Day 13: Philadelphia, PA and Edison, New Jersey

We woke up to the green domes of Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in a foggy Philly day.  The church looked grand from the top so I thought that’s the first stop. The day was kind of cold and foggy so Sheena and the baby wanted to stay inside for the first half of the day. I stopped over at the Basilica to see the magnificent interiors and walls full of paintings and frescos.  It gives you a feeling that you are in Rome.   From Logan circle I started walking towards the City Hall and Liberty Bell Pavilion following a map picked up from the hotel lobby. 

 American history was everywhere.  The independence Hall and Square, where on July 4^th 1776,   declaration of the Independence from Great Britain was read out loud to public.  The liberty bell soon proclaimed the same message and become a symbol of freedom. Soon after I had a glimpse of the Liberty Bell from outside I hired a taxi to get back to the hotel.  It was close to noon and the town was filled with the smell of Philly Cheese Steak. Sheena and baby were ready for a downtown tour now and we just drove around to show them the places I have already been. Then we had a destination to eat lunch, Pat’s King of Steaks,  the place where Philly Cheesesteak sandwich was invented decades ago.  Another shop next to it claims the credit too. Geno’s Steak.  So we decided to split a sandwich from both places for lunch.

It was a bit hard to find a parking near the restaurants and the place was getting busy for the lunch time. Sheena volunteered to get the first sandwich while I waited in the car.  The thinly sliced steak with running cheese on a hoagie was good but nothing close to our expectation. May be it’s become a tourist hype and most of the people there appeared to be visitors. Steak was flavorless and not tender and may be Pat’s was slightly better than Geno’s.  Still, we were happy to check this item off our checklist. Soon we were driving in many Philadelphia streets watching the downtown and neighborhoods. Thanks partly to the navigation system that took us for a ride through several closed roads. Finally we figured our way to I95 North and checked in to Best Western in Newark, NJ by 3 pm.

Sheena’s classmate was in New Jersey and a dinner was planned in an Indian restaurant near Edison.  Edison is famous among Indians and people from New England area visit this town to watch Indian movies, enjoy food and do the grocery and other shopping.   When we reached the Oak Tree Road, it was like walking in India. Indian Chinese food, Bengali sweets, Indian Music and DVD shops, vegetables , grocery and  jewelers all lined up one after another.  Our friends arrived without delay and we tried their recommendations with some Indian beer. The food was good with a nice Indian ambience and we spent a couple of hours catching up each other’s stories.  Tara like Arpita so much that she wanted to go to her house to play. We talked her out of it and hit the bed by 11pm.