Fun in Philly

We spent the day today in Philadelphia, the original capitol of the United States. Settled by Quakers and laid out as the pattern for all U.S. cities in 1682 by William Penn. Philadelphia actually translates "the city of brotherly love" in Greek. Behind us is Independence Hall where the "Declaration of Independence" was adopted on July 4, 1776, and the "U.S. Constitution" was drafted in 1787. Right outside the window behind the Liberty Bell is the former location of the first "white house" where the first two Presidents lived, George Washington and John Adams. Unfortunately it was torn down and is no longer there.

One of my favorite stops was Betsy Ross's house

The small salt box style house in the background is the boarding house that Betsy Ross rented. The front street level part was her upholstery shop and the two rooms up top are the rooms where she and her four children slept. (She out-lived three husbands)

She could have been charged with treason for making the new countries flag if she had been caught so she made it at night upstairs in her bedroom to be safe. Years later her grandson was giving speech and told the world that his grandmother had crafted the first American flag in 1777.

Me and the current Ms. Betsy Ross.

Then we visited Christ Church where Benjamin Franklin's tomb is. If you go, don't pay to visit the graveyard since you can easily see Ben's tomb from outside the gate on the sidewalk. (as you can see, we didnt know this) In fact, almost everything here is free.... the museum, the mint, the liberty bell, etc...

Most of the city of Philadelphia and all the stories during the tours are about Ben Franklin. Many of his writings were on plaques like this one.

Remember the Reading Railroad on the monopoly game board? Well, this is it. It has been turned into a huge smorgasbord of restaurants and farmer's market inside. This is one of hundreds of places to eat inside the old train station. Just like you imagine, loud and busy. The food was awesome though. It was mostly Amish serving the food so of course it was great!

This is the famous museum where Rocky ran up the steps and it is also the third largest museum in the U.S.

It was a steaming hot day all day here but we survived and were really glad we came! We didnt have time to visit Ben Franklin's home or Valley Forge but we'll save that for next time when it's cooler. By the way, Fred has found his favorite water here in Pennsylvania.