Conclusion to the Brutocaos' Trip to Philly

And now, the final edition of The Brutocaos' Trip to Philly...

Sunday, June 23

Sunday, we went to Lancaster and took a scooter tour to see the Amish farmland and some cool covered bridges. We also saw many buggies and Amish folk. It was awesome. We didn't snap photos of them, because they don't like their pictures taken, but they were really friendly and waved to us when we passed.

I was thisclose to bailing on the scooters because I am not a quick learner of anything sports-related (I still can't ski or snowboard despite private lessons). The guide who was teaching us made me ride up front right behind him, and seemed like he wasn't sure I'd be able to hack it.

But I sucked it up, swallowed my anxiety, and rode. After a bit, I got more comfortable and it ended up being really fun. Toward the end I was even driving fast and dodging Amish buggies that were in my way. My only near-accident was when I was waving at an Amish child and almost veered into a truck. Oops. Two hands on the scooter is probably a good plan for someone as accident-prone as me.

Below are a couple of shots of a covered bridge. The whole area was so beautiful, but we only got off the scooters at bridges and (as established) accident-prone me needed to have two hands on the scooter. There was no way I could snap photos as I was driving.

Here's a line of the scooters:

After the scooter tour, we toured an Amish farmhouse. Below are the different rooms we saw:

Kitchen

Girls' Room

Boys' Room

Baby's room

Master bedroom

And now, for some fun facts about the Amish:

• William Penn invited the Amish to Pennsylvania because they were facing religious persecution in Europe

• Since they are pacifists, men don't wear buttons on their jackets or mustaches because they appear too "militaristic"

• Homes cannot have heat anywhere but in the kitchen, which is why (as you may have noticed in the master bedroom photo) they block off their fireplaces

• Photographs aren't allowed because it's considered a violation of the second Commandment, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth..." So you won't see photographs on the walls. They do allow mirrors since they only produce "a temporary image," but use of a mirror is limited to shaving for men and fixing hair coverings for women

• The Amish are allowed to go to regular hospitals / doctors

• Divorce isn't allowed, but widows can re-marry (but must wear black for one year)

• When an Amish person dies, he/she is dressed in white to symbolize that they are pure for Heaven. Flowers, etc. aren't placed on their graves because they believe that "God loves everyone equally" so they don't want some graves to have flowers and others to have nothing

Monday, June 24

Monday was a day of relaxation for the guys, and shopping for the girls. Come on, I can't let a week with my mom pass without at least a little shopping.

Tuesday, June 25

It was good we had a slow day on Monday, because Tuesday we took Mega Bus up to New York for the day. Brian wasn't feeling well, so he stayed home, but the rest of us took a walking tour through much of Manhattan. It was EXHAUSTING - at least 10 miles in the New York summer heat and humidity - but the tour was a great idea! Only Joe had been to NYC before, and that was a long time ago, so there was a lot we wanted to see. And we did!

No, we don't know these people, but we also didn't want to wait in line for a picture :) it was a madhouse near the bull. Fun fact - the charging bull was built in 1989 by an Italian American sculptor. He thought Wall Street would want to buy it, but they didn't, and so he left it in the street. It became such a tourist spot that the city just leaves it there. It's officially for sale for $5 million, but the sculptor said that if you buy the charging bull you have to immediately donate it to the city.

The New York Stock Exchange.

This is the actual Bible that George Washington used when he was inaugurated.

We were able to see the construction of the Freedom Tower (now called One World Trade Center). It's a beautiful building. The last time Joe was in New York (he was 10) he got a picture taken in front of the Twin Towers, so it was strange for him to see something else standing in its place.

We also visited St. Paul's chapel, which is where emergency workers stayed while responding to 9/11 and its aftermath. Above is a photo of one of three "altars" to people involved. This is to honor first responders. People all over the world come and leave patches, hats, etc. to show solidarity.

I was really excited to see Broadway, because I am a theater-buff. I hope to go to a show here sometime!

It was also really cool to see Times Square.

And of course, like any 30 Rock fans, we were pumped to see 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Our final stop was Central Park, and I have a bunch of shots below that I took. It was gorgeous!

I just loved all of the statues. Here's Balto.

Loved the bridges/tunnels too. Though after years of watching Law and Order, I don't think I'd walk through one at night no matter how much the park has been cleaned up in the past several years ;)

Yay! William Shakespeare. Ugh my hair. That's thanks to the humidity and sweat. We were dying at this point.

Original park benches

Remind anyone of Enchanted?

Wednesday, June 26

After Tuesday's busyness, we wanted to keep things pretty calm on Wednesday. We slept in, and then went to The Constitution Center.

The Constitution Center is right by the Liberty Bell, so we stopped at the visitor center there for the bathroom and found Rocky Balboa...

And then noticed that the line to see the Liberty Bell was super short. My parents and Kevin had headed back by this point (they saw the bell while we slept in that morning), and so I only have a picture of Brian.

You gotta admit, it's a pretty sweet looking bell.

Thursday, June 27

Thursday was another laid back day for the boys and another shopping day for the girls. We couldn't be gone too long, because my mom, dad, and Kevin were flying home and needed to leave for the airport around 4:30. 

***Side Note*** Turns out, they didn't need to arrive early, because their flight was delayed HOURS thanks to lightning on the Philly end and construction at SFO Airport on the San Francisco end. When they finally arrived in San Francisco, they blew a tire, and had to get a hotel room for a couple hours for some sleep and so they could get transportation home. They didn't end up home until 24 hours after they left our apartment. Poor people! ***End of Side Note***

Brian stayed with us because he was initially going to spend a few days in New York with his college roommate's family. However, his roommate got an internship and so wouldn't be in town and it was too late to change the tickets without an exorbitant ticket change fee. So we get him until Monday :)

When Joe got home from the airport, the three of us saw World War Z - which was pretty good. We had to take advantage of $5 Thursdays at the theater :)

Today

So there you have it! All caught up on what I was too lazy to write about in the moment :)