Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Franklin Institute.

On our second day in Philadelphia, we spent the morning in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the afternoon in the Franklin Institute.  Joe was able to find online deals for tickets 50% off at each of these places which made the day even better. The Philadelphia Museum of Art was hosting an exhibit called Visions of Arcadia with paintings by Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse and others. The paintings were French artists' interpretations of paradise, contentment and harmony.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, with famous steps in front.

From the top of the steps looking back over the city. Lots of tourists were taking
Rocky-posed pictures while Philadelphians ran up and down the steps for exercise.

"Large Bathers" by Cezanne, part of the Arcadia exhibit.

After a few hours of quietly looking at paintings, we ate lunch and walked down the street to The Franklin Institute. I really liked the TFI because it presents scientific concepts in a simple yet sophisticated way to keep both kids and adults interested. Almost everything was hands-on and we had a lot of fun doing the little "experiments" and testing the theorems for ourselves!

On the steps of the Franklin Institute.

A live science demonstration in front of the statue of Franklin.

We measured how much blood we have based on our weight.

A huge human heart!

You can climb inside the heart and follow the path of
blood through the right side, to the lungs and out
through the left side of the heart. Here Joe is getting
pumped though the right ventricle.

Joe explaining to me all the surgical instruments.

Shaquille O'Neal's size 22 shoe--part of an exhibit on the wide
range of body sizes of professional athletes and the physics of sports.

The Franklin Institute had a Dead Sea Scrolls traveling exhibit when we
were there. This cylindrical jar is similar to ones that the scrolls were found
in and dates back to the first century BC to first century AD.

Ancient pottery.

An ancient bath.

Independence National Historical Park.

Our first day there we went to Independence Hall, saw the Liberty Bell, and stood next to Benjamin Franklin's grave. The Independence Hall tour guide kept repeating that it was the "most historic square mile in the most historic city in the United States." We really enjoyed our day there and could have easily spent another in this part of Philadelphia just walking around, taking tours, talking to the John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross impersonators.

Crossing this bridge (which we did each day) from NJ into PA will cost you $5 a pop.

We had to get our pictures next to Independence Hall.

Father of the US Navy, Commodore John Barry.

American Philosophical Society, aka first library.

Why we wanted to come.

The assembly room inside Independence Hall.

Senate meeting room.

Senate meeting room.

Committee room.

Memoriam to American soldiers who died as
POW's in Philadelphia in the War for Independence.

The Liberty Bell.

Outside Christ Church Burial Ground, Franklin's resting place.

"A penny saved is a penny earned." Pennies on Franklin's grave.

He tore from the skies the lightning and from tyrants the scepter.

Signer of the Constitution.

List of Benjamin Franklin's accomplishments. What a life.

Scranton, Pennsylvania.

When we arrived in Buffalo on August 1, we moved our things into the basement but could not move in to the apartment for another 10 days. Joe's parents stayed in Buffalo for two days and we all did some sight-seeing before they drove on to Boston. Since we had a week before we could start the process of moving and settling in, Joe and I decided to head down to Philadelphia and call it our 2 year anniversary trip. We loved visiting that city! So much to see and do--I wish we could have stayed longer. Anyhow, as devoted fans of The Office, we had to stop in Scranton on our way and see what there was to see. Sad to say, we couldn't find the "Welcome to Scranton" sign or the clock tower from the show's intro or anything else. We did, however, go on a wild goose chase, looking up everything we could find on the internet about anything Office-related in Scranton. We ended up in the mall where "The Office" store had recently closed! Here is the fruit of our two-hour search in Scranton, PA.

The elevator doors in the mall.

Mifflin Ave.

The Scenery of Western New York.

The leaves are changing in Buffalo and here are a few pictures detailing the areas around our house and in the suburban areas:

Delavan Ave, the street we live on.

Delaware Park a few blocks from our house.

Orange leaves.

Delaware Park Cemetery.

Another of Delaware Park Cemetery.

Allegany State Park, right outside of Buffalo.

Allegany State Park.

Two streets over from our apartment is a famous road named Ferry Street. Many of the houses that were a part of the Underground Railroad are on this street, which leads right to Lake Erie, and ultimately Canada. (We actually live about 2 miles from Canada!) It's really cool to live in a place with so much history.

Ferry Circle @ Richmond Ave: This light post was dedicated
to members of the Underground Railroad. 

Moving and Sight-Seeing.

When they found out we were moving, Joe's parents offered to haul a trailer full of our stuff and combine our move with their 25th anniversary trip. Instead of getting up here as fast as we could, we decided to make 4 day trip of it and see some sights along the way

This picture was one of the last taken before we left Dallas. Joe's family threw us two goodbye parties-this one was at Tim and Susie Corbett's house.









The second day of the trip we stopped at Mammoth Cave in south central Kentucky and took a two- hour historical walking tour. The cave is a dry cave, so we didn't see any stalactites or stalagmites. We learned a lot about the work and exploration of slaves in Mammoth Cave, as well as the mining of Salt Peter here, which was used in the War of 1812.

I can always appreciate rock formations, thanks to my geologist dad!

One of the bigger "rooms" in the cave.

The third day, we went to AiG in Petersburg, Kentucky, and spent several hours touring the museum, gardens, planetarium and petting zoo. The artwork and exhibits were impressive--it was definitely worth the stop!

The dinosaurs were so friendly.

Adam and Eve in the garden.

AiG has some beautiful gardens on the grounds, with a
wide variety of plants and flowers.

Tim and Shirley.

Alpacas at the petting zoo.