Matthew's visit- the rest

Unfortunately, I did not get nearly as many pictures of this part of the trip.

For his last 2 days here, we first went to the zoo. Even though it was a pretty Saturday morning, it was not too terribly crowded. We got a pretty good view of most the animals without fending off bzillions of small children and mothers with strollers. My favorite were the cheetahs. After this photo was taken, we even got to see them get a little snack.

After the zoo, we went to Eastern State Penitentiary, which is just excellent to visit. We highly recommend it. Unfortunately, one of the best wings of the prison was shut down for some construction work, but we still had a great time. Of course we got some Rita's water ice. That evening, we went to see The Lion King. Our seats kinda sucked, nevertheless, oh.my.goodness. It was fabulous. The lady who played Rafiki had an amazing voice, which was a real highlight. The costumes just blew my mind. The whole thing was better than expected, especially since I think that Disney movie is just okay. Thanks again to Zack's mom and dad, who gave us those tickets for Christmas, and also to my parents for paying to tack Matthew's ticket onto the deal.

For his final day here, we went just across the river to New Jersey to check out the aquarium. We got there at just the right time. It was practically empty, and the hippos were ultra active. We got to see them up close as they swam in the water next to the viewing window. I, of course, forgot the camera for all this, so sorry. The rest of the aquarium was excellent too. We got to go in a shark cage simulator, and also touch some sharks. We saw sea turtles, sea horses, an octopus, penguins, seals, and more. It was fun. And last of all, we took Matthew to our dearest Philly mini golf course, where Zack proceeded to whomp us at mini golf. Oh well... I'll get you next time honey.

And just because I did not put this is anywhere else... somewhere during Matthew's trip here, we just popped into Macy's really quick to show him the building, which is awesome. I would like to remind you that we here in Philadelphia have the coolest Macy's in the world (yes, even better than New York's, and yes, I have been to both). We have the biggest playable pipe organ in the world in our Macy's. And if there was any lingering doubt that it is the coolest, we found out that they actually have a flower show there. When we went in, the main part of the store was just full of trees and flowers. It was beautiful and it smelled nice. My oh my. Can I just say that I love Philly so darn much.

Our thanks to Matthew for coming to visit us. We had a blast! It was nice to get a few days off work and so, so nice to share our love of Philly.