Our Last Day in Philly

Well, it's our last day in Philadelphia and it started off with alarming excitement. I am not kidding - we were woken up by the fire alarm at 5:11am. It took me a few minutes to realize what was going on. So we put shoes on, grabbed room keys, wallets and phones and headed out the door. We crossed the street and stood against the wall of the Convention Center. The fire trucks showed up about 20 minutes later. Then about 30 minutes later they had us go through the convention center tunnel to the other side and away from the hotel. Thomas and I decided to walk a couple of blocks away and see if we could find some coffee. We found a Dunkin Donuts and had some breakfast and coffee. We then returned to the Convention Center and sat on some steps and waited. I was a little put off since we were all standing outside this huge 1 million square foot Convention Center and no one thought of opening the building so we could go in. We met a nice family (husband, wife, daughter and two sons) and talked to them while waiting. They are in the process of moving from Connecticut to Virginia and were just staying two nights at the hotel. After about two hours had passed someone finally opened the Convention Center and we all went in there and found a spot to sit and wait. One woman was on the phone talking to her sister and there were already news reports and they were reporting that a Meth Lab was found in a room on the third floor. Another woman googled and found a similar report.

Independence Hall

Finally around 8:05am they let us back into the hotel. They only had two elevators open and the line waiting to use them was long so we decided to walk the seven flights to our room. We felt lucky because the people on the third floor weren't allowed up until later in the day. So back in the room we showered and dressed and headed out for our last day in Philadelphia. Incidentally not one hotel employee or fireman even bothered to inquire if were were okay or did anyone even try to explain what was going on. Yesterday we tried to tour Independence Hall but didn't have tickets so this morning we headed straight for the Independence Visitor Center and picked up tickets which were for a 9:15am tour. So with tickets in hand we went straight over to Independence Hall and had to go through major security and have our bags checked before we could enter the grounds. Then we waited in line for about 20 minutes until our tour started. We were ushered into the East Wing of the building where we took seats and listened to a ranger talk about the building and the beginning of our country. Then we went into the main building in the Vestibule and made our way in to the Supreme Court Room and listened to another little spiel. Then we crossed the Vestibule and entered the Assembly Room and listened to another short talk. We then left the building through the Tower Stair Hall. All in all the tour last about 30 minutes. I was totally disappointed in the whole tour. I didn't learn anything I didn't know and wished we could have seen the second floor and the bell tower. It really wasn't worth my time except now I can say I was in the same building where the Founding Fathers shaped our country.

Dream Garden

Liberty Bell

We decided to walk around the area and make our way to the Liberty Bell. As we approached the sidewalk I noticed the building across the street It was The Curtis Center. When researching this trip I came across something called Dream Garden. This is a 15' x 49' glass mosaic made through the collaboration of Louis Tiffany and Maxfield Parrish. This incredible art piece has over 100,000 pieces of glass in it. So we went into the building just to see it. It was amazing! It has to be one of the most incredible pieces of art I have ever seen and I am glad we took the detour to see it. After leaving the building we made our way to the Liberty Bell Center. We didn't need tickets to see the Bell we just needed to wait in line. It didn't take long and we had to go through the security thing again. The Liberty Bell is housed in a very big building with exhibits telling the history of the bell and at the end the Bell stands alone and is roped off. Behind the Bell are windows and you can see Independence Hall in the background which I thought was a perfect setting. The Liberty Bell was just what I expected  - the size, shape, color and intensity. I think standing in front of the Bell was the most emotional and enjoyable of the trip.

Carpenters Hall

We decided that we were hungry and found a nice little place called Honey Restaurant. We had a nice little meal and talked about what we wanted to do next. After eating we headed to the American Jewish History Museum to find a letterbox - Hop On, Hop Off Philly: American Jewish History Museum. It took me a little while to retrieve the box because it is hidden right in the middle of things and the place was busy. Finally I got the box, stamped in and got it back in place. From here we walked the area and visited lots of places including - Carpenters Hall, a replica of an 18th century garden, Dolley Todd Madison's house, First Bank of the US, Merchant Exchange Building and City Tavern, We then took a beautiful pedestrian bridge (continuation of Walnut) over I95 to the waterfront area. We walked along Columbus Blvd. and arrived at Penn's Landing. Here I found two letterboxes. Hop On, Hop Off Philly: Penn's Landing and Hop On, Hop Off Philly: Waterfront. After stamping in and replacing the boxes we go something cold to drink and found a bench in the shade to sit and relax. The entire trip has been really hot (everyday in the '90s) and very humid. We are not used to this kind of weather and by afternoon we were tired, damp and hot. We talked while enjoying the river views and decided to call it a day. We walked back to the hotel to get things packed and get a little rest since we had been jolted awake so early this morning.

After a little nap and some organization we felt ready for our flight tomorrow and we were now hungry. So we ventured out to the Reading Terminal Market and had dinner at the Dutch Eating Place. We decided while eating that we had a great trip and saw most everything we wanted to see. We did miss on thing and that was the US Mint - oh well, another trip. And we could have done without the hotel evacuation but the trip as a whole was great. I saw four new state Capitols and added four new states to my letterboxing map - now I have letterboxed in 38 states and in 3 other countries.