On July 7th, we headed to New Jersey to visit Scotia’s grandma (Nana) whom I’ve never met. Unfortunately, she is on oxygen and is unable to travel so I didn’t get a chance to meet her last year at our wedding in New Orleans. We left Ontario, CA around 11:30PM on the 7th and flew Delta to Atlanta, GA where we arrived around 6AM on the 8th. A short layover with just enough time for an iced Venti Americano and a few 4Square check-ins and we were back on the plane headed for Philadelphia, PA. We got into Philly around 9:30AM and took the shuttle to get our rental car, after a bit of trial and error (based on credit, or the lack thereof) we finally got our rental and headed off to Nana’s house in Cherry Hill, NJ.

We arrived and were greeted by Scotia’s Nana and Aunt Joanne who made us a late breakfast of delicious eggs with mushrooms, sausage and cinnamon bread. We spent the remainder of the morning and most the early afternoon getting to know one another and catching up. Exhausted from our flights, Scotia and I took an afternoon nap and woke up just in time for a delicious dinner of tilapia over a black bean, corn salsa with asparagus. After dinner, we headed out to Mr. Softee for something called “Water Ice” with Joanne and her boyfriend Frank. Turns out I love Water Ice which is basically a very thick Slushie (like at 7-11) that comes in many different flavors (I went with the mango). When we got back from Mr. Softee, I noticed the fireflies outside, something I haven’t seen since I visited Indiana as a small child. At first glance I thought it was a car light reflection, but Joanne confirmed that it was fireflies. She referred to them as lightning bugs and was surprised that California didn’t have any.

Saturday we woke up late, 12 noon to be specific. I guess we needed our sleep. We had a quick breakfast/lunch snack before Scotia’s Aunt Carol, cousin Pam, and her daughter Kayla came to visit. We sat around the living room and talked for a few hours and then decided to take a short road trip home with them to (Old) New Castle, Delaware. It was only about a 45 minute drive but upon arriving, we might as well have driven to another country. The town was an amazing little spot where it seemed time stood still. Carol showed us her Trinity Home (3 floors with 3 rooms on each floor) and her gardens which were amazing to say the least. We walked the streets of (Old) New Castle with Carol who was all too happy to share the history of the town and point out all the sights. We even got to meet a character Carol had told us about previously who dressed up like Napoleon Bonaparte. We headed over and had dinner at a neighborhood restaurant and I had my first “East Coast” Philly cheesesteak. It was pretty good, but it turns out my habit of eating them with mustard is faux pas, so I refrained while on our visit.

Sunday, we got up a bit earlier and wanted to get into Philadelphia to see some of our Nation’s historic sites. We took the Benjamin Franklin bridge into Philadelphia and paid the toll as we drove into the city. Nana had told us about the toll before we left, and we had paid one to go to Delaware the previous day. She had joked with us, “No one would ever pay to get into New Jersey” and that statement turned out to be a good rule of thumb. We ended up finding a prime, free, parking spot right next to Independence Hall and spent 5 minutes double checking because the spot was almost too good to be true. We saw Independence Hall, which is now being renovated, and then headed over to see the Liberty Bell. We stopped into a number of the historical sites as you can see from the photos below.

For dinner we decided to try John’s Roast Pork restaurant which had been recommended to us as a local favorite for Philly cheesesteaks. From the Yelp reviews, I would have loved to try it but unfortunately after out 2 mile walk we found that they are closed on Sundays. Exhausted from the heat and humidity, we started Yelping random restaurants looking for somewhere to eat. I’d love to tell you that Scotia and I get along perfectly 100% of the time, but the fact is that heat and hunger turn out to be 2 triggers for us. We eventually laughed it off and decided that at least it was an experience and we did actually get to see a side of Philly that most tourists don’t see. In our random wanderings in search of food, we came upon a street where some adults and children had cracked open a fire hydrant and were playing in the flooded street. If the car had been closer and we had a change of clothes, I think we probably would have joined in. We made it back to the car after passing up 5 or 6 restaurants that didn’t suit our taste. We cranked on the air conditioning in the car and regrouped. We ended up finding a Kosher restaurant called Hamifgash. Upon reading reviews, the restaurant was dubbed “a place where carnivores and vegans can coexist, which suited us perfectly. The food was great and the ambiance was just what we expected for a Kosher restaurant. We headed back to the car along streets that may have been walked on by some of our country’s forefathers. Unfortunately, we were too exhausted to see any more sights. I’d love to revisit Philly someday. The city was just amazing, and the whole experience was overwhelming with so much history everywhere you turn.

Monday we got up and headed for Ocean City with Joanne and her granddaughter Sarah. With no preconceived notion of the “Jersey Shore,” we headed out on the 1.5 hour drive to the shore. When we arrived, the town reminded me of Balboa in Newport Beach, California. The streets are narrow and lined with seasonal rentals. Even on a Monday, the streets were packed with people, so I was glad that Joanne had suggested we go Monday instead of the weekend. Being foodies, we hit up a spot right away for some curly fries with cheese and a Dietz & Watson Hot Dog. The seagulls are pretty out of control on the boardwalk as we found out. One came down and pecked a fry right out of Scotia’s hand. Check out this video I shot of when seagulls attack on Vimeo. We paid the $5 dollars per person to get our admission pin and we went down to the shore to enjoy the water. It turns out the Atlantic has very warm water this time of the year. With water temps in the mid to high 70′s, the water felt great. That afternoon we went shopping on the boardwalk for souvenirs. I got a Phillies cap and some sunglasses, Scotia got a Phillies hoodie, and we got the kids some t-shirts. We made stops in between to ensure we got our fill of Water Ice, Pretzels, Frozen Custard, and more. We rounded out our walk on the boardwalk at “Bob’s” for dinner where I indulged in another cheesesteak. I really liked Ocean City, now I’m going to have to catch up on “Jersey Shore” to see what all the hype is about.

Tuesday morning we had to fly out at 6:30AM from Philly, so I opted not to go to sleep since we needed to leave Nana’s house at 4:30AM, or 1:30Am California time. It really was pretty easy to stay up since I had really not adjusted to the 3 hour time difference and I’m a night owl anyway. We said our goodbyes and headed to the airport and boarded a packed flight to Atlanta. When we got to Atlanta, we had a 2.5 hour layover so I snuck off for some coffee and a smoke while Scotia waited. While waiting, Scotia called me and asked if I’d like to give up our seats for some flight vouchers. With no pressing schedule, I said sure. We ended up getting a new flight to Ontario leaving Atlanta at 7:30PM. In trade, we got upgraded to First Class, 3 meal vouchers for each of us (6 total), and $800 in flight vouchers ($400 each). We napped, played games, and ate all afternoon till it was time to board our flight. If memory serves me, this was my first flight in First Class, and hopefully not my last. I could really spoil myself flying first class: leg room, a flight attendant waiting on me hand and foot, a free in-flight meal, and even metal knives! Our flight followed the sunset home to California where we arrived at Ontario just before 9PM as the sun set. My parents picked us up curbside and we filled them in on our travels as we drove home to Beaumont.

Scotia and I enjoyed our visit with family and our day trips out and about. We’re already making plans for our next trip to NYC and Washington DC. While the West Coast will always be home to me, I certainly never complain about visiting the East Coast any day of the week!

• Tweet