Monday, April 14, 2008

Last couple of weeks...

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy. Things are getting close to the end here and we've tried to get in a few more things that we wanted to do while we were here. Also, since I'm getting ready to leave Inova Mt. Vernon Hospital I've been trying to do a few things with the people from work as well. We had a party here at my apartment in honor of Jennifer's last day. Her next assignment is in Cincinnati and she started there this past Monday. The party was a ton of fun and I will really miss all the people that I've gotten to know at work during this assignment...I will not miss the hospital though! I only have 2 days of work left here!! Woohoo!

Only 1 week left!

Last Thursday and Friday Shawn and I took a trip to Philadelphia. It was a great mini-vacation! We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn's Landing. It was a really nice hotel...except Shawn was upset that there was no hot tub! There was an indoor pool though, and the water was really warm. We got out there around lunch on Thursday and headed straight to the Franklin Institute Science Museum. I was really interested in seeing the Science Museum and Shawn was happy because there was a special exhibit all about Star Wars. It was a great exhibit. There were miniatures from the movies, as well as some larger pieces. There were a bunch of costumes from the movies and props as well. We toured the rest of the museum after the Star Wars exhibit and it was really fun...even Shawn enjoyed it! The museum would be great for kids because most things are hands on so you can really learn what you're seeing. There was an exhibit about genetics and heredity, one on the human body with a huge human heart model that you could walk through following the path of blood flow (it was really sweet!!), one about trains, one about planes, and the list goes on. When you first walk in the institute you see the Franklin Memorial.
We visited Logan Square after the museum, seeing as it is right outside of the Franklin Institute. There was a beautiful fountain and the Ben Franklin Parkway extended toward the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Along the parkway is a flag for each country in the world. Outside to the left of the stairs leading to the Philadelphia of Art is the Rocky Statue. I didn't know much about Philadelphia before our trip, but I was amazed at how much there is to do there! We only had 2 days and it wasn't nearly enough time. Friday we woke up early to start doing all the touristy things. Independence Hall and all of those historic places were walking distance from our hotel so we did A TON of walking. We took the tour of Independence Hall and Congress Hall, we saw the Liberty Bell and several of the parks in the historic district. In Washington Square there is the Tomb of the Unknown Solider from the Revolutionary War with an eternal flame. There are also a TON of places to eat. We made sure to have an authentic Philly Cheesesteak...yum! A friend made sure to tell me before we left that we had to get ours with Cheese Whiz...not any of the other cheese choices because that is the best way. She was right...it was great! We found a Cuban restaurant that I wanted to try, but we ran out of time. Next time! Friday night we went to Citizens Bank Park to watch the Cubs play the Phillies. It was a great night...the Cubs lost, but it was a great time anyway. When we got back to the hotel we were getting ready for bed when a fireworks display started out over the Delaware River and our room windows looked out over the river. It was a great ending to the trip. We loved it!

When we got back we realized we only had 1 week left and a bunch of stuff we still wanted to do, plus we both still had to work. So...several things had to go :( We went to Mt. Vernon this morning...but I've been talking too much so we'll hear about the rest of this week later. Here are some pictures now!








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