Philadelphia

At the end of July I was invited to attend a Financial Literacy Summit hosted through Drexel University and the Math Forum in Philadelphia, PA. I do teach Financial Literacy and I couldn't believe I got an invitation for an all expense trip paid for through a grant. I was among 20 other people chosen to attend. I was so excited to go but I new NO ONE and I had never been to Philadelphia needless to say there was much trepidation getting on the plane in St. George. I knew I would be fine once I got to the hotel. We were staying at the Inn at Penn on the University of Pennsylvania campus. I was a little nervous but I did finally make it to the hotel and met my new roommate Marian from Beaverton, Oregon. She was a nice lady and I was so glad that we roomed together. The first night we ate at Bobby Flay's Burger Palace and it was really good. The walk to the restaurant was hot and humid but still lovely. I also discovered the there is a Business building named after Jon Huntsman (the dad). Apparently both he and his son attended Business School at the prestigious Ivy League school.

The second night we were all invited to the Math Forum director's home for dinner. I rode my first train while I was there and truly came to understand the phrase "commuting to work". Wow I am so grateful I live where I do and it takes me three minutes to get to work. Dinner was great!  There was so much food! We went back and by the time we got home it was pretty late.

The third night I was there we went to an Italian Restaurant in the hotel and that was good food too. It was a little different but it was still really good. We did a little shopping that night and walked around and looked at things but nothing too much.

The last night we were there the summit ended and a few of us jumped on the subway and headed down town. I ate my first Philly Cheese Steak and a place called Sunny's. It's true what they say about Philly Cheese Steaks...they are awesome! After that we walked around Penn's Landing and I got to see the Jersey Shore, we looked at statues and monuments and saw all the old buildings. We were too late to make any tours but it was need to see Independence Hall and walk the same streets that our founding fathers did. We headed back that night and ate gelato and sat at a coffee shop and talked. It was so much fun. The next morning a few of us had a plan. We wanted to get up early mad dash around downtown and run back to the hotel jump in a cab and make our flights out. We didn't have to be to the airport until 3:30 so we had plenty of time. We first needed breakfast so we hopped a trolley this time and went down town and landed at a farmers market and we had breakfast at an Amish dinner. The food was wonderful, they even had homemade butter. After that we headed up to Independence Hall to get tickets for the tour. We lucked out and got an early tour. We were able to tour the Liberty Bell museum first and then headed over to catch the next tour. I can't say enough how neat Independence Hall was. I've taught history now for 12 years and my favorite part to each is about the U.S. Constitution. When I finally walked into the signing room I almost burst into tears. There was such a spirit there I can't describe. I know with every fiber of my being that the Lord had his hand in the creation of that document and in the lives of the men who had the courage to sign it. I couldn't take my eyes off of George Washington's chair. It was the original chair and I was feet away from where Ben Franklin sat and gave his compromising speech that saved the convention. I really wish I could put into words how that moment truly felt. It was AMAZING!!!

I know I went to this conference for the math part and I survived that part, it really wasn't the funnest thing I've experienced but I did learn a lot and I met some great people. I truly feel blessed that I had the opportunity to see the City of Brotherly Love.

Well that trip pretty much wrapped up my summer. As you can read it was pretty busy. Of course I've just jumped right into the next thing and that is volleyball. Volleyball deserves it's own entry and I'll write about that experience a little later but for now I'm done. I'm leaving you all with some pictures of my trip to Philly!!!

This is where I ate my first Philly Cheese Steak

Outside of Independence Hall.



The Liberty Bell...It really does have a crack in it.

The Signing Room. My pictures didn't really turn out of this room. But this is the table where Ben Franklin sat.

Broken Button Statue on the University of Pennsylvania campus

Famous LOVE statue also on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

I just realized that I mostly talked about the food in Philadelphia. I promise I did more than eat there, it's just that the math part was so not my thing that I just looked forward to the evenings while I was there. I'm so glad I got to go for the historical part of it all too.