Chocolate Indulgence March 19, 2011

While in Philly I had planned to taste-test the different chocolate truffle places. There is a chocolate tour of Philly and I thought it silly to pay someone to take me around when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. Well…that didn’t happen. I wasn’t in the mood for small chocolates. I wanted a cupcake. Then it snowballed. You see 6 wonderful looking chocolate cupcakes. I am going to rank them (they are not ranked in the photo), and recommend which you should not miss if you visit Philadelphia. Also, I don’t have the actual descriptions so these are all based on my tastes.

Number 1

10 Arts! This was an unexpected chocolatey surprise. For the 5 bite lunch at 10 Arts you get a cupcake that Pastry Chef Monica Glass decides to prepare that day. Lets just say we are VERY glad we went that day! It is a chocolate cupcake with chai frosting. But the frosting was more like a flavored whipped cream. It had a wonderful flavor and texture. The cake was perfectly moist and just amazing. I really don’t know what else to say except the server almost forgot Sean’s and he wasn’t going to say anything, so I did. And I think he loves me even more now

 

 

Number 2

Philly Cupcake. This was a tasty and moist devils food cupcake with an awesome creamy frosting. So good! The chocolate butterfly doesn’t hurt my vote either It was just a really good cupcake that I would definitely recommend and I almost bought another on Monday, but they are not open Mondays…probably for the best! Their shop is super small and only takes cash. The cupcakes are display in old china cabinets. You tell them what you would like and they will grab it for you. Definitely don’t try to open the cabinet yourself, they seemed pretty strict about that!

 

 

Number 3

Naked Chocolate Cafe. This was the first cupcake I had while there. It was delicious and I knew that it was a good start to our getaway! It was a regular type chocolate cake with your typical buttercream frosting and small chocolate balls. It all went together so well but I did save some chocolate balls to eat later! Go into Naked Chocolate Cafe and I dare you to try and make a choice!

 

 

Number 4

Brown Betty Desserts. This cupcake was really good, it was just really dense. It was so much to try and eat myself (and that’s saying something!). The frosting is a fudge type frosting, so it’s really heavy as well. I would recommend eating this with a partner and getting a big glass of milk…each. It’s still good, just pace yourself.

 

 

 

Number 5

So, I don’t want one cupcake to be the last one and neither of these were bad, they just weren’t the best.

Flying Monkey. It was a good cake, but I loved the frosting. (I should mention here that I don’t know if there is a different in frosting or icing, so just go with it.) The frosting was creamy and tasty and I love the little chocolate shaving on top, I always eat those things separately!

Swiss Haus Bakery.I loved the frosting and the sprinkles. What a clever way to not get frosting everywhere! The cake was good, but I don’t know how true to the cake I can be…I ate it 2 days later. Bad! I know! It was slightly dry but still a good cake. However, this is a big one…they have a wonderful treat called a Devils Food Chocolate Mousse Slice Dipped in Ganache.

Devils Food Choc Mousse Slice Dipped in Ganache

I wish I got a cross-section picture, but it wasn’t chilled when I ate it so it wouldn’t have come out very well. It was amazing! And since it was protected by the ganache, I think it stayed nice and moist a little better. It was so good. Chocolate heaven. But it’s not a cupcake so I didn’t want to rank it (wouldn’t be fair since nothing would compare).

Somewhat Slower Saturday August 16, 2010

Saturday, August 14

We have yet to use the SEPTA on this trip, which means we’ve pretty much been walking everywhere. We have used the Phlash bus, but that was to get from our hotel in Center City to Fairmount Park (and back) for lunch on Friday. We are trying to keep everything somewhat leisurely.

Fireman's Hall

With that mindset, we walked the few blocks to Old City to get our tickets for the Adventure Aquarium and the shuttle to take us from Philadelphia, across the river to Camden, NJ. Then we headed to the Fireman’s Hall Museum on 2nd Street, which was pretty neat. They had a wall dedicated to 9/11, old fire trucks, and lots of history. Of course I had to get my dad a t-shirt, and I thought about my dad a lot during that visit.

Once we were done walking around the museum we headed out to find a place for lunch. We knew we did not want to eat lunch at the Aquarium because the cost would be ridiculous and the food would probably not be good. So we found a place called Rotten Ralphs! I got a pulled bbq sandwich with cheese and curly fries and Sean got a Reuben. Everything was so good that I didn’t notice that I got curly fries and Sean got regular fries and I wanted to try his fries. Very good experience is a little place near the river.

