At least the tickets were cheap (Blake; Nov 12)

Go Flyers Go! That was the cheer that Isaac and I were yelling at the Wells Fargo centre. But the Flyers are going to need a lot more help than a couple of Habs supporters turned Flyer fans for a day if they are going to salvage their season. The Broadstreet Bullies are sitting below 0.500 in the win-loss column and

put on a lacklustre performance that at times seemed no more organized than a men’s rec hockey team coming off a summer of golf and beer. They appear to lack a cohesive system and are missing a spark-plug player to get them riled up. While all of these worked to the Washington Capital’s advantage, as the Caps were able to capitalize for a 5-2 victory (pun intended), it also worked to my advantage as I was able to score cheap tickets for Isaac and me. Decent seats - 9 rows up on the mezzanine level, close to centre - only $20 per seat. Shout out to Rich and Gretchen (apologies for any mis-spelling of names); a great couple and snow-boarders extraordinaire that sat next to us at the game. I hope that you follow your dreams and go on some most excellent travels in the future.

As one might expect, exiting the parking lot was a slow go after the game but once we got onto the Walt Whitman bridge traffic thinned out and we made good time the rest of the way. It was 10:30pm when we got back to the RV. The girls had finished their movie, the Breakfast Club, and were already heading off to bed. Isaac was a bit hyped up but he managed to get ready for bed without talking his mom’s ear off completely.

Earlier in the day, we had a slow start as it took us a couple of hours to get up, dressed, and fed. I honestly can’t say why it took so long, we were all moving a bit slow, I suppose. At any rate, we headed into Philly for a real touristy day - a look at the Liberty Bell and some Philly Cheesesteak. The Liberty Bell museum was small, for a museum, but informative. Sonya had come prepared.

The night before, she had found student worksheets on the internet and printed them off for the kids. These kept the kids busy wandering around the museum, looking for the info to fill in the worksheet. They seemed to be having fun with it and it was a great way to help them remember names, dates, and other facts. For example, Natasha learned how the Liberty Bell became a symbol of the Suffragette movement.

After almost two hours at the Liberty Bell museum, we were all hungry so we made our way to Pat’s. This is an iconic fast food joint in the Italian section of Philly that was home to the orignial Philly Cheesesteak, before Sylvester Stallone made it even more famous in

Rocky. In case you are not familiar with this gastronomical wonder, it is thinly sliced, grilled pieces of steak placed in a submarine-style bun, with cheese and, if one so desires, grilled onions.

There was also condiments and hot-peppers available. I ordered a “Provo, wit”, which can be interpreted as “Please sir, may I have a single Philadelphia Cheesesteak Sandwich using your finest Provolone cheese. Also, (and this is where the “wit”, as in “with” comes in) please top off this delicious sandwich with some of those great-smelling grilled onions. Thank you, sir.”

After the sandwiches, we wandered down the street for a post-lunch cafe.

We found a quaint little coffee and sweet shop just down the street that specializes in Cannoli. While we sipped hot drinks and passed around the Cannoli, Sonya and the kids reviewed and completed the Liberty Bell worksheets. On the way home, Sonya tested our knowledge with a game of Liberty Bell Jeopardy, which she had also found on the internet the night before. The kids both beat me in the Jeopardy round so it came down to a

Natasha and Isaac head-to-head, winner-take-all, ultimate smackdown, in the Final Jeopardy round. Both kids got the correct question to the clue (remember, in Jeopardy contestants must provide their answer in the form a question).

The big winner:

Sonya, for doing a great job with the kids education!