Halfway to 70

Today was my birthday and I am now halfway to 70, or as Heather likes to say, 490 in cat-years. She surprised me this morning with a day trip to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. Given my pursuit of World Heritage Sites, the primary purpose of the trip was Independence Hall, but there were several other bonuses we squeezed into the day.

Independence Hall is one of the few World Heritage Sites in the United States that is not a natural park and was the location for the signing of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It also served as the home of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and was the former home for the Liberty Bell, now on display in the building across the street.

After a quick visit to Benjamin Franklin's grave, we headed over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They had a special exhibit called Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt that Heather wanted to see, but the highlight for me was the Rocky statue. Heather was nice enough to do a Rocky pose for me, though, including her blue mittens/boxing gloves.

Other features of the day:

• we drove through three states, a big deal for people from Texas
• I ate a real Philly cheesesteak from a sidewalk cart (street-meat, as Heather says)
  
• it snowed on my birthday--a first ever