Happy Father's Day

Well, this post is about what we did on Father's Day--June 18th. Since Jim is the man of the day, he made his choices for what we did.

First we drove to Valley Forge National Historic Site located in--where else but Valley Forge, PA ! Of course, Valley Forge is where George Washington established winter quarters in the winter of 1777. The Continental Army spent a harsh winter here after defeats in the year prior. They built lots of little cabins like these but had very little to eat. Many of soldiers were so poorly equipped they did not even have shoes--brrrrrrrrrr.
During their time there, Prussian Baron Von Stueben came in and took over the training of the soldiers. When they marched out of Valley Forge, they were a much better army and went on to defeat the British. The actually marched out on June 19th,1777. We were there on June 18th and to commemorate the anniversary, re-enactors were at the site showing what the soldier's life was like.

When we finished at Valley Forge, Jim wanted to sample an authentic Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. Internet research revealed that there are 2 places that are considered the home of the real sandwich. One is Pat's King of Steaks and the other is Geno's. They are situated across the street from each other in South Philadelphia near the Italian Market neighborhood. We did find them--yet another interesting adventure as we navigated the narrow, crowded streets through some rather unsavory looking areas. It turns out we were not the only people who thought a cheese steak was the ideal Father's Day dinner! Long lines and crowded streets told us we had found the place. We lucked out, parked across the street and in just minutes we were sitting at the street-side tables enjoying our meal. It was quite yummy.

Fortified with food, we decided to drive back to the campground using some of the lesser travelled local roads. We traveled through different neighborhoods,some of the rather affluent. In fact, some of the big, old homes were quite lovely. On the way, we stopped in at Brandywine Battlefield. The battle fought here in September 1777 was a defeat for George Washington and his troops.

There was not a lot of information about the battle at the site. Both George Washington and General Lafayette has headquarters here and those original buildings still stand. It made for a quick tour on our way home.

Jim thought his Father's Day was just fine--doing just what he enjoyed doing.