Welcome back!
An exercise: What would I do in Philadelphia?
First off, While security and such have made Air Travel a lot more of a pain that it ever used to be, I think I'd want to fly in rather than spend days in the car driving halfway across the country.
Philadelphia is among other things a historic city. It's history goes back well before the Revolutionary war and there are quite a lot of historic sites to visit. For example it might be interesting to see 'Presidents house', where George Washington and John Adams once lived from 1790 to 1800.
Then there's some even older history coming to Philadelphia this September when the King Tut exhibit is going to make Philadelphia's Franklin Institute the last stop on its North American tour.
For those that need to keep in touch with the online world I hear there's even free WiFi hotspots around town. For the sports fans, there's the Philadelphia Eagles football team, for Hockey fans there's the Flyers, Basketball fans wouldn't want to miss a Sixers game and the Phillies Baseball team is also based there.
As for where to stay, there is also no shortage of choices for Philadelphia Hotels, B&B's, motels and such. I'd shop around and find something in a decent location that was also easy on the wallet.
Teresa