After we had filled up on lunch we headed back to the Visitor’s Center to catch the shuttle to the Adventure Aquarium. It was a quick trip that put us right at the door to get in. And since we bought our tickets at the Visitor’s Center, we were ahead of the game (or the line in this case). I have been to a few aquariums including Baltimore Aquarium, Virginia Aquarium, & Sea Life London Aquarium, but this one was different. For the bigger fish there were multiple vantage points so you could see from above the water and through the water on the fishes’ level. This aquarium did seem smaller than the others but it was jam packed with animals. They even had penguins, seals, and hippos! There are a few interactive areas where you are able to touch stingrays and small sharks. So, yes, I touched them and now I can say I touched a shark. But I’m not first in line to swim with them. We are glad we went but will not be on our list the next time we head up there.

It was a long afternoon, so we walked back to the hotel to nap before dinner. This was the drill by now. Walk and walk, then eat, then sleep, then walk and eat again. That is an awesome vacation

We had a hard time deciding where to have our last meal in Philly. We finally decided on Phillips Seafood and luckily it was only a couple blocks down Race Street which is where our hotel was located. The food was incredible! We shared a plate of crab legs which were pre-cracked! I have never seen that before! Then Sean ate broiled fish and I had crab mac & cheese. Can you say perfect? I wasn’t able to eat it all so I was able to take it back with me.

We were going to get gelato after dinner but the waitress brought the dessert menu and then I HAD to get the amazing chocolate cake. There were two different chocolate cakes. I got the pudding-based one instead of the lava cake one. This was seriously the best food vacation ever.

Friday, The Thirteenth August 13, 2010

Friday, August 13

Searching for Phanatics

Friday morning we headed out in search of some more Phanatics that are placed around the city of Philadelphia! We found most of the ones on the east side (the historic side) of the city, and took pictures! They were fun to find but some were in buildings and it took a little longer to find since I thought they were all outside. I wish we found them all but one was in the Citizens Bank Park (and you need a ticket), one was in the airport (past security), and some were in places we just didn’t go. We saw more than we took pictures of because we saw some while on a bus. I just think its such a fun and neat idea!

While on our way to find the Phanatic in the National Constitution Center, we saw that the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia had a free exhibit on money called Money in Motion. We figured it was free, and we would probably learn something, so we headed past the airline-like security and found a very interactive exhibit. It was all about money. It showed the new $100 bill and the security measures. It explained the trends in the economy and what happened during different decades relating to the economic state of the country. And of course, it showed how the look of money has changed and the role that the Federal Reserve plays in the economy. Overall, very cool and we would both suggest checking it out if you happen to be walking by.

View From Water Works Restaurant

Afterwards we had been planning on going to Water Works which is an amazing restaurant set in Fairmount Park facing Boathouse Row. It was an awesome lunch where I had a club steak (with house-made steak sauce) and house-made potato chips and Sean had a Water Works Cheesesteak with mixed greens. This lunch was so extraordinary. My steak was perfect in every way and I pretty much inhaled the house-made chips. Sean also ordered grilled octopus for an appetizer which was a little larger than he expected. Because of that, he was able to take half of the cheesesteak back to save for later!

Bassett's Ice Cream

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped into the Reading Terminal Market to visit Bassett’s Ice Cream! Sean picked Green Tea ice cream and I got some delicious Chocolate Marshmallow ice cream. It was very good!

That evening Sean made plans with his mom to meet us for dinner. She did her own research to find a restaurant and we ended up at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on the Avenue of the Arts (Broad St). We were so glad she picked a place since for each meal we tried to figure out the best place to eat.

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Well, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse was incredible. Service was excellent and we were very pleased with the food. They had a great menu where you get three courses for a fixed price, we all three did that. I ordered the petite filet with shrimp and Sean ordered the ribeye steak, then we shared a large order of mashed potatoes. It was a great evening catching up and sharing a great meal!

Beginning of Our Philly Vacation August 13, 2010

First Day of Vacation! Wednesday August 11

We left this morning around 10am after we did our errands, which was right on time!

We only stopped once and that was in Winchester to get Sonic Because once I got on 95, I really didn’t want to get off the road because I didn’t want to get back on it. Traffic was pretty good but then we hit the traffic because of two different accidents. And of course construction was everywhere. I’m just hoping none of those so-called speed cameras got me. I was just keeping up with traffic. Well, not even! People were still flying by me. And what is with Maryland? I really think that they went to a completely different driving school. They may be behind me with 2 lanes to the left and 1 to the right of me, and they will pass on the right instead of the left. Seriously? I’m not talk about they were sort of passing me, I mean they were going at least 15 mph faster.

