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Philadelphia

We arrived in to Philadelphia to yet another day in the sun. Our train journey down from New York had been comfortable, leather seats, but busy, a much-used service. Travelled by taxi to our Holiday Western hotel on Walnut Street. Hotel comfortable and much roomier than the one in New York.

That evening we walked into the centre, primarily looking for a place to eat, but ended up ascending the elevator to the top of the One Liberty building for breathtaking views of the city of Philadelphia. Our vantage point was not to the height of the Empire State but still an interesting 360-degree vision on the city. Totally different from New York, in the fact that there was little in the way of skyscrapers, what there is, is being concentrated around the tower we were standing in. A city clearly built on a grid pattern as was New York, but with their high rise sprawling buildings it was less obvious. Here in Philly, with less high rise, the pattern was more obvious. We arrived late evening and stayed beyond sunset in the hope of getting some night time shots, but not as good as I had wished. We had a very informative member of staff on hand who was happy to identify various landmarks and provide information on the places that we should consider visiting during our stay. The tower as I said earlier gave us some interesting views, making selection of places to visit more understandable for the distances and directions involved from the location of our hotel. We could see the Historic quarter, the river side for the Tall Ships and the extent of Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which I wanted us to traverse from end to end, using the bus to travel to the furthest point. But that was all for later in the holiday. So, with the sun set over, we descended and started our search for food. Sadly, the area in which One Liberty was located was primarily the business section so no eating establishments. We started to walk back towards to the hotel, virtually reaching the front of the hotel without success. In desperation, we brought food from a nearby supermarket, consisting of a salad, we would share and two desserts, which we eat back at the hotel.

One Observatory

Next day after breakfast in the hotel we set off down Walnut street, heading towards the Historic Quarter, the Independence Hall and The Liberty Bell.  On our way we came to Washington Square which has had a mixed life. It was used as a grave yard for African Americans, then a mass grave for Revolutionary war dead. It has been a cattle market.  In 1954 a group established to look after the Square decided on the building of a monument to all Revolutionary dead and as a result the current monument was erected. The remains of one, who was interred original on site, has been placed in the tomb, which has a permanent flame and a fitting statue of George Washington.

The Washington Memorial & Tomb.

Also commemorated in the Square is a tree, the seed of which had travelled to the moon, courtesy of Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa. Roosa, prior to being an astronaut, was a fire fighter for the Forestry commission. The commission asked if he would take seeds to the moon and back to see if they would germinate once back on earth. This he did and the resulting seedlings, were distributed throughout the country, and the world. The specimen in Washington Square, a sycamore tree, is reported as being planted on the day of the bicentennial celebrations in 1976. However, the plaque states planting took place on May 6^th, 1975. It is reported on the internet that the tree didn’t survive and in 2011 it was dead and needed replacement. The replacement currently in the Square came from a grafting from the original moon tree and when we were there was still surviving, as born out by our pictures, but again not by the plaque, which makes no mention that the tree you see is a replacement. Is it a case that the plaque was right about the date but as not been replaced to indicate a replacement?

Next destination the historic quarter. The Historic Quarter is the birthplace of a nation, stretching from the Delaware to 7^th Street and from Vine to Lombard Streets, the heart of the Philadelphia original city. It contains a number of highly important buildings relating to the birth of the United States, Independence and Congress Halls, The Presidents House, Carpenters Hall, the second Bank of America and more. We were able to visit three, plus the newly housed Liberty Bell. We had a guided tour of the Independence and Congress Halls, joining touring Americans as their history was laid out before them in two of the most important rooms in their history. One was Justice Hall, their supreme court, the other the very place where the Declaration of Independence was conceived and finally ratified and signed on the 4^th July 1776. Independence Hall originally housed the Liberty Bell, but was removed from the bell tower, possibly when the control of the Historic Area was transferred out of the City of Philadelphia control and passed to the Central Government. The original bell was cast in London, by the recently defunct Whitechapel Foundry. It reportedly cost £150 13s 8p (equivalent to around £21727.00 today). It was cast as requested with the words “Proclaim Liberty thro all the Land to all the Inhabitants thereof – Levit XXV.10”. The subsequent history of the bell, it’s crack and source there of is shrouded in contradiction. Needless to say, that the bell once cracked was placed in the hands of two local Philadelphia men to correct, namely Messrs Pass and Stow, whose names appear on the current bell, incorporated with the original text, when they recast. Regardless of the mystery’s surrounding the history of the bell it has been placed high in status to represent Liberty not just within America but throughout the world.  Having seen on our trips to America, numerous copies, some even made out of Lego, it was rewarding to see the genuine article; well, the third cast original. We managed, despite the clamour of folks from the United Nations, around the bell, to get pictures of us both, with this famous icon.

