Through a Glass, Darkly

Hi Everybody,

Well, we are meeting Uncle Chuck this morning to tour Philadelphia in the daytime.  The boutique hotel we are staying at is just beautiful. It was built in 1715 and is right downtown in the historic district called "Society Hill". I think George Washington slept here. Just kidding, but he very well may have. 

We had a quick, wonderful breakfast and when finished just as Uncle Chuck came in the lobby. He had come in on the train this morning from his home in Fox Chase. 

It is pouring down rain, but we aren't going to let that dampen our spirits!

Our intention today is to some of the many historic sites in downtown Philadelphia.  Unfortunately, due to the government shutdown, many of the sites are closed! :((((

The first stop on the list was to be Independence Hall.  For those of you who may not remember, Independence hall was built initially to house the Colonial English government.  It is more famous however as the site at which both the Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution were debated and adopted.  Since it was closed, we were only able to view it from the outside.  Seems ironic that the site of the founding of our government was not open because the government was shut down.  There were of course guards stationed there to make sure no one could get in.  HMMM let me think....  They could pay the guards but couldn't pay anyone to open the building!  Oh well, no sense in debating politics and such here.  We are on vacation!  We did get a couple of nice pictures however, even through the pouring rain. 

Next on the list was the Liberty Bell.  This too of course was a casualty of the government shutdown and was not open.  But they do have the Liberty Bell situated in a building with armored, plexiglass windows so that you can at least see it!  Thus, "looking through a glass darkly!". 

Did you know that they actually cast the Liberty Bell three times and it cracked all three times?  It was initially cast in 1752 and it cracked the first time it was rung upon its arrival in Philadelphia.  It was cast that first time in England by the way.  So then, it was recast twice in Philadelphia by local craftsmen, and both times cracked again!  HHHMMMM.... maybe that was an omen about how difficult this freedom thing was going to be!!!

We did manage to get a couple of pictures through the wet glass.

One of the few things we did find open was the National Constitution Center.  It is of course a private museum, which is why it was open.  It was dedicated to all things constitutional and had many interesting exhibits as well as a live narrated, 17 minute presentation with 360 audio visual displays.  Well worth seeing if you are ever in the area.

We walked back to the car in the pouring rain, going past Benjamin Franklin's grave-site on the way. It is a surprisingly humble slab of granite that marks his final resting place.  This spring we read a book about Benjamin Franklin entitled "The First American:  the life and times of Benjamin Franklin".  I highly encourage you to read it.  It is amazing how much influence this one person had on the founding of our nation.  If Benjamin had not had a falling out with King George, we may never have become the independent nation we are today!  Interesting!

This brought us to lunch time.  Of course, no visit to Philadelphia could be considered complete without partaking of a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich!  There are three contenders which vie for the title of "Best Philly Cheesesteak", and we decided to judge a book by its cover and chose "Geno's Steak".  It is right beside "Pats", which is said to be the originator of the sandwich.

It was still pouring rain, but we did not want to miss this delicacy.  We pronounce Geno's excellent!!  Whether it is the best, you will have to decide when you try it for yourself!

Since none of the other historic sites we wanted to see were open,and since we had a lot of ground to cover in very little time, we decided to just see some more of the downtown by car.  Having accomplished this, we continued on to Uncle Chuck's house and visited there for a few minutes.  It was a nice time of reminiscing for Karen and looking at some old family pictures she had not seen before.

Upon leaving Uncle Chuck's house, we meandered through Karen's old neighborhood.  We saw the house where she grew up and her old stomping grounds and hang outs.

Next we headed for the small, quaint town of New Hope, Pennsylvania, situated on the banks of the Delaware River, just a few miles from Karen's hometown.   Some of the homes here date from the late 1600's.  In fact, we are staying at a bed and breakfast that is an old stone farmhouse that dates from 1775.  Ok, we didn't actually stay in the house, we had to stay in the barn.  But the barn was REALLY nice!  We wandered around downtown New Hope, taking in the local shops and of course the local Starbucks, which itself is housed in a 1700's era building.

Here are a few pictures of our bed and breakfast called the Barley Sheaf Inn.  It is very peaceful and quaint. 

Tomorrow we leave for the Big Apple to see Karen's daughter!  Yep, New York City!  Can David handle all those people?  We will find out!  Stand by for the outcome! 
Love to all!  Goodnight!