Trip to Philadelphia

So, you know when you're about to hit a milestone birthday and you sort of freak out a little? Well, at the end of the month I will be 35. I know, that is so old! I will no longer be young adult clergy in the United Methodist Church! See, the United Methodist Church in 2007 had only 876 ordained elders that were under 35 years of age (I was ordained elder in 2006). My getting older is hurting our statistics! Well, since I love to travel, and I am hitting this milestone birthday, I asked for a trip for my present from Lee. Since I have never been to Philadelphia and I was looking for a 2 night trip away, it seemed like a good idea!

The main reason why I thought of Philadelphia was for the Barnes Foundation. The Barnes Foundation is a private art collection, and has the largest collection of Impressionist art in the world. There are 181 Renoirs, 69 Cezannes, 69 Matisses, as well as Picassos, Gauguins, Manets, Van Goghs. It was amazing! The Barnes Foundation is only open on Fridays and Saturdays and you have to get your tickets in advance. I am so glad that we went because they are building a new building in the middle of Philadelphia. The new building will be beautiful, but I wanted to see the Barnes before it moved. We couldn't take any pictures inside the Barnes, but check them out on wikipedia to see what famous pictures they have.

It was cold and rainy while we were in Philadelphia, but we had a great meal at Buddakan, enjoyed driving all around the city, going to a movie, and catching up with our friends Charles and Jessie who recently moved to Philadelphia. We did see the liberty bell and really enjoyed an exhibit of Princess Diana's wedding dress that was at the National Constitution Center. And of course, we had a Philadelphia cheesesteak at Jim's on south street! We also walked by Mother Bethel AME, the first African Methodist Episcopal Church started by Richard Allen. To read about how the AME began read this.

It was wonderful to get away (thanks mom for watching the kids!) and I think that I'm going to be okay (eventually) with turning 35!

the famous Love Park

We ran up the famous Rocky steps outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art at night, so fun!


it was great to see leaves changing colors!



the view from our top floor hotel room (26th floor), this is of the Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Barnes Foundation will be on the right side of the street before you get to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (where all the trees are now)