Our quick visit to Philadelphia was mostly spent contemplating who's cheesesteak proved superior… Pat's or Gino's?  We shared a cheesesteak at both locations (wit wiz, of course).  Who won our vote?  Pat's!  But barely.  Pat's had better hot sauce.  That's it.  Otherwise, both cheesesteaks were pretty damn good.  

After our meaty, cheesy, greasy delicious lunch, we burned a few calories by walking downtown.  Through the Italian Market, full of produce stands, butchers and seafood markets and along the narrow streets filled with cool bars and cafes, we made our way to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and Washington Square. 

We grew a liking to Philly and would have loved to explore further.  

We made our way to New Jersey and camped for the night.  The next morning we walked the Jersey shore and enjoyed the view of Manhattan in the far distance before driving to Brooklyn. 

We experienced an hilariously awful campground in Brooklyn.  I mean, seriously, who camps in the Big Apple?  But, we've had good luck camping outside of other large cities and this particular campground was a part of the national park system, so we thought great!  We pulled up and actually getting a campsite was unnecessarily awkward but after an hour or so we were all settled.  Settled on an old, broken-down, concrete airport runway with no trees or grass, and a giant abandoned warehouse with a barbed wire fence separating us.  

And while we were nearly out of food (and beer!) the drive there was nearly as awful as the campsite itself, with low clearance bridges and heavy traffic, so we decided to make do with what we had.  We definitely had a few laughs that night.  And Joe had fun combining kiting and long boarding! 

   

The next day, we took a bus and a subway into town and explored a tiny portion of Brooklyn.  We enjoyed the views of Manhattan from the DUMBO neighborhood and (of course) a NY slice.  

We were excited to meet up one of Kells best NY regulars, Brian Henry, later that night!  It took just over two hours to drive the twenty miles east towards Long Island because our truck is not permitted on  many New York highways due to its height.  Naturally, we were unaware of this.  But after our exhausting drive through extremely dense neighborhoods and heavy Friday night traffic, we finally arrived.  And boy were we thirsty!  

Brian and Kristin, Brian's wife, and Kristin's brother and sister showed us a great time out at their local bars!  We had a blast.  And it was such a treat to enjoy the simple pleasures of sitting on a couch and taking a real shower.  It's these 'little things' we miss most about home. 

After recovering from rather unfortunate hangovers, we said our good-byes and moved on east through Long Island.  Thanks again, Brian and Kristin, for bringing us in and showing us a really great time!