PNS’s annual trip to Hot Springs…

There’s nothing like old friends and yearly traditions. While we’re all in or nearing our 30′s, many of us married with kids, we all believe in the importance of “girl time”. From Baton Rouge to Destin to good ol’ Hot Springs, I love trips away from Little Rock and, more importantly, our commitment to this friendship. I couldn’t ask for a better group of friends!!

August 2011- Ginger, Jill, Andrea, Megan, Rayne, Misty

August 2007- Rayne, Misty, Megan, Ginger, Little Megan, Shrissy, Jill, Chelsea, Sarah

August 2011- Chrissy, Misty, Rayne, Megan (top) Sarah, Little, Ginger, Andrea

August 2007- Jill, Misty, Chrissy, Sarah, Chelsea, (top) Megan, Ginger

August 2011- Jill, Little, Misty, Megan

August 2007- Megan, Rayne, Misty, Sarah, Jill

August 2011- Sarah, Rayne, Andrea, Megan, Misty (top) Little, Chrissy, Ginger

August 2007- Rayne, Chrissy (top) Little, Megan, Sarah, Ginger

I’m looking forward to many more good times (and photo op’s!) to come!

Philadelphia is a really cool place. We stayed in the best hotel (The Palomar) in the middle of the city- close to all the hip shopping, bars, and restaurants. Of course the main attractions of Philly are all the historical sites- The Liberty Bell, Elfreth’s Alley, Betsy Ross House, Rittenhouse Square, National Constitution Center, etc. We got around to visiting most of everything, but I wouldn’t say it was the best part of the trip…

But let me back up…

The first night we settled into our swanky hotel and Gabe and Ashley passed out. Caleb and I strolled through the city center- over to Logan Square and the Swann Memorial Fountain. It was all very beautiful and much more laid back than New York. We had a beer at an outdoor restaurant but ended up calling it a night around 11…

Swann Fountain

Statue of something

they were everywhere!

beautiful buildings

The next morning we woke up full of good intentions and a very detailed plan… See everything we could see in 1 day. With a “Best of Philly” library book and a city map in hand, we hit the streets early but were NOT prepared for the record high heat (103 degrees) and this…

FIELD TRIPS EVERYWHERE!!!

Literally lines and lines of kids causing hours of wait time for almost every historical site…

Independence Hall

Declaration (statue of course)

Ben Franklins House

By noon we were sweaty and exhausted… It just wasn’t worth it. We took a cab down to lunch at another famous Philly “must-try”- Pat’s King of Steaks!

DELICIOUS!

Definitely better than the Great American Steak and Shake in the mall!!!

At this point we were now FULL, sweaty, and exhausted. The idea of facing more lines and crowds was so unappealing we pulled out our handy tour book and realized there was an aquarium just over the bridge in Camden New Jersey- Adventure Aquarium- the 4th largest in America! Being the Sea World freak that I am-and knowing this would be an indoor adventure- we wasted no time heading that direction.

Petting Stingrays

Favorite animals! (they were too hot to come outside though...)

Inside shark tunnel/tank

Lots of kids here TOO!

Hungry hippo

Of course we ended up with 800 pics of every different fish you can imagine but I’ll spare  you… It was only an “okay” time- which actually equals “terrible” when you’re on vacation. But what can ya do? We left after a few hours and had to walk a mile to the train (no cabs lining up outside the aquarium- and Camden is tiny, flat, and ugly) and headed back to the city center to see the famous fountain of Love…

LOVE fountain!

We stayed at the fountain for a while- soaking our burning tired feet and trying to figure out a game plan. We decided to head back to the hotel and chill until dinner time… Boring, I know. After a few hours though we were recharged and ready for (aquarium inspired) seafood!

Gabe- being cheap- ordered the soft shell crab... Which is nasty...

Our restaurant was located in the Old City so we had a good time strolling the streets and seeing a few more historic landmarks…

Elfreth's Alley

Oldest neighborhood in America!

experiencing 18th century way of life...

Paddy's Pub from It's Always Sunny...!

