Philadelphia for Holly

Now for Holly's take on Philadelphia. Justin read that if you aren't from Philadelphia, you aren't allowed to call it Philly, so I won't.

Here is Justin with Constitution Cow in the Independence Visitor's Center. Now that's cool!

Holly with the Liberty Bell. Its smaller than I imagined it would be. It was still amazing to see and to think about the history behind it and all of the people that have had contact with it over the last 200+ years.

Having a chat with George Washington at the signing of the Constitution at Constitution Center. This was a cool room, with statues of all of the signers standing around having conversations, discussing the importance of this document and what events are about to unfold.

This is the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the site of the first Congress meetings. The head chair is actually the original, where Washington sat to preside. We heard three different times during our stay that the sunburst pattern at the top of the chair was a conundrum for Ben Franklin, as he wasn't sure if the sun was setting or rising over our new country. At the signing of the Declaration of Independence, he declared that it was in fact rising.

I enjoyed the history of the town. Our hotel was on 18th and Market, which is just a few blocks from all of these tourist attractions. We rode the Subway a few times, but mainly walked a lot. This was nice since as you read in Justin's post, the Subway system is a bit lacking in cleanliness and clarity.

I was determined to have a Philly cheesesteak, but as we didn't find any offered (besides at the little street corner vendors that were a little scary), I settled for a Philly Cheesesteak Omelette at 'Jones', a fabulous 70's rendition of a diner. Shag carpet, bowl-like chairs, tator tots on the side, you can imagine. It was great- best atmosphere in a restaurant that we found.

We also saw Betsy Ross' house, Christ Church (amazing!), Independence Hall, the Delaware River, the Quaker free Meeting House, Ben Franklin's home site and publishing/postal buildings, Elfreth's Alley (the longest continously inhabited street in America) and so much more.

If you get the chance to go, take the opportunity. Besides cool buildings and such, you can almost feel the presence of those that formed our new nation, and that gives me goose bumps!