Roadtrip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In Collaboration with Stay Lokal, Kimpton Philly + The Bellevue Philly
Philly - good times, family time, relaxation time, city time, great weather time, all around A GOOD TIME! Philly was one of those memories that I wouldn't have been able to tell you would play out in the way it did. We worked with a handful of different brands in a less than 7-day basis and you didn't know how something was going to go until it happened. But, it would hold some of our most grand adventures and travel memories, yet!
Bryce's Note:
“Lets go to Philadelphia next.” Me: “What's in Philly?”
Let me start off and tell you about Philly, but before I do we have to get into how we got there...
When the topic of traveling to Philly came up I had said we would drive there, going off of Pittsburgh only being a 5 and a half hour drive from my house, I figured it would be tolerable…. WRONG.
Two days before we were supposed to leave we decided to actually look it up and found out the drive is actually 10 hours long which in turn, ended up being 13… that's right THIRTEEN, over half a day in travel. But when it came to the drive it wasn't that bad as we switched off about every four to five hours and when it comes to driving around with your best friend, your lover, and business partner it makes it an incredible experience. There were tons of mountains and sights to see, stuff you don't see in Indiana. Once we finally got through all the driving through Pennsylvania, we started to see the city in the distance...
Day 01: Old City (Stay Lokal)
Following a (supposed to be 10.5 hr drive turning 13 hours) we were DEAD. But when we arrived at the invisible service hotel, Stay Lokal in Old City, it made us that much happier. Holding a spacious flat, full-kitchen and floor-to-ceiling windows bringing in the beautiful natural light (hey photos!) it was magical! Because of my food allergies it was so nice to have the flexibility to cook entire meals in the kitchen and be able to really eat what I wanted! Following our getting familiar with everything we got settled in, turned on Dave Chappell on the iPad-remote TV and snacked and laughed away our night! A beautiful "Welcome to Philly!"
Bryce: When you first arrive to Philadelphia you will get this extremely different vibe from most cities. At first I could not figure it out at all, especially while we stayed at Old City. Tons of things to see everything is fast paced but laid back at the same time, or like a smaller, slower New York City. Our hotel was one block from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge which was amazing to see. We had rolled our car to a parking garage which was $25 a night. Seemed steep but we didn’t have much of a choice. For the rest of the evening we unwinded ate some food and watched Dave Chappell.
Day 02: Old City (Stay Lokal)
The next morning we decided to sleep in. After lots of last minute changed the day before, the long drive and having this be Bryce and I's first ever long-haul road trips together, the extra zzz's were worth it. Additionally, the bed at Stay Lokal was a little piece of heaven all in itself. Upon our waking up we decided we would try the app Instacart on our self-serve iPad. It is a service that allows you to pick, order and pay for groceries ahead of time and someone brings them right to your doorstep in 30min-1hr. We shopped Whole Foods and got thinks like eggs, bread, a few essentials & Bryce treated himself to some cinnamon rolls. A slow start to the day was much needed and after it we decided it was time to see what all Old City really had to offer. We walked for a few hours enjoying the sights like the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, winow-shopping, old book stores and the piers.
Following a day of shooting, walking, and adventuring we were excited to have dinner with some family I have that lives in Philly. We ate at Parc in Rittenhouse Square where I had salmon and sautéed spinach, and Bryce had ravioli! After dinner we Ubered back to Old City and settled in the last night (it was around 10:55pm)
Bryce: My favorite part was droning the bridge and the cinnamon rolls
Day 03: Old City → Rittenhouse Square (Kimpton Palomar)
This morning was our first transition morning. We were leaving the Stay Lokal Hotel in Old City and trucking what was 3 suitcases, 2 bags + 1 garment bag to Ritthenhouse Square to start our stay and work with the Kimpton Palomar. We decided that it would be easier and more cost effective to use Uber to move throughout the city then garage parking my car just to try and get it out, load it up, and transfer it without us going crazy with the city driving. We ran out before our Uber would arrive and went to the center of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to shoot the cutest black mini-dress from Lesley Jane Boutique, we did a bit of droning just in time to head back and check out of our hotel. Thanks for having us, Stay Lokal! Keep up the amazing work!
