Philadelphia was a bit quieter compared to our busy days in DC.  We actually needed some recovery time, so this was a nice break.  We stayed at the Timberlane Campground, which was actually in Clarksboro, NJ just across the Delaware River/Ben Franklin Bridge from Philly (only about 10 miles).  We had rain the first few days, which worked out fine, so we could get some errand done.   Side note: There are A LOT of toll roads in this area.  On our drive from DC, we paid $43 for tolls.  And, it looks like this is just the beginning for this area.

On our first day, we drove the short few miles back into Delaware to make our bike purchase (no sales tax in DE)!  We sold the kayaks a few weeks ago and were holding the proceeds to buy bikes.  Very excited and we have already used them every day and look forward to using them throughout the Northeast and the rest of the trip.  We also bought a great carrying rack, which hooks onto the rear of the MoHo so we don’t have to worry about them on the car.  A perfect solution!

The next day, the weather finally broke so we headed into Philly for the day.  Our first stop was in the Historic Independence District to see the iconic Liberty Bell.  It was packed with tour groups so we opted not to wait in the huge line to go inside to take a photo, but rather just looked through the window on the outside and snapped a few pics (see below).   Next item on the agenda was to find a Philly Cheesesteak for lunch.  We had read about the top 3 original spots to try.  We landed at Jim’s and both had the “Cheesesteak Wit” (wit means with onions).  This place was awesome and by the time we left there was a line out the door.  We walked around a bit taking in the atmosphere of the area, then drove over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and those famous steps.  We joined the other tourists and did the classic run up the steps and jumped up and down with our arms in the air (a bit winded) just like Rocky Balboa did.   Cheesy, but these are the kind of moments I like!

The last day here, May 30, was our 15^th wedding anniversary.  We had a relaxing day hanging out at the campground, ran some more errands and enjoyed a delicious dinner at the MoHo of spaghetti, Caesar salad and of course red wine.  Perfect!  Overall, our time here was pretty low key, which is just what we needed.   We are glad we made the stop, but I think a bit of a let down compared to our amazing time in DC.  Next up is Atlantic City and the Jersey Shore!