The first day we visited Winterthur gardens. I think this is my favorite garden here because it's so quiet and you don't see a lot of people - and it's very shady so it's nice on hot days.
Nemours garden and mansion just finished a three year, $39 million restoration. The A.I. Dupont was the guy who started making gunpowder here and built this mansion and garden to try to win the love of his second wife..who did marry him but said she never really loved him. The tour takes you through the 40,000 square foot home which is super ornate (but the servents kitchen and pantry were awesome!). I forgot my camera battery so this picture is taken from their website.
We also went antiquing a little...this place had some great stuff.
Ice cream at Brusters
Now if you know my mom you know some of the things she likes are: quiet, calm, and no crowds. So I had to laugh as my mom and I braved downtown Filthydelphia by ourselves for close to 4 hours to see the sites. The kids were surprisingly good but I just never imagined doing THIS with her! Above is where Ben Franklin's home was.
One of the neatest things they have for free are little storytelling benches. There are 13 benches located at different historical sites and you just plop down and get to hear a cool story about history! Shown above is mom listening to the story of John Barry (naval officer in the Revolutionary War) with Independence Hall in the background.
This is one cool store I've found in downtown. They do cooking demos every weekend and this girl just shows up and has to figure out what to make with all this fresh produce. She was roasting an eggplant, I believe and was going to make some nectarine reduction whatever that is but it sounded so good! If I didn't have kids I would be doing this kind of stuff every Saturday! Also notice the teacup clock, I want one.
On Sunday my mom babysat so Justin and I could go on date! We went to the Hagley museum which was where the Dupont company began making gunpowder. The river is so cool here. We ate lunch in an old home on the property and just walked around in love.
Of course we had to go catch lightning bugs. I am so wierd because I can't just go catch bugs outside our apartment because it's just not the right "atmosphere." I like to ask myself, "WWMD? What Would Martha [Stewart] Do?" So we drove down to the river but that wasn't right either because there was not only trash everywere but also White Trash so we left and ended up at Brandywine State Park with no one around and it's so beautiful..so then I decided it was okay to catch bugs.
We also did a lot of napping and relaxing! I think my mom liked sleeping by Ellie the best. Oh and we also picked berries but the pictures are SO cute I'm saving them for their own post. Thank you for coming grandma, we love you more!
5 comments:
Looks like you guys had a lot of fun!! Moms are the best!!! I am glad she was able to come out to visit you guys!
Fun. I love your pics (as always). I really love the one at Winterthur. I didn't even know about the story telling in Philly. Makes me want to go there again just for that! Do you want to go to one of the museums this Sat? (Whichever one is $1?). It seems like we haven't hung out in so long.
PS - That is so cute WWMD. Did you make that up? With that question in mind, no wonder you do such cute stuff!
Fun Fun! I wondered what you had been up to, it has been so long since your last post.
Don't you just love fire-flys/lightning bugs? That is one of my favorite things about the East.
Aloha Cort! Your kids are so fetchin cute (loved the one with your mom reading). I had to tell you that a big part of the conversation with Pete Glahn at the reunion was when we got left at Los Hermanos (jerks). I thought it was hilarious.
Exellent pictures!
jt
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