The City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia

Yesterday began at 5:30 am for us. It was up and at'em so that we could get to Lancaster to catch the 7:55 am train to Philadelphia. The drive actually was a little quicker than I figured because it was Saturday and no traffic, especially that early in the morning.

Morgan was excited because this was her first "real" train ride. She is experiencing a lot of firsts on this trip with us. I'm glad that we are able to share them with her. Anyway, as we stood on the train platform watching for the train coming from Harrisburg she was shivering, maybe from the cool morning air and maybe some from the excitement!

We got on the train and had to ride backwards as all the front facing seats were taken, but that was OK and we got to see where we've been. Morgan was surprised how big and comfortable the seating was on the Amtrak commuter train and even more surprised that they provide plugs for computers etc., by the seats. She said we should have brought my laptop - right - like I'm going to tote it all around Philly - NOT! Later she was wishing she had brought her charger for her phone because by mid-day it had died and a girl without her cell phone is like a sundae without whipped topping!

We arrived a hour later at the 30th Street Train Station in Philadelphia and got us a taxi to take us to Independence Hall. What a ride, almost as bad as New York taxi drivers!

We began our day by touring Independence Hall and seeing the Liberty Bell. Then we boarded a double decker bus for a neat tour of Philadelphia. We rode the whole route even though we could have gotten off and back on another bus. At the end it dropped us at a food court across from Independence Hall where we had a bite of lunch. Then it was back on the bus where this time we departed at the Betsy Ross House.

Morgan thought the house was "neat". Very narrow winding stairs lead to the second story and the basement and the rooms are small. Unfortunately they didn't allow any picture taking inside! A interesting fact about Betsy Ross was that she was married three times but has been known by her first husbands last name! Maybe because she was a talented seamstress known as Betsy Ross, she didn't want to lose business by changing her name. Also her and George Washington were never married - they were friends (?). OK!

We got back on the bus and rode till the end, again passing many interesting sights. Philadelphia is a place where you really need several days to be able to explore everything like the Franklin Institute, and Chinatown. There are many art museums and theater's to explore as well. And then there is the John Wanamaker Department Store that is now Macy's. It used to be a 9 story store and one of the largest in the world. Macy's now only uses three stories of the building. It's a days exploration in itself.

Having a little time to kill, but not enough to really "do anything", we sat outside the Visitors Center and people watched for awhile. Finally we got a taxi back to the train station and it was a wilder ride then the first and $3.00 cheaper! Guess it was less because he went faster as it was the same distance as the first ride.

The train ride back was relaxing as all three of us were tired. We stopped in Lancaster at the City Line Diner for something to stop the rumbling of our stomach's and then drove on home, arriving around 9:30 pm. What a long day it was. Within a hour we were all in bed, asleep!

I will be posting pictures at Picasa, just as soon as I sort through all of them, so check often to see if they are there.