My Day in Philly

Since I'm here in the East Coast and since I didn't have any plans for Sunday I decided to take the one and a half hour train ride to Philadelphia. I had never been there before and I really wanted to see the sights.

I arrived in Philadelphia around 10:30am and hopped in a cab to the Liberty Visitors Center. There I picked up my ticket for the tour of Liberty Hall which was right across the street. I had some time before my tour so I stopped in a place called Farmica to have breakfast. While the food wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, they did have a brunch happy hour special and my mimosa was delicious!

I was in Liberty Hall by noon and it was pretty amazing standing in the rooms where so much history was made. It was a lot smaller inside than I thought it would be, but people back then were a lot smaller too! Our tour guide knew so much information about the Hall and was really energetic and fun to listen to. After that tour I went on another one of Congress Hall, which was just a couple of steps to the left of Liberty Hall. I didn't get that much out of it, mostly because I didn't like the fact that most of the furniture were replicas and my tour guide was putting me to sleep.

I took my pictures and left the Liberty Hall site to head across the street to see the Liberty Bell. It was interesting reading all of the information about this piece of history that I really knew nothing about. It seems like this bell played an important roll in our nation's history, giving people through the decades hope for freedom and equality. People from all over the country and the world have come to Philadelphia to see the bell. When I finally got up to see it, I wasn't overcome with emotion or pride, it just looked like a huge bell with a crack in it. Maybe if I had to deal with all the obstacles that others have endured throughout history I would feel more appreciation.

I headed over to the Terminal Reading Market, an indoor farmers market. I really loved it there! There were so many types of food stands, grocers, book shops, jewelery makers, flower marts, people selling cookies, chocolate, candy, ice cream. You could pretty much find anything there! I walked around, had some lunch, watched the people who were also enjoying their Sunday off, bought some cookies for later, and headed on my way.

On Arch street about eight blocks away from the Market I got to see Benjamin Franklin's grave site. The whole cemetery where his site was in was full of old tombstones. Some were cracked and broken and some were so old that the engravings were washed off. It was amazing to think just how long these stones have been in that same spot.

I saw some other historic places: The Betsy Ross House, Elfreth's Alley the oldest residential street in America, and Carpenter's Hall. After all my sightseeing I headed down to South Street. The street was full with people. People going into shops, standing in line for their Cheesestakes, watching street magicians perform in alleyways. I walked into a few stores, but mostly it was the same old stuff. I wanted to stop in a place to have a beer, but most of the bars I saw along the way looked like frat houses and I wasn't ready to handle that all by myself.

As I kept walking down the street I stopped by a place that looked like a huge mosaic outdoor area. I found out that this place was called Philadelphia's Magic Garden. The artist started doing this work on South Street in the 1960s and never stopped. The whole garden was a sort of maze full of designs from broken glass, bottles, bicycle spokes, cement, and other trinkets. It was one of the most visually interesting things I have ever seen! I later found out that an HBO Documentary is going to be aired about the artist, his family, and the Magic Gardens. I checked out the website and "In A Dream" will be showing at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco starting April 17th.

Well, my day was coming to an end and I was ready for it. I was tired and tired of walking, still looking for a place to have a beer and kill some time before my train ride back to New York. I decided to walk back up to Old City since it seemed a bit more quiet than South Street. I have to say, it was so nice being able to walk as slow as I wanted on the streets. There weren't millions of people that I had to dodge around like there are in New York. Sometimes I was the only one on a block! It was really peaceful and I was so grateful to be able to have some true alone time.

I finally found a nice Irish Bar on 2nd street and had some beers and some Irish soda bread. I was really excited about the bread since I didn't get any on St. Patrick's Day! After listing to some music there and getting a cheesestake to freeze for Josh, I headed back to New York. While I was dead tired and in desperate need of a shower, I was glad to get out of New York for a day and check off another city from my list.