After the White House walk the front seat of the CuRVy was a welcome relief and it was off into the Washington traffic and through Maryland and Delaware where we bought a waterproof camera to replace the recently deceased camera. Another purchase was a shoulder bag for the I Pad that was almost left behind in Washington a couple of times. Maybe Julie just needed to have a Ma’am Bag to go with my Man Bag lol!!
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was our destination for the next two nights and our first port of call was the Pennsylvania Welcome Centre. This place kept up the state’s tradition of great service, displays and information at their welcome centres. The girl in charge was another extremely friendly and helpful American and we left the centre with lots of “must see’s and must do’s”!!
Getting to Phillie was reasonably easy with accurate navigation provided by Mrs G and excellent driving by Mrs F. It was easy to work out we were in Philadelphia when we passed billboards advertising and supporting the Sixers, Flyers, Phillies and Eagles. It goes without saying that this city has lots of history and not all of it occurred in the 1700’s. Quite a bit of it has happened around sport.
Location, location, location is a Ben Bate Real Estate adage and this adage was true for our Motel location. Being just across from the waterfront it enabled us to walk for a drink. Our first choice for a bar was very busy as it seemingly was its opening night and about a thousand people had heard about the happy hour. Oh well an early night would be an advantage!
We only had limited time in Philadelphia so an early start was important. Having achieved that we used the hotels shuttle bus to head to the Philadelphia Visitor’s Centre where we planned our movements for the day. These included making bookings to see Independence Hall and visiting the Liberty Bell.
We’re aware that the right mixture of walking and resting is important just as is seizing the right moment for a rest. With that in mind we watched a twenty minute film centred on the lives of four young people in the 1770’s. With our knowledge of the times increased it was now the 800 metre (880 yard) walk to Independence Hall to see where the Declaration of Independence and the formulation and signing of the US Constitution took place. Both (volunteer) tour guides were excellent and the retired teacher at Independence Hall was a great entertainer thrown in as a bargain.
Walking back past the long line at the Liberty Bell we realised that to see this iconic part of America’s history we would need to be even earlier the next day if we were going to see it at all. Instead we headed to the air conditioned Constitution Centre where we took advantage of the wheelchair on offer so that the Apiarist’s legs had even more recovery time.
Again luck was on our side and we had the opportunity to see a great Bruce Springsteen exhibition. It seems that more people than the Educator have a “Boss” fixation and a Philadelphia dentist has put together a comprehensive history and we enjoyed his “collecting” immensely. The exhibition was closing at the end of the week…..
We left after watching an actor narrate an audio/visual 360 degree presentation of US history. She went over America's history in an easily grasped and remembered format that would satisfy people of all ages in a nutshell.
Wandered past what looked like a nice place for lunch & found that both the beer and the fill your own (how good is that) wine at the Crosswalk café was reasonably inexpensive. The Antipasto Platter for two was good and cheap. A couple of beers and a mega wine later we DID make a move……
Walked to the Ritz Theatre where we watched a great Bob Marley Documentary. As you would expect it had a great soundtrack but it was much more educational than that. A good way to spend three hours on what was a very hot night.
Called in at the Triumph Micro Brewery & Bar to ensure that dehydration wasn’t going to be an issue and spent enough time for the Educator to try a cider and the Apiarist sampled a couple of very nice brews. Walk home was not too far and was pleasant in the by now coolish evening!
A good nights sleep saw us up early for breakfast and for the shuttle bus which took us to the Liberty Bell early. This enabled us to be 4th in line! The tour shows far more than just a Bell, as it has a comprehensive display of the times.
Back after an hour and by 11 am through New Jersey on our way to New York, New York!
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was our destination for the next two nights and our first port of call was the Pennsylvania Welcome Centre. This place kept up the state’s tradition of great service, displays and information at their welcome centres. The girl in charge was another extremely friendly and helpful American and we left the centre with lots of “must see’s and must do’s”!!
Getting to Phillie was reasonably easy with accurate navigation provided by Mrs G and excellent driving by Mrs F. It was easy to work out we were in Philadelphia when we passed billboards advertising and supporting the Sixers, Flyers, Phillies and Eagles. It goes without saying that this city has lots of history and not all of it occurred in the 1700’s. Quite a bit of it has happened around sport.
Location, location, location is a Ben Bate Real Estate adage and this adage was true for our Motel location. Being just across from the waterfront it enabled us to walk for a drink. Our first choice for a bar was very busy as it seemingly was its opening night and about a thousand people had heard about the happy hour. Oh well an early night would be an advantage!
We only had limited time in Philadelphia so an early start was important. Having achieved that we used the hotels shuttle bus to head to the Philadelphia Visitor’s Centre where we planned our movements for the day. These included making bookings to see Independence Hall and visiting the Liberty Bell.
We’re aware that the right mixture of walking and resting is important just as is seizing the right moment for a rest. With that in mind we watched a twenty minute film centred on the lives of four young people in the 1770’s. With our knowledge of the times increased it was now the 800 metre (880 yard) walk to Independence Hall to see where the Declaration of Independence and the formulation and signing of the US Constitution took place. Both (volunteer) tour guides were excellent and the retired teacher at Independence Hall was a great entertainer thrown in as a bargain.
Walking back past the long line at the Liberty Bell we realised that to see this iconic part of America’s history we would need to be even earlier the next day if we were going to see it at all. Instead we headed to the air conditioned Constitution Centre where we took advantage of the wheelchair on offer so that the Apiarist’s legs had even more recovery time.
Again luck was on our side and we had the opportunity to see a great Bruce Springsteen exhibition. It seems that more people than the Educator have a “Boss” fixation and a Philadelphia dentist has put together a comprehensive history and we enjoyed his “collecting” immensely. The exhibition was closing at the end of the week…..
We left after watching an actor narrate an audio/visual 360 degree presentation of US history. She went over America's history in an easily grasped and remembered format that would satisfy people of all ages in a nutshell.
Wandered past what looked like a nice place for lunch & found that both the beer and the fill your own (how good is that) wine at the Crosswalk café was reasonably inexpensive. The Antipasto Platter for two was good and cheap. A couple of beers and a mega wine later we DID make a move……
Walked to the Ritz Theatre where we watched a great Bob Marley Documentary. As you would expect it had a great soundtrack but it was much more educational than that. A good way to spend three hours on what was a very hot night.
Called in at the Triumph Micro Brewery & Bar to ensure that dehydration wasn’t going to be an issue and spent enough time for the Educator to try a cider and the Apiarist sampled a couple of very nice brews. Walk home was not too far and was pleasant in the by now coolish evening!
A good nights sleep saw us up early for breakfast and for the shuttle bus which took us to the Liberty Bell early. This enabled us to be 4th in line! The tour shows far more than just a Bell, as it has a comprehensive display of the times.
Back after an hour and by 11 am through New Jersey on our way to New York, New York!
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