A dear friend in Philly

For my 30th birthday, I had the privilege of flying to Philly to see my best friend from college. I have blogged about Kasey before and the strong influence she had in my growth as a Christian. She is so very dear to my heart and is one of those friends who seems to understand my every thought. We hadn't seen each other for probably 5 years so it was so sweet to be able to visit her for an entire weekend! She was an amazing tour guide and hostess let me tell you. I am not sure I have ever eaten so much good food in that short amount of time! Here is a recap of the trip...

The first night we ate at a restaurant called Supper and oh how the gourmet deviled eggs hit the spot!

The next morning we went to a parisian cafe called Parc. I was in heaven. Every detail of the restaurant added to the experience of feeling like you were truly in Paris, from the mosaic floors, large windows, bistro chairs (and high chairs...only $700 a pop), the menu, and dare I say, even the bathrooms stalls which were made of marble. The only thing missing from my experience when I visited Paris was the Nortre Dame outside the windows. It was perfect. The picture above is the bread basket and our cafe au laits. Mmmm.

I had the croque madame which was so savory and possibly one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten.

To top it all off, how much better can it get to have this experience with such a dear friend. Precious.

Here's the bread stand where all the fresh bread is cut.

And this was one of my favorite parts. I will have to look for a replica of a true french bistro high chair...$700 seems a little much!

After brunch we headed out to shop and see some of the sites in the Rittenhouse area. We also went to the Reading Terminal Market which is an indoor farmers market that has been around since 1892, a must see (and eat) for anyone visiting Philly!

The capitol building

The iconic Love Park...I suppose to recognize the motto "city of brotherly love".

Since we ate a late bruch, we decided to have tea in the later afternoon at an english pub called Dandelion. Once again, an awesome meal. We had a cheese board with grape chutney and scones and shortbread with raspberry jam. And of course we had our afternoon tea too all while sitting in a big bay window looking down at the busy streets below. I really felt like I was in London.

Saturday night we headed to Mercato to celebrate my 30th, which is Kasey's favorite restaurant! It was well worth the 2 hour wait time. The restaurant is the size of a thumb nail with full view of the owner and chef at work. We started our meal with an artichoke which was grilled in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. I had my first lesson in how to eat an artichoke from Kasey who's an expert! We also had flights of olive oil and vinegar for dipping our bread. For dinner, I had scallops with risotto and truffle oil. And for dessert we had tiramisu...not just any tiramisu but the most decadent homemade tiramisu I've ever eaten. Mmmmm.

On Sunday, we decided to visit some of the more historial sites in the Old City District, but before we could do that, we needed to eat. So why not have a Philly Cheesesteak!!! Across the street from each other sit two of the most well-know cheesesteak places in Philly, Pat King's Steak and Geno's. We chose Geno's based on a recommendation from Kasey's husband.

Let's just say, this cheesesteak was not easily comeby. You must stand in a long line and order in a certain way. Think of Seinfeld's episode when they enter the soup line and are yelled at when they don't order correctly. "No soup for you" kept running through my head. At the first window you must order the cheesteak and the second window your drinks and cheese fries. If you want a cheesesteak with cheeze wiz and onions, you  say "one cheese wiz with (or wit)". I let Kasey take care of that part. At the second window, the 5 foot lady taking our order was even more intimidating than the 6 foot guy at the first window. She started yelling out the window because I forgot to take my drink! I must say, the stress of the line was worth every tastey bite!!!

Of course we visited the Liberty Bell!

Next we visited Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. I have never been a history buff but this experience was really cool!

Here's the banister where several presidents climbed to the second level. We weren't allowed up to the second level BUT I was able to touch the banister which George Washington himself also touched it. Pretty amazing.

Here's a really bad picture of one of the newsletter prints of the Declaration of Independence.

Thanks again to you Kase for being such a great friend for life! I really can't wait to see you again!