Road Trip 2011: Day 6 of 20 (Wilmington, DE to Philadelphia, PA)

We went a little bit out of our way to see the historic town of New Castle, Delaware

After New Castle we headed north into the beautiful Brandywine Valley

The duPont family and DuPont company are big influences in the area. The Hagley Museum encompasses the original duPont home and gunpowder production facilities.

Our GPS messed us up with the Hagley Museum by sending to an entrance that was closed to the public. At least we got to see this nice church.

In driving around to find the public entrance to the Hagley Museum, we passed Krazy Kat's restaurant, which is where I had intended to eat lunch. I hopped out of the car and made reservations for the last lunch seating at 2 pm.

We eventually found the public entrance to the Hagley

The Hagley was really top notch with lots of well done exhibits

The grounds are pretty big and you take a bus to the duPont home

It wasn't crowded so we got our own personal tour

Adam watches a person demonstrate an original steam engine used to power the grinding of the gunpowder

Adam blows the steam whistle

The grounds were so beautiful. The Hagley was one of my favorite places on our trip.

We weren't done at the Hagley, but we took a break and left for our 2 pm lunch reservation at Krazy Kat's

We thought Krazy Kat's was the best meal we ate on our entire trip. The ingredients were so fresh tasting and flavorful.

We went back to the Hagley and were looking around in the museum when I headed outside to see some other areas. Derek saw me leave and mentioned that I could use the elevator instead of the stairs. Helen chose to hang back with Adam instead of following the Daddy Duck. When I walked outside the bus was there so I hopped on and left them. They missed this demonstration at the machine shop. After the demonstration I walked back to get them and they were frantically searching for me. They were annoyed with me for leaving them and I was annoyed with them for missing the last machine shop demonstration and causing me to backtrack when we had limited time to see everything.

We reunited in time to catch the powder ignition demonstration

The wheels that grind the powder weigh as much as a bus and didn't budge during the accidental explosions that would occur from time to time. Many of the huge wheels were melted down for World War II, but these were left.

The demonstrator used a very tiny amount of powder but it still shocked everyone when it exploded

The Wyeth family of artists were from the area and I had wanted to go to the Brandywine Museum to see some of their work, but it was closed

Washington and the Colonial Army were defeated here before retreating to Valley Forge



We drove to Valley Forge on the way to Philadelphia and happened upon a group flying model aircraft at sunset in the Valley Forge National Historical Park

Happening upon the guys flying their model planes at sunset was one of those special moments that I just love about our trips

We drove around the area around Valley Forge and enjoyed the rolling hills, beautiful old houses, and covered bridges

It was night when we made it into Philadelphia

Betsy Ross House

Chinatown

It didn't take long for us to search out some cheesesteaks at Pat's King of Steaks

I walked across the street to Geno's to get a cheesesteak to compare with Pat's

Pat's is on the left and Geno's is on the right. We all thought Pat's was better. We preferred the finely chopped meat of the Pat's cheesesteak to the slices of meat on the Geno's cheesesteak. It seemed to allow the flavor of the steak, cheese, onions, and bread to mix together better. 



We stayed downtown in the Alexander Inn. The streets were hopping with activity all around the area.

Sunday June 5, 2011

There was no free breakfast at the DoubleTree in Wilmington. Instead it was breakfast bars and instant breakfast drink.

We drove a little south, out of our way, to see the historic town of New Castle. We got out and walked around near the river. It was nice, but not worth going too much out of your way.

We drove north to the Hagley Museum in the Brandywine Valley. The Brandywine area is beautiful with lots of rolling hills, trees, and rivers. The duPont family has had a big influence on the area. The Hagley was one of my favorite experiences on the trip and so was lunch at Krazy Kat's nearby.

We drove north towards Philadelphia and stopped at Valley Forge on the way. There was an amateur model airplane club flying planes at sunset and we stopped to watch them. The setting and the experience were exactly the kind of "real" moments I love about our trips.

The area around Valley Forge was beautiful and we just wandered around the backroads taking in the beautiful scenery.

It was night when we got to Philadelphia. We were tired, but eager to find some cheesesteaks. Once again the GPS took us right to our destination - Pat's King of Steaks (and Geno's across the street).

We found our hotel, the Alexander Inn, and then spent some time navigating the narrow one way streets to find the parking garage the hotel uses. It was a little nerve racking, but we made it. It felt a little strange carrying our overnight stuff with us from our van as we passed all the people out on the town at the restaurants and bars bustling with activity.