After lots of walking around we finally caught a cab back up to the City Center and sat at a bar and drank until late. All in all- Philladelphia was not my favorite. I was glad I went- but probably won’t be going back anytime soon. By early the next morning I was really missing my friends- and the south. Which is why I was actually excited to be dropped off at the airport to catch a flight to the other side of the country- Baton Rouge, LA!

This was my 4th trip to New York but as always I was completely in love. I’m currently reading the book New York (a fictional history- only okay) so I had even more respect for this iconic city than before. A few things to point out about our trip…

Parking in New Jersey and taking the train to Grand Central Station (and then to Wall Street to our hotel) is really the way to do it. Obviously it’s impossible to drive in New York and parking is $$$.

Caleb, Gabe, Megan- waiting for train (definitely Arkansans...)

But dragging three huge suitcases through this is not that fun…

Downtown New York

Having a brother who works for the government really pays off in big cities. We stayed at the New York Marriott Downtown for less than half the price because of his government rate!

After arriving we quickly hit the streets, walking down Wall Street and into Battery Park. There’s so much to see in New York- and all of it is fabulous! It was exciting to show Gabe and Ash (first timers) around. Although there’s no way to see everything in two days, we did the best we could…

Love them!

Red Lady...

Glen Close filming in Lower Manhattan...

Street Performers in the Park. Ash is 3rd person in line...

Jeremy's Pub- Huge beers and great greasy food!

9-11 victims

Of course we took the ferry out to SofL

And of course I get boat sick every time!!!

Soon it was time to get ready for dinner in my favorite- Little Italy! Obviously I’m a tourist…

Hotel pre-party

subway pros

So fun! Who doesn't love to drink eat and drink outside on a festive street with family and friends??? Love!

We're friendly southern folks...

5 lemonchello shots later...!

After dinner we walked up to Times Square and stumbled our way through the Theater District and Midtown. Always a site for sore southern eyes!!!

Times Square

Around 2 am we took a cab back to the lower east side to check out the awesome late night dive bar- Arlenes Grocery- know for it’s promotion of super cool and upcoming (but unsigned) bands. It held up to it’s name for sure- we had a blast (and frankly have no memory of getting back to our hotel…)

Gabe was nearing Red Lady stage at this point...

This band was super cool...

After 1 FULL day of walking New York (literally, 24 hours) we passed out and paid for it the next day… Which was rather laid back and quiet. We sat in Central Park, nursing hangovers, and avoiding pictures… Around 8 it was time to head back to the truck in New Jersey and over to Philadelphia for Day 3 of our Northeast vacation!

The four of us wake up Sunday morning (after the wedding party continued well into the night/morning) with groggy heads and the overwhelming desire to get out of our shady Days Inn hotel room…

Our destination- Hershey Pennsylvania!

I don’t know many people who love chocolate more than me- especially Hershey Chocolate. The Hershey Factory (cleverly referred to as Chocolate World) wasn’t too far out of the way and definitely worth the stop. Chocolate everywhere, a fun little tour ride, lots of sweets and samples and even more things to do -like make your own candy bars and a horse drawn tour of the town; which we skipped. I was quite the kid in the candy store…

Me and Ash on the tour

pure goodness

Notice Gabe there...

Acting my age.

An hour or so later we finally arrive in Caleb’s new home town- Scranton PA.

He’s lived here for about 6 months now but already owns a house and a dog! (a Chihuahua named Tyson- Don’t ask…)

Now Caleb is known for about 4 things in life- loyalty, kindness, The Razorbacks, and grilling. I could not wait for his delicious ribeyes- which he’d marinated for days- and drinking on a porch with 3 of my favorite people!

Better than any restaurant

me and baby tyson! Really started missing my doggies on day 3...

Honestly there’s nothing better than doing absolutely nothing sometimes. We ate till we were stuffed (had delicious Hershey’s cupcakes and pies for dessert), drank lots of PA’s yummy Yuengling beer, rode 4-wheelers for a while (country kids) and passed out super happy! The next day- New York, New York!