Independance Square

I had subscribed to e-mail contact with the Tourist Board in Philadelphia and as a result received regular monthly updates of forthcoming events. One such notification contained information on an event in Franklin Park, which sparked interest. The event, one as part of Chinese week, was titled a display of Chinese lanterns, which on further investigation was in fact an illuminated display of Chinese sculptures – dioramas. Hooked by the information and pictures displayed of an earlier event, I went ahead and booked tickets over the internet. I can’t remember what we spent it wasn’t a lot, but what ever it was we both thought it was well worth every pound. We spent several hours within the park, arriving just after 7:30, firstly viewing the sculptures in daylight and then as the sun set, around 9:15, doing the whole thing again amazed as to how the details in the various displays had come to life, through the injection of light. A really special evening, one we could easily have missed, as we didn’t see it advertised whilst in the city. Prior to the event we asked our taxi driver to drop us off in China town so that we could take pictures of the welcome gate at the entrance to the area.

China Town & Chinese Lantern Display

A piece of research that I didn’t do thoroughly on the internet was to check out the details behind The United States Mint in the City. I incorrectly got the impression that the place produced money, which on arriving and having gone through amazing security, we found out was not the case. The very polite member of staff who greeted us quickly explained that that wasn’t the case and that in fact the building we were now standing in was one of the countries reserve banks, a high security location, holding millions of dollars in notes, ready to issue to other banks as demand dictated. They are also the location that destroys, by shredding, old banknotes, at this point handing us both a sealed packet containing a mass of shredded dollars. There was a small exhibition on the facts about US currency, but no money to be seen, other than the pieces of confetti we each held in our hands. Our only research disappointment throughout the whole holiday.

During our visit to the One Liberty observation our guide there had stressed the need to visit the Reading Terminal Market. So, on our way to explore the delights of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway a mall leading from the City Hall to the Schuykill River and the Museum of Art we made a short detour to the market. It was actually where we needed to be to catch the “Phlash” bus to take us to the far end of the Parkway, so that we could stroll back into the city, enjoying the buildings and views as we worked our way back to the city. Reading Terminal Market, the Reading pronounced like our City in Berkshire, is a truly cosmopolitan market, housed in what was once a major railway terminus for the City. The market when we arrived mid morning was a bustle of activity. A location not just selling fruit, vegetables and meats, but contained cafés, selling a rich variety of foods from all over the country. In addition, we watched members of the Amish faith producing food. Their activities behind glass screens so that you could stand and watch their intricate preparation. We stood for ages watching then produce pretzels, amazing dexterity. Then we stood and watched donuts being created from a huge slab of pastry and once in the recognisable form, being filled with cream, prior to being cooked. The market was heaving with people shopping and within the café’s and restaurants. The produce available to purchase, or if you were brave enough, to sample was unbelievable. We were offered weird flavoured jerkin and popcorn, not on the same stall. We stood drooling at the chocolate counter but didn’t get any offers to taste. We could have purchased some amazing objects, trinkets, ornaments but would have struggled to get some in our cases, so resisted. The market is housed in the ground floor, at Street level of the railway station as the trains arrived above the market, two floors up. During a later visit not to the market but to the Hard Rock Café which is housed in the corner of the building, the market being at the rear, we were able to visit the level in which the trains arrived and witness the amazing shed roof which still exists behind the impressive brick façade. The platforms and track and any signs of the railway have long gone, the shed roof being the only reminder.  The area now is part of Philadelphia’s extensive exhibition and conference centre, one of several buildings throughout the city centre. In addition to its being a space for exhibitions an additional mezzanine floor has been created, fronted with a reproduction of a castle, and used as a ballroom. The frontage of the station remains the same, but extensively restored and houses hotels and office accommodation, as of course it may well have done in its heyday. Took a number of my own pictures, and of those on display, which hopefully capture what the station looked like and what it is today, both external and internal.

Reading Terminal

Above: An old sepia picture of the station in its hey-day, with the track above the market. The second picture, as it is today, still with the market below, but now a cavernous space used as an exhibition area and on the new mezzanine floor a ballroom.

Above: Again an old sepia picture showing the market down the side with the railway station canopy above and the frontage. My picture taken during our visit showing the restored frontage.

Having enjoyed the delights of the market, we returned to our planned days activity of traversing the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. This is a large mall, similar to the one in Washington, but on a slightly smaller scale. As with the Washington mall, the one in Philadelphia is lined with various museums and art galleries and topped and tailed by two of the city’s most prominent buildings. At the city end the City Hall, with William Penn overlooking all activities, below him, and at the other end the National Museum of art. Two striking buildings. Midway is Logan Square with its impressive fountains, dedicated to George Washington. We caught the “Phlash” bus and alighted at the rear of the Art Museum. The weather again brilliant, so we took every opportunity to be outside, avoiding the museum. We headed for the River which we guessed would be some way below us as the museum is on a promontory, above the city. The museum is surrounded by vast parklands and numerous walkways, many with small pagoda style buildings with seating overlooking the river and other parts of the city. We spent time enjoying the view, cars on the motorway, trains, coming and going from the city, and just one solitary activity on the water. A fisherman was actively casting and re-casting his line in the calmer waters below the huge dam that stretched the width of the river. The dam was used to channel water to the waterworks. Below us stood the Classical revival buildings of the waterworks, no longer active, but justifiably preserved not just for their architectural beauty but for the fact that this was one of the first waterworks of its kind.

