And first we hit Philly.

I seriously can not rave about our road trip/vacay enough.  We had such a wonderful time.  The time actually didn't fly by, which was wonderful!  I think we enjoyed it to the fullest.  On a completely random note, do you ever have the weirdest dreams when you're on vacay?  I think it's that you're lacking the subconscious comfortability that you have when sleeping in your own home.  I didn't start dreaming about school until the end of the trip, so that was nice.

To save a bit of money on hotels, we decided to check out Airbnb. It was recommended to us by some friends who used it when they traveled to San Fransisco a while back.  Basically people rent out their homes/apartments/etc for similar prices as hotels.  Airbnb acts as the "middle-man" so owners do not handle your money.  It's definitely fab if you're staying for a bit and want the money-saver luxuries of making a couple of your own meals.  You can choose to rent just a room or a full home/apartment.  Anyhow, we chose to rent apartments in Philly and NYC through Airbnb.  We had a wonderful experience at our apartment in Philly.

It was a little studio apartment, but the location was ideal!  We found parking on the same block (which is always a concern when you're road tripping to a city).  The apartment was only around two blocks from a great little craft beer bar, Sidecar.

The first night we were there, we headed out to walk around the city and find some good food.

As we were walking in Philly, I instantly fell in love.  All the brownstones.  I really love a city where you can easily walk/bike anywhere.  I know the above picture isn't great.  I was just snapping random shots on our first night.  We walked about 5 or 6 blocks to Jose Pistolas.  Unfortunately, I didn't capture pics of the food.  D had been there before, but it's a really cool Mexican restaurant with awesome beer.  We hung out, had some beers, and had a delicious meal.  A couple things we loved: a) great mexican fare which we can't seem to find in Raleigh and b) the price!  It was so affordable (similar to Raleigh prices).  I could eat there all the time.

After leaving there, D quickly hailed a cab like a pro and we headed back to Sidecar.

[Delicious craft beer line-up]

We didn't eat there, but I wish we would have had the opportunity!  They have a great looking food menu.  The place is a bit small, and it was pretty packed for a Sunday night.  Although we still scored bar seats and had a great time.  The bartender recognized D and let us try some special beers.  Even better...we walked right "home."

I don't want to go all picture/text heavy on posts, so I'll save more Philly for another day (plus, my internet is acting up and it's taking AGES to upload pics).  The next morning though we did enjoy the perks of being in an apartment with our own homemade breakfast :)

[Although it's harder than you think working in a kitchen that's not yours...eggs should have been over easy and toast a bit lighter...delicious nonetheless!]