Philadelphia

Our day in Philadelphia, where the US government was born, gave us a little history, a little shopping and a little eating...and the desire to return to the "City of Brotherly Love" for more of each.

An early departure and very light traffic got us to our lunch reservation at Moriarty's Restaurant/Irish Pub (http://tinyurl/dh9jel), in a building constructed in 1830 when Philadelphia was the largest city in the United States. Back then the population of America was just over 12 million. Today the population of Pennsylvania is just over 12 million. Moriarty's bills themselves as Philly's favorite Irish Pub and I found nothing there to dispute that, since it's the only one I've been to, but the food was definitely delicious, the atmosphere comfortable and the service was excellent.

After lunch our step-on guide, Mike joined us for a 3-hour tour of the city's historic highlights, such as the Liberty Bell, (http://tinyurl.com/2558ex) which announced America's birth as a new nation in 1776, and Independence Hall (http://d464ao/) where our forefathers hammered out the founding documents of America...the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the US Constitution.

After the tour we had some time to explore The Bourse (http://www.bourse-pa.com/) for some souvenir shopping and refreshments and to stock up on goodies for the ride home which put us in some pretty heavy traffic, enough in fact to watch two full-length movies on the coach.

I escorted this tour for "Get Up and Go Tours" at 2100 Deer Park Ave. Deer Park, NY 11729, phone 631-595-1144. If you are on Long Island, contact them, they offer some excellent trips at very reasonable prices and have 4 convenient pick-up points along the Long Island Expressway.