Bryce: The transition from Old City to the main part of Philly was awesome, everything looked amazing and this is when it was really starting to hit me that I loved the city
I was super excited to make it over to the Kimpton Palomar because Bryce & I had the opportunity to take over the Kimpton PHL (Palomar + Monaco) Instagram for 24 hours! After checking in and waiting about 20 minutes they decided to upgrade us so we could get right in and get to work (hello Japanese soaking tub!!!) We started our takeover talking about who we are and what we do, we took them through shopping on Walnut St, our lunch at the amazing HoneyGrow (great for allergies too! You get to customize it all yourself on a screen so there are no worries about what really is in stuff!), and our room.
Day 04: Rittenhouse Square (Kimpton Palomar) → Walnut St. (the bellevue)
Following an amazing wake up to fresh coffee + a delicious breakfast in the Japenese soaking tub with a VIEW for days, we checked out and headed down the street to the Bellevue. After setting our stuff inside (can we talk about the amazing tall ceilings and window views we had in this room?!?) we headed out to lunch at the Reading Terminal Market with some of my family! I ended up getting a burger, Bryce got his first ever (Philly) Philly Cheesesteak with Whiz (we learned that all the locals not only get Cheesewhiz on their steaks but you have to call is "Whiz" to sound cool!) Following an amazing lunch we took the long way back to the hotel to sight see, shoot, and make a plan for the rest of our last full day in the city. I changed into a beautiful jumpsuit from Suite Little Muse and we headed to the Magic Gardens. After a 20 minute walk we realized they closed early just today for an event. So pictures outside and on a wall that looked like the same architectural design will have to suffice! ;)
Bryce: At the Bellevue we walked up and down mainstreet just about all day, ubered places and shot photos.
At 5:00pm Bryce has scheduled me at a local spa called Terme de Aroma for a 1 hour facial and 1 hour swedish massage (isn't he the best?!) My favorite part? Everything they use on your skin during the services is derived from ESSENTIAL OILS. So 1. not only does it smell amazing but 2. it is all natural and so I felt 100% comfortable going in having psoriasis all over my body!
We ended the night with snacks from an amazing local market-like-Earth-Fare where I got a garlic shrimp salad, pistachios, and some fruit! We watched the Philadelphia Sixers and Boston game and then passed out!
Day 04: THE BELLEVUE → Bedford, Pennsylvania
Last day (SAAAAD FACE!) We decided ahead of time that we were going to split our trip back home to Indy in half so that we could really utilize our last day in the city ie. shooting, wrapping up emails, prepping for new projects and getting in a few last minute schedule changes. We started off the morning with a few strolls through the hotel ensuring we had gathered all the content we could for them, we took to the streets to cross off a few last brand shoots. We checked out and set our bags with the hotel (insert luggage cart) and headed to the Rittenhouse Square Park where Bryce recorded some amazing drone shots for our YouTube coverage of Philly! You can watch is HERE
After we decided our time in Philly had ended we drove 4.5 hours back towards the direction of Indiana and stayed the night in a small hotel in a city known as Bedford. It wasn't the best experience, but I'll leave that as a story for another time! ;)
Bryce: Once we got our car back it was time to say goodbye to Philly, a great city with a lot of passion and energy. Thanks for all the memories and you will go down for one of the hands down BEST experiences I've had in my life.
Overall Philly was one giant "well that wasn't what I expected" from the most amazing hospitality brands, to great food choices for my allergies, gorgeous weather (I'm talking like high temps but ZERO humidity!) and even the city-but-not-so-NYC evening strolls. Thank you Philly, for holding some of the best memories yet!
