Day 4: June 28, 2007
Boy was I sore when I woke up on this day! Climbing up and down that water park play structure all day on Wednesday completely wore me out! Let's just say that even though I can still ACT like a 7 year old - I still FEEL like a 60 year old after a day like that! Oh well - it was such a good time I wasn't too worried about the pain in my knees and my achy-breaky back!
It has been one of mine and my husband's goals to get to Philadelphia one day to eat at one of the two famous Philly cheese steak joints. We watched a special on the Food Network a year or so ago that highlighted both places - Gino's and Pat's in downtown Philly and we knew at that moment we had to go. We are both big Cheese Steak fans. So - we decided to incorporate a stop to Philly in our family vacation. (Okay - nothing like letting the food be your guide!) :)
Once off the toll road just outside of Philly, we asked the booth attendant where to get the best cheese steaks in town and his reply was, "I'm a Gino's kinda guy myself." So - we took his advice and got directions.
The directions seemed easy enough - - this street to that street until you get downtown and then it's on the corner of 5th and this other street. How hard can that be? WELL - let me just tell you right now that after 2 and a half hours of driving - we saw more of downtown Philly than we ever care to see again. The town consists mostly of one way streets - so to get anywhere will frustrate the pants off you! Let's just say that we were just about to our breaking point when we finally found it!
Gino's and Pat's are rival cheese steak joints just opposite each other in the heart of the city. What amazed me was the people lined up for cheese steaks at nearing 2:30 in the afternoon. My guess is that it's like that most of the time around there.
We decided to stop at Pat's first. They are known as "The King of Steaks." Trevor and I split a steak and a drink. It was good. But what was more amazing is the sign that hung out front that described, in detail, how to order your steak. Now we were specifically told before even going to Philly that you NEVER place your order by saying, "I would like to get a Philly Cheese Steak." Um - DUH! You're in Philly, dude! Here is how you order (in slang), "Whiz Wit" or "Whiz Witout." That's it. Whiz Wit means you want it with Cheese Whiz (no other way but this way since it's the original way) with onions. Whiz Witout means you want it with Cheese Whiz and NO onions. Simple stuff folks. So - we were then able to order with confidence what we wanted and sounded like we knew what we were doing at the same time!
So - we decided to head to Gino's for a comparison. I've got to tell you - hand's down - Gino's was the best! This steak was juicy and buttery and just plain delicious! Notin' like it! Grab some napkins if you go, though, those things are messy, but well worth the greasy arms!
After leaving Philly we decided to head to the coast to see what we could find. This would mean crossing into New Jersey - or Jersey as we've been told to call it. So much slang to remember!
We landed in Long Branch, which is one mighty fine city right on the Atlantic Ocean. What a beautiful city! We literally passed mansion after mansion. It was amazing! We wondered what these people did for a living. It blew my mind!!
We ended up at a Resort right on the water called Ocean Place. This place was awesome WITH a pretty awesome price tag I might add! YIKES! Good thing we were only in for a night! This place was an all-inclusive resort complete with 2 pools, spa, tennis courts, private beach area, restaurant and a shopping center. The only bad thing was that it was overcast most of the time we were there - so that Atlantic wasn't very clear - but it was so nice just to sit on the beach for a bit and relax. There's nothing on this planet like sitting on the shore listening to the sound of waves crashing in! Nothing!
After some swimming and some relaxation and a good dinner, we were ready for bed. Another great day!
Day 5: June 29, 2007
Before leaving Jersey, we visited the beach again, picked us up some sea shells (that's a must) and ate a good lunch practically right on the water.
We knew we wanted to head closer to home and stay for probably one more night somewhere... but we just didn't know where the car was going to land us.
Now without offending anyone who may be reading this who is actually FROM Jersey - I have to just say one thing. 95% of the people we encountered in Jersey were just down right rude. I'm not sure what it is about living in in that particular state that makes them so grouchy - but I can tell you it's something. Even though I enjoyed my stay - I'm not ready to head back there anytime soon.
So - leaving the great state of Jersey, we decided to head back though Pennsylvania.
We landed in the Pocono's! What a pretty place! After a little bit of sight-seeing, it was pretty obvious where we were going to be staying! Chloe can spot a Great Wolf Lodge from a mile away! It was pretty much a no-brainer when we got closer that THAT was going to be the place to stay. We've been to Great Wolf in Traverse and ever since, our family has been hooked. There's just something about a gigantic indoor water park that tops off a week-long vacation! We enjoyed it so much - that we decided to stay for an additional night! I think what we really needed was that one extra day to do nothing. Just lay by the pool! That's it! After all the driving we did - we just needed that!
So - it was home on Sunday evening - and we rolled into town a little after 7 p.m.
It was one memorable vacation and I am blessed to have a wonderful home, family and friends to come back to!
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