Philadelphia As Seen Through Instagram Photos

Living out a childhood dream pretending to be Rocky Balboa

Growing up I was one of those kids that always watched the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and forever will have the song from that show ingrained in my brain. “In West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days…” I’m sure you can finish the rest of it. Even though this show was based in California, the song and a few bits that were filmed in Philadelphia along with the Rocky movies of course put the city on a map for me at a young age. As I grew older and became a fan of M. Night Shyamalan (who films almost ALL of his films in Pennsylvania) I was even more intrigued and couldn’t wait to visit someday.

At the top of the famous Rocky Balboa steps in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum

Over the past couple of years I had been teased by connecting through the Philadelphia airport on several flights to different destinations and then finally this year I had a great excuse to visit. BlogHouse. BlogHouse is the 4 day 3 night travel blogging conference that I run with a couple of friends once or twice a year, helping newer travel bloggers become the best they possibly can be. We have previously hosted BlogHouse in Spain, Ireland, Toronto, Chicago, Milwaukee and now Philadelphia.

The majority of the BlogHouse Philadelphia Crew!

This BlogHouse could not have happened if it wasn’t for our great bloggers who applied and were selected and showed up with bells on ready to learn. It also could not have happened without this years Sponsors: Visit Philly, Context Travel, the Sonesta Philadelphia Hotel and Travel Blog Success. A big thank you to them! However lets get to why you came here to read this post. PRETTY INSTAGRAM PICTURES!! Without a doubt Philadelphia is an extremely photographic city. I was taking pictures constantly (when not Snapchatting of course) and now I get to share my pretty instgram pictures with you. I hope you like them!

A @patskingofsteaks Philly Cheesesteak whiz with (with cheese whiz and onions) in Philadelphia! So tasty, you MUST get one of these when you visit. Warning get extra napkins! Lol

A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jun 8, 2016 at 3:16pm PDT

 

 

A statue of John Barry the father of the American Navy stands in front of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution were both debated & adopted. HOLY SMOKES Philadelphia has a LOT of history!! Follow along for more of my travels today on the @lonelyplanet snapchat @lpsnapz !! A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jun 8, 2016 at 8:09am PDT

 

A statue of city founder William Penn sits atop the Philadelphia City Hall. A large bronze statue cast in 14 different sections one eye is 12inches in size to help you comprehend just how big it is. This is one of the many beautiful buildings filler with large amounts of American history in this city.

A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jun 9, 2016 at 1:57pm PDT

 

A rare Instagram selfie to celebrate my birthday at the beginning of the month and to celebrate life and all the fun I have travel and living a life I love and this damn good ice cream from @franklinfountain in Philadelphia! #sprinklesforlife #imake32lookgood #yesistillactlikeakid A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jun 17, 2016 at 1:19pm PDT

 

Philadelphia has one of the largest collections of street art and murals in the US with over 4,000 in the city. Started initially as a campaign in the city against graffiti. This is one of many seen throughout the city and I found it by accident when walking to my hotel from the Mütter Museum. I really loved the hodge podge of city skyline all pasted together. Where in the world is your favorite street art?

A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jun 18, 2016 at 1:33pm PDT

 

Originally this part of Philadelphia along the river was an empty lot and kind of sketchy. In the past couple of years the city has made the Spruce Street Harbor Park one of the coolest places in the city to visit and hangout in. There are shipping containers converted into food trucks, a floating barge bar where you can hangout over the water on rope nets as you enjoy your beer, you can rent swans, play huge Jenga and even lay back in one of the many colourful hammocks. A popular spot especially on the weekends it’s an awesome place to visit and just hangout. A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jun 20, 2016 at 11:13am PDT

 

Berry-Grapefruit Shortcake Kisses. I have no idea what these are but they look DELICIOUS!! They were also just one of many tasty treats at the @franklinfountain candy counter Shane Confectionary an old timey candy store in Philadelphia. Omnomnom.

A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jul 4, 2016 at 1:52pm PDT

 

The people of Philadelphia are HUGE fans of beer and in the summer months a bunch of beer gardens pop up all over the city. As odd as this is to say I don’t think that I have ever actually had beer in a “beer garden” that was also in fact a garden until this place! If that makes sense. The Independence Beer Garden just across from the Liberty Bell had some great beer, tasty food and was really pretty! I highly recommend it! A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jul 7, 2016 at 6:39am PDT

 

“Love is love is love…” ~Lin-Manuel Miranda The iconic love statue by Robert Indiana displayed for the public in Philadelphia.

A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jul 15, 2016 at 3:08pm PDT

 

Children of all ages play in the Swann Memorial Fountain in the centre of Longan Circle in Philadelphia on a hot summers day last weekend. With part of the city skyline in the background including the city hall with founder William Penn on top, it was a beautiful site to photograph and I definitely spent more time there then I had planned. I was also quite tempted to jump in myself! A photo posted by Travel, Video & Food Blogger (@cailinoneil) on Jun 16, 2016 at 1:44pm PDT

Now I am craving a Philly Cheesesteak! To see more from my time in Philadelphia check out these two videos from my Snapchat takeover with Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet Snapchat Takeover in Philadelphia Lonely Planet Snapchat Takeover in Philadelphia Day 2

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