Philadelphia

Today we had one full day in Philly. We deliberated long and hard, whether we should catch a train to downtown, or just drive in and park. The advantage to driving is freedom. And given it is Sunday, if we head in early enough, finding a park won't be too difficult. The downside to driving is the stress of driving in a busy city, and the high cost of parking.

We decided to drive! The drive took us over the George C Platt Memorial Bridge bridge, heading east. We had set the GPS to the Visitor Centre downtown. There were various road closures with police barricades, reasons unknown to us, which took us into unexpected territory. We ended up taking all sorts of small streets lined with houses on one side, cars on the other, and small local shops. Very down to earth and authentic without feeling dangerous. Once we got downtown we found a parking building easily enough, so parked the car and set off on foot.

First stop was the Liberty Bell. This is the main drawcard when in Philly. Honestly I don't get it. It's a bell, and it's big. It's cracked and it doesn't even ring! Yet somehow symbolises Freedom and everything that is the United States of America. We battled through hoards of tourists to get the bell. Helen expected it to be like the Mona Lisa, tiny in real life, but actually it's a fair size.

With the bell out of the way, what next to do? It was still early Sunday morning and most shops weren't open. We walked about eight blocks to the Reading Terminal Market to find some brunch.

Now this is a serious market, loads better than the one in Toronto which gets all the accolades. They have a food court type arrangement so we found a table, then each of us went and found some breakfast. Peter had yoghurt and a omelet thing, I found Jambalaya at a Cajun vendor, and Helen found Philly Cheese Steak (with onion and "Cheez Whiz").

We took our time eating, then walked around the remainder of the markets. They had a whole section of Amish vendors from Lancaster County, closed off on Sundays and Mondays. We wondered how long it would take them to get to Philly using horse & buggy?

We ventured onward and found City Hall. Outside was some kind of gathering. It turned out to be the mayor, Michael Nutter, giving a speech regarding LBGT to a small crowd. We observed for a while, before heading back in the direction we had come from.

Then disaster struck (again!). Walking past a construction site, I rolled my ankle on the uneven footpath, and lost my balance, and stumbled to the ground. I sprained my ankle pretty bad, and could barely walk, and also grazed my knee. Luckily just across the road was a pharmacy so Helen went and got some alcohol and plasters to clean my knee up. Then we decided to head for the car and abandon any further walking today. I hobbled back slowly. Helen took over driving duty and we headed for the hotel.

Out of the parking building, we ended up being launched straight onto the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, heading east into New Jersey.  This gave us a great view of the city, plus the Baseball & Football stadiums.

After that, we drove around and back across the Walt Whitman Bridge, heading West back over into Philadelphia (and hence into Pennsylvania). Again fantastic views, and worth the round trip. Next we passed the the "Navy Yard" which is a boneyard for large numbers of navy ships. It spans for miles and is quite impressive to see, with many identical ships lines up side by side. One more bridge, the Girard Point Bridge, and finally we made it back to the hotel where we rested up while I put my ankle on ice.

Later in the evening, we ventured back across to go to Ikea (for some small purchases), more bridge crossings, and from the Ikea carpark had a view across to the ship called SS United States. This ship held the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic. It's now in a bad state of repair and possibly will be scrapped.

After a bit of a rest we decided to head for Ikea, we hadn't managed to get to one before now, and Peter was after a good shoehorn and I said have we got a deal for you, Ikea here we come.

I decided to take a video of our trip as it was dusk and we were going to be going over the Girard Point Bridge which is a double decker bridge.



On the way back to the Hotel the sun had completely gone down and the city looked amazing, I think Philadelphia is growing on me!!



Then it was back to the hotel, for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is a long days driving and we need the rest.