Philadelphia - day 3 and leaving day 4

Oct 5 and 6
Mon and Tues

Took the shuttle and bus to downtown Philly to City Hall where Ken and Jean bought their marriage license for $3 just 50 years ago. The best investment they ever made.

Ben Franklin on top of the building was to be the tallest structure in the world when it was built in 1871 but it was passed by the Eiffel Tower before it was even completed in 1901.

The statue of Ben on top is 37 feet tall.

Literally next door is the Wanamaker Dept Store which was 8 floors of excellent shopping until the 90s when Macy's took it over.

This is the way a department store should look.

Reminded me of the old City of Paris or White House 

in San Francisco.

Jean and her friend did all their Christmas shopping in this one store in one day.

I had to buy a pair of shoes.

If it had been the right day we would have been serenaded by the Wanamaker Grand Organ as we shopped.

High end shopping surrounds Rittenhouse Square.

I was more interested in the many pieces of public art in the park and the many people using the park.

Philly spends more money on public art than any city in America, 1% of the total city budget, 

yet has an illiteracy rate of 40%.

The next morning we left Philly after a few stops.

South Philly's Italian Market was a must. It was disappointing not to hear any Italian or even Philly accents. 

And apparently you can get into trouble sampling grapes as we did. It's considered stealing here. We're spoiled in California where samples are encouraged. The grapes were mushy anyway, which is probably why she didn't want us to try them.

We bought some vegs and good Italian salami and cheese and hand made pasta, but since we didn't need 50# of potatoes for $4, we were on our way.

Also in South Philly, the Gloria Dei Church from 1700 is the parish of Ken's grandparents.

 It was the first church in Colonial America to use an organ in its services.

Many of the pews have plaques commemorating members, including one of Ken's cousins.

We searched the neighborhood for his grandparents' address, but weren't sure we found the right place.

Headed out of town, one last stop at the Mummers Museum, but darn, it was closed today.

It's just as colorful as the costumes they wear for the yearly New Year's Day parade which they've been doing every year since 1902.

It's a folk festival, really, started back in the 1800's by many different ethnic groups. Today they have elaborate costumes and dance numbers competing for cash prizes.

Next day driving near Chadd's Ford, we checked out the Wyeth family art at the

 Brandywine River Museum of Art.

The building was formerly a 19th century grist mill. As a gallery it has its original beams, pine floors and white plaster walls.

Philadelphia - day 2

October 4
Sunday

Finally better weather so we headed for Independence Square. Took the shuttle to the bus stop where we caught the #42 bus which makes a big loop around this several block area of history.

 In 30 minutes we were in the City Center of Philly with no parking problems.

This several blocks area is packed full of history.

Short stop at the Visitor Center for tickets and to see two good (one by John Huston) history films to refresh our memories.

This 1732 building was built as the Pennsylvania State House, and it is where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed.

The long green table cloths were to keep the delegates' legs warm during the time of haggling over the issues.

George Washington accepted the nomination as Commander in Chief after running out of the room in embarrasment. I always thought this act of humility was weird since he came to all the meetings in full dress uniform as tho campaigning for the job.

Also in this room is the chair George Washington sat in presiding over the Second Continental Congress. This is the chair that prompted Ben Franklin's droll comment about the carved sun on the back of the chair being a "rising or a setting sun".

Jean met the Pope!
We thought we had missed him....

We looked respectfully at all the historic buildings and then headed over to the US Mint to see how money is made.

After all, that is what this country is about.

Bob was a coin collector so I thought he would want to be here. So he is.

Ambled around the historic area and respectfully checked out other buildings,

It gives you chills thinking of what these great men did for our country

and the chances they took to do it.

Found our way around the corner to Betsy Ross' tiny house where our first flag was created in 1777.

Historians doubt she actually did the stitching, but probably designed it and had her workers do the rest. Smart business woman.

She was a successful upholsterer who represents the many women who supported their families during the Revolution and early Republic.

In this same room one day George Washington and two of his cronies stopped in to ask if she could put together a flag to represent the nation.