My anxiety didn’t kick in until we got into the City. I had to drive around City Hall and the roads are all sorts of funky. Then we get on the road the hotel was on, but it’s not the road that you need to be on to unload your stuff. Sean and I have had issues in the past with sense of direction, but he was right on today and got me around a few blocks (most of them were one way) and to the front door. The only option is to use the valet…good thing the hotel was cheap.

We are staying the Four Points by Sheraton. It’s right next to Reading Terminal Market and Sean found that there’s a Wachovia around here too! We are right in Center City so we’re not far from most things.

Tonight Sean and I hung out with our friends. I went out with my friend Danielle and we went to The Melting Pot which neither of us had been to before. And Sean went to Todd’s place where they cooked out and had people over.

Dee and I loved The Melting Pot. It’s a fondue place, and though there is one in Charlottesville, I had never been to it before. It’s a pretty cool idea. I got sirloin and shrimp while Dee got the vegetarian option and she picked out the Caribbean style fondue. It definitely had a distinct flavor to it, very good. For dessert, we got Ying-Yang chocolate fondue which mixes white and dark chocolate. The best part? The dippings! We got strawberries, pound cake, brownies, rice crispie treats, cheesecake, marshmallows covered in cookie crumbs, and bananas. It was amazing! We got a “small” chocolate pot but got 2 plates of dippings! Good thing we did not get the “large” because we would have never been able to eat it all!

Thursday, August 12 (Our Anniversary!)

We slept in which was great and I haven’t been able to do that in a while. When we finally got ready for the day we headed toReading Terminal Market for a brunch. We walked around to see what all was there and they are having a Pennsylvania Dutch Festival. They had all kinds of donuts and meats, but we didn’t partake in that, instead we went to the creperie.

I was going to put “before and after” photos, but there was literally nothing left. I got banana, strawberry, with nutella crepe. Sean got apple caramel crepe, which was also amazing.

Later on, around lunch time we met up with Sean’s brother Shane and his girlfriend, Tori, to hang out with them for the day. So we head down (walking) to the Mutter Museum. It wasn’t a short walk, but it wasn’t bad. The Mutter Museum is a lot like Ripley’s Believe It or Not, except without the big budget. Also, apparently it’s pronounced “Moo-ter”. Some of the exhibits are really interesting and some are just disturbing.

Afterwards we headed up to The Franklin Institute to get our tickets for Inception on IMAX. In front of the building, we found one of the Phanatics that are around the city! He had a key and string like Ben Franklin when he discovered electricity. There are 19 more around the city and I hope to find a bunch more! They are really cute.

We had a little bit of time so we went down the street and hit up Whole Foods for some soup and hot bar food. It’s a fairly long movie, and we didn’t want to be hungry in the middle of it.

Inception was good the second time too. But the IMAX is very strange with a regular movie. I would love to see something like “Life” or “Earth” on it. That would be spectacular! Anyway, Shane and Tori seemed to enjoy it too. It was a really good day and both Sean and I are really glad we were about to meet Tori and we think she’s great!

After a short break, we decided to head out to dinner to celebrate our 6 year dating anniversary. After going through many restaurants online trying to find something close, nice, and good, we decided on Hard Rock Cafe. So, we walked in 2.5 blocks to the restaurant and were told we’d have a 1/2 hour wait. We waited. And waited. It was not a good night to go. They were having a band contest and a radio station was even there. When I asked how much longer, he showed me the list of people ahead of us…it was about 7 parties. So, we left.

Right outside of Hard Rock was a restaurant called 13. We checked the menu and decided it was a decent place to go. After getting seated, we realized that it was nice, quiet, and good. I got baked lobster mac & cheese with garlic fries. Sean got scallops. He loved everything he got…and I got I like the mac & cheese but couldn’t eat it all because of the grease from the cheese, so Sean got to eat the rest.

At the end of the meal, I got an awesome chocolate cake. It even came with chocolate ice cream! I ate all the cake and he ate the ice cream. It was seriously amazing food. This vacation, so far, has completely satisfied my chocolate tooth. Yes, I don’t just have a sweet tooth, it is specifically a chocolate tooth.

Well, that’s our Thursday! No idea yet what tomorrow will be full of, but it may include good food, and searching for more Phanatics!