass up, especially since laura hadn't been to new jersey, new york city, or washington dc. so scott got online and worked his travel magic to get us in on the fun.

we were very excited to take a long 10-day trip. we were excited to visit jenna and some fun east coast stuff, and almost as excited to take a long break from work.

the flights worked out that we would fly into philadelphia (90 minutes from jenna and ty) a day ahead of cheryl and braden. jenna picked us up in the afternoon and we got to entertain carter on the way back to new jersey.


austin was glad to get into town a day ahead of braden so he could work on stealing the title of "favorite uncle."


carter really enjoyed swinging with his mom.

the next day cheryl and braden were flying into philadelpia later in the afternoon (scott had to be in salt lake for general conference and would come on monday), so we had plans to make a short day trip back into philadelphia and spend the morning and afternoon doing some quick historical visits.


because it was a holiday weekend and spring break for the masses, we couldn't get independence hall tour tickets online and found that they had given all the standby passes for the day when we checked at the visitor center. we were a little disappointed, but luckily they have a standby line at the hall, which we were fortunate enough to find early enough that we got on a tour without having to wait too long.


this was laura's first visit to philadelphia and it was cool to see the building -- and the room (yes, the one above) -- where several very important american events took place. our tour guide was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed the brief historical facts he shared with us.


austin is pretty sure this is the stairway that nicolas cage took to get to the top of independence hall in the first national treasure movie. you know, the part where he finds the weird glasses in the bricks or something. austin thought that should have been part of the tour as well.


laura and a dozen other people getting their picture in front of the liberty bell. the bell is housed in a new and nice museum with lots of interesting facts and displays. we visited a few other smaller historical sites, but these were the two we were most concerned about visiting on our short visit and we were glad we got to see both.


a trip to philadelphia wouldn't be complete without philly cheese steak. we found a local place and got a couple different sandwiches and really enjoyed both. is it bad that it was the highlight of our day?

we don't have a picture of this, but on our way back to the car we found a cute little old candy shop that claims to be the oldest in america called shane candies. it was charming and old-fashioned without feeling too fancy or upscale. we got a small sample box and enjoyed a few chocolates while waiting in the park and wait at the philadelphia airport.

coming soon -- east coast trip, part 2: austin and laura visit the big apple -- stay tuned!