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MEET THE KROCKS: We are a married couple who started on a life-changing whole food, plant-based weight loss journey in June 2018. To date, we have lost over 290 pounds combined and we aren’t done yet! Read Our Story
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As you probably know by now, we went on vacation! We took a nice road trip from our hometown of St. Louis, Missouri to the east coast. If you haven’t seen Part I of our travel vlog, check it out here before you watch this one. In Part II, we head to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a bit more history, another market, and a few other stops along the way.
Once again, NONE of this is sponsored. We paid for everything on this trip with our own money and we are giving our honest opinions based on our experience!
Round One Arcade
I love a good arcade! One of my favorite arcade chains is called Round One. They feature these really cool Japanese UFO Catcher machines, which are similar to a claw machine, but with more complicated (and skill-based) set ups.
I have watched hours of YouTube videos of people playing these UFO Catchers, so whenever I get near a Round One, I love to go check them out in person. When I found out there was one at a mall in Exton, PA along our route to Philadelphia, I knew we had to stop!
Brian is especially good at winning, as you can see from our haul below!
We had a great time playing the UFO Catchers and a few of the other games and then it was off to Whole Foods!
Whole Foods Salad Bar
We skipped the food court at the mall and instead went over to a nearby Whole Foods to hit up their salad bar for dinner!
I love the garlicky kale salad they have and it is oil-free! The label lists the following ingredients: kale, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, liquid aminos & water. They don’t have it at every Whole Foods, but when I can find it, I like using this as a base for my salad so I don’t really need dressing. The hummus on the salad bar at this particular Whole Foods was also oil-free!
It was a great way to get in a giant salad full of fresh veggies, even while we were on the road!
Reading Terminal Market
My favorite place in Philadelphia is definitely Reading Terminal Market. If you can’t tell, I am a big fan of markets. I’ve been coming to this one for years with my mom, but Brian had never been.
This market is a lot bigger than the one we went to in Columbus and there are SO many options. There is a place called Tootsie’s that features a hot/cold food bar where you could easily put together a nice giant salad.
Of course you can also find plenty of fresh produce there as well, but we wanted to sample a few options from the food vendors.
The first place we hit up was Luhv Vegan Deli. We went with their lunch special, which included half a sandwich and a cup of soup. They make all of their own vegan “cold cuts” and sliced “cheeses.”
We got a Reuben sandwich and their energy soup, which has sweet potato, chickpeas, lentils, three types of seaweed, kale, quinoa, carrots, celery, onions & peppers.
Brian really liked the sandwich, but the soup was AMAZING! It was also probably one of the closest things to “whole food plant-based” you could find.
Up next, we went to Nanee’s Kitchen for some chana masala served over basmati rice. Nanee’s is great because all of the vegan options are very clearly labeled.
Indian food is something I’ve been getting into more lately, and this was a really tasty dish!
Exploring Philadelphia
We had a few days in Philadelphia to explore, so you know we got in some history lessons! 🙂
Peef was excited to visit the Liberty Bell.
We took a tour of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were drafted and signed. They give free tours and our guide was extremely knowledgeable!
After Independence Hall, we took a tour of Congress Hall, which was home to the U.S. Congress from 1790 to 1800 during the time Philadelphia served as a temporary capital of the United States.
Then we walked around Philadelphia a bit more. One of my favorite buildings is City Hall, which is just a marvel to look at!
We took a little break on a park bench near Independence Hall and enjoyed the great weather!
Peef wasn’t going to let us leave Philadelphia without getting his photo taken with the Rocky statue.
After posing with the statue, Peef was eager to run up the steps. 😂
We all made it to the top and enjoyed the views of Philadelphia before going into the art museum.
I found out that on Wednesday nights, starting at 5pm, they have “pay what you wish” admission. Since we aren’t huge art connoisseurs or anything, I didn’t really want to pay $20 each to get in, so this was a nice find. You can donate whatever amount you want and enter from 5 to 8:45pm.
The museum had a lot of really cool structural art, but my favorite part was seeing all of the Monet paintings they have. We didn’t want to share any photos of that just in case we are breaking some copyright laws. LOL.
It wouldn’t be a Krock trip without going to a concert! Our final stop in Philadelphia was The Foundry at the Fillmore, where we saw a great concert from The Rocket Summer.
Bryce Avary, the mastermind behind The Rocket Summer, is exceptionally talented and we were so glad he happened to be in town the same time as us!
Philadelphia was a lot of fun! Be sure to watch the vlog to see footage of us checking out the city.
TO BE CONTINUED… Check back soon for the 3rd (and final) part of our Road Trip Travel Vlog as we head to Atlantic City, NJ!