For the next 50 years flags were produced here for the government.

Philadelphia is full of tiny alleys, but Elfreth's Alley is the oldest continuously occupied residential street in the US.

Since 1757 this cobbled alley has been home to tinkers, an African tailor, a German shoemaker, and glassblowers as well as today's techies.

Couldn't resist calling the real estate FOR SALE sign on this one to find it has a list price of $250K,    1015 sq. ft. 2 bedrm, 1 bath.
Interesting......

Down the block and around the corner at the 1727  Christ Church (Episcopal) we looked for Ben Franklin's gravestone in the yard outside. He and 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence worshiped here.

It also contains the font from which William Penn was baptized in 1644 in London.

Inside we sat in George Washington's
family pew.

It was roomy to accommodate those large dresses worn by the ladies, all that fabric.
Brass plaques mark the pews of Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross as well.

15 by 49 feet long

In the Curtis Center, just off Independence Square, is this spectacular glass mural, The Dream Garden, done by Philadelphia native, Maxfield Parrish.

Done in 1914-15 as a commissioned piece for the Curtis Publishing Co for their new building lobby, the glass was executed by Tiffany studios as a glass mosaic.

Up close you can see the tiny shards of glass that make up the incredible design.

It is made of 100,000 pieces of glass in 260 colors.

This piece takes your breath away with its idyllic landscape, making Jean and me homesick for California.

Had dinner at 1773 City Tavern which was the first unofficial White House where the colonial movers and shakers hung out near
 Independence Square.
John Adams called it "the most genteel tavern in America".

The wait staff are all in period dress and the menus true to the day.

Jean had roast duckling and I had a tofu dish that Ben Franklin was excited about after first tasting tofu on one of his travels. Somehow I thought tofu was a modern invention of today's foodies.
    
My ale was made from a recipe from George Washington's cellars. One of the three breads we were served was a sweet potato biscuit from Thomas Jefferson's recipe.

With the rooms lit only by candles we felt like we were back in the day.
Perfect day's end to our exploration of historic Philadelphia.

Philadelphia - day 1

October 2
Friday

With Jean as my own personal tour guide, I didn't want to take a standard tour of the city.

Checked into a great place to stay for RVs in Philly,  Park and Ride, in a light industrial area near downtown.  Whoever developed this concept was genius.  It's just a big asphalt lot for commuters and RVs to park and ride a shuttle into town or to the bus stop that takes them wherever, avoiding downtown parking issues. For us it was perfect because the Doodle is too tall for parking garages and there are no open lots in town.

What it lacked in ambiance, it made up for in convenience.

And at $30/day the price was right.

The large building had restrooms and showers.

What more did we need from a place we were only going to be spending the night?!

What do you think of when you think of Philadelphia?  American Bandstand, right?  

Wrong, Philly is the place that gave America Rocky Balboa!

Wrong again!  Philadelphia is America's birthplace, where the Declaration of Independence was signed and a lot of other historically significant happenings happened.

Because it was still cold and rainy from the hurricane offshore, we spent the first day doing mostly indoor activities.

Started at the Barnes Museum along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Champs Elysee of Philly.

In this city of old buildings, the Barnes is a new museum, very contemporary in design and crammed with hundreds of paintings from the Impressionist era;  Cezanne, Matisse, et al. 

And I do mean crammed. Most of the paintings were only inches apart from each other. I could have stayed all day.

A short walk to the majestic

 Philadelphia Museum of Art.

It's become the city's top tourist attraction, not because of its 500,000 works of art, but because its front steps are the ones Sylvester Stallone ran up in Rocky and yelled "Yo, Adrian!"

We saw people doing just that and having their photo taken with the Rocky statue and never bothering to go into the museum!

At the beginning of Fairmount Park are row houses, literally.  These are the meeting houses for nine rowing clubs, where you can see their sculls stored along the

 Schuylkill (SKOO-kill) River. 

It was raining so no practice today.

The father and brother of Philadelphia native, Grace Kelly, were both Olympic champions in sculling. 

