PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania

I rarely use Priceline. But every time I have the results have been beyond satisfactory. The Philadelphia experiment proved the rule. $62 per night landed us at the Marriott Downtown,  a five minute door-to-door subway ride from 30th Street Station, close proximity to the major sites, a pool to cool off from the 95-degree heat, and the bonus of a 21st Floor room with a surprise firework show splashed across the horizon of our Delaware River view.

The advantage of a vegan palate is there are websites that pinpoint your limited options, thus cutting down on the number of decisions necessary on a vacation day. New Harmony - vegan chinese - was tucked away on 9th Street just east of Chinatown. Elliott spent the evening maneuvering the messy noodles into his mouth while the rest of us sampled shrimp with walnut, duck, sizzling beef and wonton soup. Every morsel was a taste treat, and I was glad to have something chinese other than tofu and vegetables. 

Rather than go to kid-friendly places, we struck out for the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Thanks to the Annenbergs, the bell has a contemporary enclosure to protect it from the elements and provide exhibit space. We arrived at 9:30 so were able to enjoy it relatively crowd-free. Having picked up our timed-entry tickets to Independence Hall, we then strolled over for a 40-minute tour, which also included the top floor ballroom, Governor's Room and Ammunition storage as an Independence week bonus. The tour is basically one Ranger expounding on historical moments in each room - not the type of show to keep a child enthralled - but Benedicta enjoyed the history lesson while Elliott and I hung back and snapped some photos.

The only other time I had visited this section of Philadelphia was on a trip with my mother when I was 19 and my only memory of it was eating at City Tavern. It was there that I learned for the first time that most important deals are not made in a meeting or a congressional office, it is in the pubs. Somehow we pointed Elliott's stroller in the right direction and ended up at the Tavern just as lunch was served. We took a booth in the bar rather than tablecloth service in the restaurant and enjoyed the banter of the locals as they arrived for their post-noon ale.

We wandered some more and found ourselves on the banks of the Delaware at Penn's Landing before heading over to Elphreth's Alley to see where the little people live. Actually, they're real people, but the houses built in the 1700's are so much smaller than the houses of today, you get the sense that elves may live inside. The street between the houses is one-lane cobblestone and while extremely charming must be a bear for hauling in the groceries.

The Marriott is right across the street from Reading Terminal Market, housing a cornucopia of delicious morsels. We sought out Basic 4 for vegan cheesesteak and ate surrounded by meat on every side. It tasted so good we went back for tofu-scramble for breakfast. Little boys must have time out of their strollers so we turned the contemplation corner of the hotel into a playground. Elliott chased pigeons, and ran circles round a giant ball before heading inside to decompress at the empty bar with meditational music and video.