16th Day of Christmas: Philadelphia

Okay, our trip to Philadelphia doesn't have that much to do with Christmas, but it is what we did the past two days. After a few months of raising support to work in the regional office outside Philly, we still hadn't seen the area! It was hard to envision our life for the next few years, let alone answer people's questions about what the area is like. We had a quick visit, which was perfect timing since Christmas is coming up and people are getting busier.

We saw five apartments in three towns, saw the office, got Whit a new phone, had a cheese steak in Philly, played two games of Settlers, went to the staff Christmas party, and got a tour of the area from our boss and a couple of our other co-workers. It was jam-packed, but we managed to squeeze everything in that we wanted to do!
 

We got lost driving to our first apartment showing because Whit's phone was on its last leg. It wouldn't pull up the GPS and we didn't have a map! I even called the wrong apartment complex for directions. We were 45 minutes late, as well as late to the second appointment, but Whit got his new phone that night after everything was over. He got the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and it was Best Buy's last one!! His day would not have ended as well without getting to replace his dying droid.

Out of the five apartments we saw, they were in three different towns and were all pretty comparable in one way or another. There was only one that we definitely ruled out because it was much worse than all the others. The rest were all pretty much 9/10, just being short of perfection in one of the following areas:  location, layout, having a washer/dryer, or distance from the office. Otherwise we loved everything about them! It will be a tough choice, but I'll love wherever we end up! 

We felt like such tourists asking for a recommendation (how long is that word?!) for a good Philly cheese steak, realizing later that in Philly they are simply called "cheese steaks." Whoops. We actually went to Manayunk since it was closer, and dined at Chubby's. This pleased me greatly since it reminded me of Boy Meets World (which is in Philly, you know). We took 76, aka the "sure kill" and it took us a little under 40 minutes to go 10 miles. Pretty sweet, huh? Yeah the roads are not so great up there. In fact, the whole area looks incredibly different from anywhere I've been before due to the narrow roads. It will take awhile to get used to since everything is packed together so densely. 

It was definitely different but we'll have everything we need, and much greater than that is that we already have a community of people we know who are excited for us to move up there. We felt so much more comfortable once we visited the office - we left for our next appointments feeling much more at home and welcome - like we were leaving a friend's house instead of just in the middle of an unfamiliar environment. We love everyone at the office and can't wait to move up there!! 28% come quickly! :)