So, in Philly, we cast aside our worries and hit the tourist track.
Flying in Thursday morning, we jumped in our rental car, stashed our belongings at the B&B (located on the campus of Temple University) and hit the path. We visited Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed), snapped our pictures with the Liberty Bell (reverently enshrined in a plexiglass room), took a self-paced tour of the US Mint (which was stamping quarters and pennies for our monetary pleasure), and revered Benjamin Franklin's grave. We gaped at the seemingly tongue-in-cheek Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington characters milling around the area. Why hadn't I swallowed my pride and had my picture taken with George Washington? That would have been a neat shot for when I open my B&B and need celebrity pictures to line my downstairs bar!
Before and after our touring, we indulged in Philly Cheese steak sandwiches. I'm glad I'm a carnivore!
On Friday night, Jack and I took off for Pat's, the world-renowned Cheese steak dive in southern Philly. When we received our cheese steaks, neither one of us said one word for the entire 15 minutes it took to eat (inhale) those sandwiches. Everyone knows it's a Pat's v. Gino's war in Philly for the best steak, but we opted for Pat's.
With stomachs full of cheese steak bliss, we hit the bridge. As in, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to Camden, New Jersey. A three-mile round trip, we hiked the bridge at twilight and savored a breezy, 80 degree summer evening from the bridge. I must note that this is the first time I got stage fright. I'm not afraid of heights and this bridge totally overwhelmed my sense of balance!
Then on Sunday, God hit the "Oh, that's right, it's autumn!" button on His eternal dashboard and the weather transformed from sticky and 90 to freezing cold, damp, and 60 (of COURSE we packed for this change). I drug my sick self out of bed Sunday morning and while we briefly debating changing our flights to an earlier time, we decided to make the most of the day.
I've always wanted to see Eastern State Penitentary. I have a strange fascination with jails...so many people come to terms with their lives' actions (or go insane!) in those rooms and spend months or years within their walls. Some emerge with a completely-different world outside their doorsteps (think Shawshank Redemption). So Jack indulged me on my jail tour and we visited Eastern State. Even though I sported a probably-100+ degree temperature and was going through kleenex at a rate of two boxes every hour, what better way to spend the day than trooping through the rain at a prison?
It was awful. The outside, shrouded in heavy, dark granite and iron grates, resembled a medieval castle. A 7-foot thick, 30 foot-high wall guarded the property, which was divided into a total of 12 cell blocks. Designed to deter crime in 1820's Philly, the castle-structure pioneered the concept of solitary confinement and with its dark, dank cells, tried to reform hardened criminals within its walls.
Pause for shivers!
Jack and I, always the geeks, joined an architectural tour to see behind-the-scenes cell blocks and courtyards. I thought the rain added a degree of penance even the Quakers would have been proud of. The Penitentary (from the word "penance") was a worthwhile stop on our Philly tour and after being soaked in the steady rain, Jack and I sought refuge at Jack's Firehouse (across the street) for lunch.
So while I have to return to Philly in April, I doubt Jack will return with me. Unless, of course, I can dangle a Pat's cheese steak in front of his eyes in a hypnotic manner!
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