My two favorite things about the east coast are the beautiful, historic buildings that are nearly everywhere and how close the states are together. Last fall Nathan and I took a quick weekend trip up to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in just a 2.5 hour drive we were exploring a new city with the goal (if you love How I Met Your Mother as much as I do) to obviously lick The Liberty Bell. It turns out The Liberty bell is behind glass, so sadly we were not victorious with that task. However, we did manage to pack a lot of sightseeing (and miles of walking) in. We stayed at the newly renovated and beautifully decorated Hotel Monaco, enjoyed greasy cheesesteak sandwiches, ran the Rocky steps, ate breakfast outside across the street from Tiffany’s, and had an amazing Greek dinner at Estia. Since I am kind of in a reclusive rut right now, I like to remember moments of travel, discovery, and exploration. It definitely gives me the travel bug to get out of Maryland again, even if it’s just for a quick weekend trip. Experiencing new places always has the ability to lift one’s spirits.