Walking Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Above: The lone fisherman. Detail from the preserved waterworks building.

As we walked away from the river working our way to the parkway and the even more impressive frontage of the museum. The building standing high above the city, is approached through a number of steps, which we didn’t venture to climb. We did work our way around the front to take pictures of the famous Rocky statute, presented to the city by Sylvester Stallone. Apparently in the film his character uses the steps to the museum, presumably as part of his exercise regime, repeatedly ascending and descending. Across the road from the museum is an impressive Washington monument fountain of which we both took numerous pictures to try and capture the beauty in the imagery of the sculpture.

Above: Pictures at the top of the Parkway. First the impressive entrance and exercise area of the museum. Then pictures of the equally impressive Washington memorial fountain, impressive not just for its scale, but also for the reproduction of humans and animals created in scupltures around the fountain. Finally Rocky.

From here we started our stroll back towards the city, taking every opportunity to sit and watch the world go by. A number of fans in town as a match of some kind must be taking place later in the day. One of our stops, was for an ice cream, which we thoroughly enjoyed, both the chance to sit but also for the cooling effect that it provided. Eventually we made our way to Logan Square and the Swann Memorial Fountain. A very cooling location on such a warm day, with a number of children enjoying the waters to the full, paddling right up to the waterspouts, with a number of more conservative adults simply dabbling their feet in the cooling waters. A very tiring walk made more so by the intense heat of the day, but worth the effort. From Logan Square we caught the “Phlash” bus back to our hotel, where we sat and enjoyed another meal from the local supermarket sat in the comfort of our air-conditioned hotel room. Later that night we ventured out back to Reading Terminal to eat at the Hard Rock Café. The location of our hotel is within a very cosmopolitan mix of restaurants and cafes, which every time we have ventured out in the evening have been full, with young people, spreading out from the inside of the establishments across much of the narrow pavements. Difficult to manoeuvre but fascinating to see so many people, outwardly content with life.  Whilst at the Hard Rock Café we had the opportunity to look at the old station part of the terminal. Sadly, with a conference event on that evening we were not allowed to enter the area, so had to resign to taking pictures from a distance. Pictured earlier.

We had arrived into America at the time when they are celebrating Memorial Events, we had missed by one day the events in New York, but thankfully had timed it right to enjoy the events in Philadelphia and later Washington. One of the main events for Philadelphia was the arrival and presence over the coming weekend of a number of tall ships on the Delaware river, called Sails Away. We caught our favourite mode of transport, the “Phlash” bus which took us to the Delaware. Paying our access fee, we were then able to wander along the water front enjoying not only the visiting boats, but those that are permanently moored as The Independence Seaport Museum. Prepared today, we had stopped earlier in the day and purchased lunch, so on arrival at the river we found ourselves seats, in the shade, and enjoyed our food, supplemented by nice juicy and free rosy red apples, courtesy of the hotel.

An impressive line up of tall ships and smaller sail boats, which for an additional charge you could either walk around, the larger boats, or on the smaller craft go for a sail on the Delaware. We were both happy to simply enjoy looking at the various vessels and taking numerous pictures, as usual. Pam happy to sit in the location we had picked for lunch, as there, she had good views of the smaller craft plying their way on the river, with the views of the sizeable Benjamin Franklin road and rail bridge. I wandered off, content that Pam happy to be static for a change, and thoroughly explored from the quay the varied array of craft that had been assembled, plus the museum contributions, plus distant views across the river of USS Battleship New Jersey. The latter is another floating museum, which sadly we wouldn’t have time this holiday to visit. Numerous pictures taken, of as I say, a mixture of craft, especially within the regular museum, ranging from the huge Portuguese four master, the Pirate galleon, to a recently built sailing ship, to a WW2 submarine, the latter in the museum. Another brilliant sunny day, eased by the breeze from the Delaware and one that we both thoroughly enjoyed, Pam for the rest and the chance still to enjoy the activity going on around her, and me for the variety of photo opportunities.

Sail Away

During our many walks around the City, tonight included, we were pleased to see a number of the buildings walls adorned with murals, some of which were very pictorial, others in the extreme, being, excuse the pun, off the wall. Here are just a few that we glimpsed, and some I made sure that I took plenty of pictures of, as we progressed around.

The City Murals

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in America’s first Capitol, so full of history, and now look forward to our next port of call, their current Capitol City – Washington. We found Philadelphia an enjoyable city, clean and certainly with sufficient attractions to keep you interested whether there for a few days, a week or more. Sadly, as we tend to find whereever we visit recently, outside the UK, that is, that restaurants that cater for our limited taste's are few and far between, bordering even non-existent. Our hotel and location, near perfect, a restaurant would have been ideal, although, thinking about what they served up hot for breakfast, that might not have been a good idea! Thank you, Philadelphia. We leave with weary legs for all the walking, but most definitely, having thoroughly enjoyed our short but interesting stay.