Philadelphia

Photo: Obligatory image Benjamin Franklin, since this is a post about Philadelphia.

Today I FINALLY made it to Philadelphia. I think it's the only large city in America I have not visited, yet, so I wanted to check it off my list and see the historic sites.

I had a great day touring around with a friend. Our first stop was the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where Senators Casey and Toomey of Pennsylvania were hosting a Martin Luther King, Jr. ceremony with other local leaders. Leave it to me to take a break from DC and run into a couple of Senators.


The main reason I am blogging about Philly is that I wanted to share this Pumpple Cake I saw. If you look closely, you'll see on top it's an apple pie baked into a vanilla cake and the bottom layer is a pumpkin pie baked into a chocolate cake. Wow! You can find this at the Reading Terminal Market.

I did not eat a piece of Pumpple Cake, but I did have a Philly cheesesteak.

We also visited the giant Philadelphia Museum of Art. I am trying to avoid using the phrase, "the building with the steps from 'Rocky'," but I cannot help it.

I saw van Gogh's Sunflowers and lots of other amazing art. Glad to visit Philly.

Mr. T My Little Pony

Someone created a "Mr. T" My Little Pony. Thanks, CNN, for pointing this out. I guess.

There's also a "Tin Man" My Little Pony and many others. See this website for more.

Storm-Trooper-My-Little-Pony

Maphead

While reading Ken Jennings' new book Maphead, I spent time thinking, "Am I a maphead?"

When I considered that I spent weeks in anticipation for a book called Maphead to come out, grabbed it from the library and read it as soon as possible, and often describe my job as, "I love my job. I get to look at maps most of the day!"...I realized that yes, I can safely say I am a maphead.

Even if you do not self-identify as map-head, if you like traveling or geography, Ken Jennings' book is a terrific read. If you have not heard of Ken Jennings, he is a super-cool nerd known for holding the longest winning streak on Jeopardy. 74 wins in a row!

The book is speckled with fun geography facts, like how for a while there was a "Joe, Montana," and that Victoria Island in Canada is the world's largest triple island. What's that? It's an island with a lake that has an island, and that island has a lake with an island.

Photo: Joe, Montana. Town now is back to Ismay, Montana.

Photo: Victoria Island, Canada, world's largest triple island. Blue circle is the second island, red circle is the triple island. Photo from The Backyard Geographer blog.

The website that had the graphic of the largest triple island also had a photo of a sweater within a sweater. Amazing-ness.

The book covers the National Geography Bee, the rise of GPS technology, the trend of geocatching, hunts through the Library of Congress' map room and much more. He tells many catchy, compelling, personal stories. An enjoyable read.



Video: In the book, Ken talks about Lilly Gaskin, 2 year old map master. She can identify over 100 countries.