This bronze is of her father, John, who won in 1920 and 1926. Son Jack won in 1960.

Mount Pleasant

On thru beautiful Fairmount Park and its more than four thousand acres of  paths and bridal trails. It is the world's largest city park.

We marveled at the foresight of city fathers who purchased the land from wealthy 18th and 19th century Philadelphians for a park before it was divided up into smaller residential plots.

Twenty historic homes still remain in the park. Ten are restored and open to the public.

We saw Mount Pleasant, built in 1762 by sea captain/privateer(pirate), John Macpherson.

After he made a bundle pirating in the French and Indian War, he wanted to join polite society so built this Georgian mansion.

One of its owners, Benedict Arnold, bought it as a wedding present for his bride, but he was convicted of treason before they could occupy it.

Before we left Philly we came back here for a Fall Festival. 

We tasted hand pressed apple cider and sampled beer we watched being brewed the old fashioned way.

Listened to some Blue Grass by the

 Dill Pickle Band, which sounded suspiciously like the same song by the third time around.

Toured thru Chestnut Hill, 

a chi-chi part of town. Elegant stores and restaurants line both sides of the cobblestone street.

It's a place where you might

  see someone famous if you pay attention.

Ended the day in South Philly with

world-renowned cheese steak sandwiches from the twin bastions of Gino's and Patt's, the two most famous places for cheese steaks.

This is required eating here, a gooey mess of beef, melted cheese, and fried onions in a big roll. A good Philly cheese streak could kill you.

Hundreds of

firefighter and police badges on display at Geno's along with photos of famous customers filling the walls.

Pat Sajak and Vanna White were there.

We did an A-B comparison of steaks from the two places by buying one from each and cutting them in half.

In spite of Geno's larger sign and all of those badges, Patt's had the better sandwich. Much thinner sliced beef.

A fun first day in Philly.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

October 1
Thursday

Met Villages friend, Jean Brady, who flew in to spend some time in her hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It will be good to have someone to ride along. I'm getting tired of the sound of my own voice. Even tho it was cold and rainy, we took an Amish buggy ride to a farm.

The Amish came to Lancaster County 250 years ago and today there are over 28,000 in the county, almost all descendants of the original 30 couples.

The Amish split from the Mennonites in the 1600s but share their shunning of modern conveniences. 

Their farms are easy to spot because there are no power lines leading to it.

Farmland in Lancaster County is expensive ($15K/acre) compared to surrounding areas ($3K/acre).
Many Amish and Mennonite families are leaving the area for greener pastures because of  increased congestion caused by tourists.

Their distinctive black buggies are seen on the street with a line of tourist cars creeping along behind.

But the best thing about the Amish is the great names they gave their communities: Blue Ball, Bird in Hand, and of course, Intercourse.

Had lunch in nearby Lititz at the historic 18th century
 General Sutter Inn's  Bull's Head Pub.

It was the discovery of gold on General Sutter's property near Sacramento that started the California Gold Rush.

Sutter lived in Lititz while peitiioning Congress to receive compensation for damages to his California property caused by gold seekers.

He died in 1880 without Congress having decided the matter.

Made pretzels at the 1750 Sturgis Pretzel Factory. If I ever need to know how to make a pretzel, I'll be OK.

One of the largest employers in town, they paid 10 cents an hour to people who considered themselves lucky to have a job.

This is said to be the first pretzel bakery in the U.S.

It's super hot near those ovens.
The pretzels are baked twice to harden.

The 1756 Wilbur Chocolate Factory is still in production. Yummy goodies here and lots of vintage molds.
 
 

Breakfast at this Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant where many young Mennonite men were having a hearty meal before starting their day's work.

Placemats at the table were unlike any you will see in a California restaurant.

A stop at Lancaster Central Market, the oldest farmer's market in the country from 120 years ago.
We picked up items Jean remembered from shopping here with her mother:  white celery, sweet bologna, and vegs.

And of course, Shoo Fly Pie, but no
Apple Pan Dowdy.