Eastern Excursion 4: Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA

You don't realize how tall these skyscrapers are until you are in the middle of them all and look up.
Seriously, you have to lean so far back to see the top that you almost fall over backwards!

For our trip this week we took a two hour trip north to Philadelphia. We got there at 9am and stayed until 6pm and tried to take in the whole city at once. We spent quite a bit of time walking around the city and seeing the whole gamut of slums and pubs, to historic sites, to the skyscraper business district. The walking around was Samuel's favorite part of the whole trip, actually.

An alley way that we loved

A typical street block (except that horse-drawn carriages aren't the main mode of transportation any more)

Declaration House
During the summer of 1776 Thomas Jefferson, a 33-year-old delegate from Virginia to the Continental Congress, rented two second-floor rooms in the home of Jacob Graff, Jr. and there drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Independence Hall
Built in 1753, Independence Hall was not only the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress, but also the location where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were drafted and signed.

Congress Hall

Seara and Elijah sitting in the House of Representatives

Congress Hall is the building to the right of Independence Hall, and served as the United States Capitol from 1790 til 1800 while Washington, D.C. was under construction. The Presidential Inauguration for John Adams took place here.

Old City Hall
To the left of Independence Hall is Old City Hall, where the US Supreme Court met from 1791 to 1800.

Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is one of the most prominent symbols of the Revolutionary War. The bell was rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and after the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 (the first battles of that war - we won). The most famous ringing occurred on July 8, 1776, in honor of my birthday 206 years in the future to summon all of Philadelphia for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square is a war memorial honoring the soldiers of the Revolutionary War, many of whom were buried in a mass grave in that park. The plaque on the tomb reads, "Beneath this stone rests a soldier of Washington's army who died to give you liberty." Wow. This was probably my favorite site we visited. We actually had lunch here in Washington Square, and then blew bubbles and let the kids feed the pigeons. They loved it!

Carpenters Hall
Carpenters Hall hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the first library in the United States, started by Benjamin Franklin.

Merchant's Exchange Building

The Merchant's Exchange Building served as the commercial and financial center of 19th century Philadelphia, as well as the site of the post office. It is primarily known for its architectural design in the Greek Revival style.

Betsy Ross House
Betsy Ross lived here from 1773 to 1785, and it is generally recognized as the place where she made the first American Flag.

Christ Church Burial Ground
The Christ Church Burial ground was started 1719 and is still an active graveyard. Benjamin Franklin and four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here.

Franklin Institute

Since a bunch of other people were doing it, I stripped the kids down to diapers and let them
splash around inside this fountain. That was probably their favorite part of the whole trip!

The Franklin Institute is a premier museum and houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, which features a 20 foot statue of Ben Franklin and honors all his accomplishments as a writer, inventor, and statesman. If you want to see this place, just watch National Treasure. We went inside and saw a few things, although we didn't really do much since we were trying to do all of Phily in one day.

The most exciting part of our trip, however, was the trip home. I wasn't paying much attention to the roads as we were leaving and failed to tell Samuel how to get home. Well, he just decided to hop on some freeway that went south, thinking to himself, "How can we go wrong if we go south?" I'll tell you how. Before we knew it we were in New Jersey, heading down a peninsula that does NOT cross over to the mainland (except where we came from), and were well on our way to Atlantic City! So we tried to turn around. And then suddenly we were lost in the slums of Jersey (we seem to get lost in scary neighborhoods a lot, if you haven't noticed. Its like we have a magnetic attraction to them. Hopefully this isn't foreshadowing our future!) We managed to drive by Rutgers University and the Walt Whitman House (one of his last known homes before he passed away) before we decided we were hopelessly lost. Luckily we found a concert that was surrounded by police officers. So, we stopped to ask for directions. Apparently we were so lost that the officer we spoke to decided to give us a police escort back to the freeway. We finally got home safe and sound at 10pm - our simple two hour trip turning in to an exciting and eventful four hour one. Thank heavens for portable dvd players!

ps. We paid $27 in tolls for this trip. Be grateful if you live somewhere without toll roads. They stink!