Tina Jay Photography | Philadelphia Wedding Photographer

It's no secret that I love Philly.  So I really love when people come to visit me in Philly, because that means I have an excuse to do all the tourist-y things that Philly has to offer.  Over the Christmas break my step-sister Erin and her boyfriend were visiting from Las Vegas, and we spent an afternoon in Philly hitting all of the spots this city is known for.....I hadn't done something like this in SO long, so it was a ton of fun to do it with someone who has never been to Philly before:

Erin's boyfriend REALLY wanted to run up the Rocky steps (and I'm ashamed to say I've never climbed them before!) - so I ran to the top and took pictures of him sprinting up.  And yes, he is listening to "Eye of the Tiger" on his iPod:)

Next stop was Independence Hall, where the Constitution was signed (Jay and I used to live about 2 blocks from here.....man I miss the city!):

And of course, the Liberty Bell:

Next stop was the Constitution Center - I liked how the American flag is positioned right over Independence Hall:

My dad is fascinated by Ben Franklin, so he wanted to see where he was buried.  The whole time we were walking around this area (oh, a good hour or two), I thought my Dad was saying Ben Franklin was buried in that little house right in the center of the picture below.  I kept thinking "geez, he has a whole house as a burial sight"!  So I start walking towards the little house, and my dad had to stop me and ask where I was going....welp, ends up I was dead wrong and he is actually buried where I drew the arrow.  Riiiiiight...woops:)

No trip to Philly is ever complete without a REAL Philly cheesesteak, so we stopped by the famous Pat's:

And Geno's:

Erin got a cheesesteak from Geno's, her boyfriend got one from Pat's, and they split them....I won't reveal who the winner was:)

I've actually never eaten at either, because Jim's is my favorite (on 4th and South).....so when it came time to deciding which one to get (they're right across the street from each other, for all of you non-Philadelphians out there:), I went with Geno's solely because it is much prettier hah:

Now I never mind a good cheesesteak, but let me tell you, these little guys kiiiind of ruined my experience.  You have to sit outside to eat (yes there are tables outside, and yes they are PACKED even though it was only 30 degrees out), and I just wanted to eat and get out of there as fast as possible to get away from the pigeons.  What is UP with all of the pigeons???  Yeah, this one below looks innocent enough, until a whole flock of them will come flapping toward you and your cheesy goodness!  Not a fan!

Happy Thursday!