We got into Philly at almost midnight on Friday night and naturally had to start out by sampling the local cuisine – Philly Cheesesteak… and a sample is all we needed. We tried out two places who claim to be the original, Gino’s and Pat’s, and both were horrible. Really, the cheesesteak wasn’t even good enough to finish (of course finish we did-it is food).
Naturally we started Saturday off with a big breakfast. Followed shortly by a stop at Naked Chocolate Café-a fantastic chocolate café-for some hot chocolate. But this wasn’t just any hot chocolate. This was European Hot Chocolate and it was crazy thick and ridiculously rich. But man was it good.
The rest of the day included some shopping and hanging out at Macy’s and watching the Festival of Lights-a six story wall of Christmas lights, inside Macy’s that take shape with changing Christmas music and narration by Julie Andrews. We also stopped by Philadelphia’s Christmas Market, just outside City Hall. It was a little disappointing, but to be fair, we wouldn’t have lasted long anyway. It was snowing and we were all freezing.
We also made quick stops to check out the Philadelphia Train Display and Reading Terminal market for some more chocolate, cookies and ice cream.
After heading back to the hotel to warm up, we all decided we were too full to move. So naturally, we forced ourselves to get up and head out to eat at Max Brenners. The whole point of trying Max Brenners was for their famous chocolate. Unfortunately after forcing ourselves to eat, we couldn’t even handle desert. Of course to make up for this loss, Brian and I bought some European style hot chocolate mix to take back to DC.
On Sunday we did some more shopping and then stopped by Longwood Gardens. It was absolutely incredible. Definitely the highlight of the weekend.
All in all , Philly was a great experience. And no-there is no such thing as too much Christmas or Chocolate.
