Travel & Learn with Sharon

I took a page out of my mentee’s notebook. Though I have been teaching for over 25 years, I never quite caught onto the concept of pre-scheduling my self-care trips. My mentee — all 3 years into her teaching career– pre-schedules her trips. Don’t get me wrong; I have taken last minute days off for a spa appointment or a staycation but planning a trip was really never my thing.

So about 2 weeks ago, I knew I would need a break at the end of the first week of school. I booked an extended weekend trip to Philadelphia. Since I had already visited the Old City, I wanted something different this time. For this trip, my home away was in the Rittenhouse area of the city. I stayed at the Club Quarters Hotel.

Over Saturday and Sunday, I clocked in over 11,000 steps walking each day. I walked everywhere—from the Rittenhouse area, to City Hall, to Chinatown, to Logan Park and back. I purchased loose tea, regular organic honey and a hot chili infused honey at a flea market. I ate a hearty bowl of Meatball Noodle Soup at Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House in Chinatown. I indulged in a cup of peanut butter brownie honeycomb ice cream from Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, a tiny ice cream shop in my neighborhood. I visited the Franklin Institute for a $25.00 urgent bathroom break which became a fun-filled STEM break. I marveled at the layout of the city and the architecture of the buildings — old and new among each other.

And I rested…. turned off the alarms and slept. I enjoyed my stay.