Pennsylvania Adventures

On the 4th of July, we didn't go to any barbeques or fireworks shows; instead, we got on a plane and flew to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!  We had a wedding in PA on Saturday, so we decided to extend the trip a little since neither of us had seen much of Pennsylvania before.  (I had actually been to PA a couple times, but only because the most convenient way to get to WVU to visit JW while he attended there was to fly into Pittsburg and then drive into West Virginia.)

We did the traditional Philadelphia things, like the Liberty Bell, ...

saw Independence Hall, which is just a few steps from the Liberty Bell, ...

and visited the Constitution Center on the other end of Independence Mall.

We did all the Independence sites on July 5th.  It was kind of nice to visit those things so close to our country's 237 birthday the day before. 

We also made sure to try out the local fare: cheese steak, soft pretzel, and several local restaurants along the way.

At one restaurant, they served a head of garlic on a bed of bread as an appetizer.  I'd never seen so much garlic in a prepared dish - I thought it was picture worthy.

For the wedding, we headed into the heart of PA to Northampton and Bethlehem.  Marc and Karina Ripper had a nice and personal wedding - They made it their own in a classy way.

The ceremony was at the Roxy Theatre.  This picture is from before the ceremony started.

And the reception was at the Bethlehem Masonic Temple.  Continuing the film theme with spinning film like table decor, ...

and slides as table place cards.

It was a nice time and we were glad to celebrate with Karina and Marc.  I didn't actually get a picture of the happy couple at the wedding though, so here's a picture of them from our wedding a couple years ago:

Congrats to Marc and Karina Ripper!

The Waltons Take On Cayman

She's alive!  This has been my longest drought in blog posts since I started this blog, but never fear, we're alive and well... and busy with work and life... thus, reduced blogging.  Honestly, I haven't felt like I have much exciting to write about... just the same ol', same ol'.  I kept thinking I'd post when we had news to share, and I got a little bored waiting for there to be news.  (For those who get my hint, no, there's indeed nothing to share)

But some exciting stuff has been happening!  The Waltons (+ John -- because he only married a Walton) took a week long trip to Grand Cayman last month.  It was the first time the 5 of us traveled together, and it was a success!

The view from our condo.

Standing at the pool looking back at our condo.

We stayed in a 3 bedroom condo on Seven-Mile Beach.  There was a kitchen, washer/dryer, and nice living and dining space.  It was within walking distance of a grocery store and a few restaurants that we visited during our stay.  Best of all, our condo opened up onto the pool area with just a few short steps to get to the beach.

 

There were tons of these little guys running around

My Dad, brother, and I went diving almost every day... I logged 12 dives for a total of 9 hours and 45 minutes of diving.  We dove with a great company called "Living the Dream Divers" - If you're ever planning on diving Grand Cayman, you must dive with these guys... we saw several of the other dive operations while we were there and researched many before we left... these guys are definitely the best.  We had an awesome time! 

We saw turtles, sharks, eel, and sting rays... lots of sting rays.  We also drove a wall where the drop goes down to 6,000 feet.  It was beautiful - My diving experience is admittedly limited, but that was the best diving I've ever experienced.  I don't have any diving pictures though because Jonathan has a Go Pro camera that he used on all the dives, so I'm waiting on him to edit down the footage.

And we got to see beautiful sunsets every night!

When we weren't diving, we were relaxing on the beach, reading, watching Kindle videos, or exploring George Town (the capital city) to find a highly-recommended Jerk chicken booth.

All in All, it was a good time.  I'll post a little more if/when I get pictures from the rest of the family ;-)