The City of Brotherly Love....

...Philadelphia. A city I will love - at least deeply appreciate from now on. Dan and I had the privilege of touring the city last week. It exceeded my expectation on a couple of levels. So many 'ordinary' things there have extraordinary character because of detail of architecture, history, and simply age.

These bells were hung in honor of the first American to die for his country. He was an African American and he died during the Boston Massacre.

This was just... Macy's. The picture doesn't do justice to how beautiful the building was. It is also the site of the very first Mother's Day.

One of my favorite pictures... the view from our hotel room. It is a Quaker Meeting House built in 1804... and in the background, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge which connects Pennsylvania to New Jersey.

Inside the before mentioned Quaker Meeting House. We talked with an elderly gentlemen here for over an hour about the history and practice of the American Quakers. Very interesting. I just finished a book I bought there worth reading if you are at all interested, A Quaker Book of Wisdom: Life Lessons in Simplicity, Service, and Common Sense.

I was in Philly 5 days and had 4 white choc. truffle lattes from this vendor - amazing! And so nice to drink a good hot latte in cold weather!! This building was over 120 yrs old.

Christ Church cemetery... where 5 signers of the Declaration of Independence were buried along with other notable early Americans.

Including Benjamin Franklin, his wife Deborah, his daughter Sarah, and her husband. This is his resting place covered with pennies... 'a penny saved is a penny earned.' The church collects 3 -5 thousand dollars a year from the change left on his grave. Even though I thought it stark contrast to his clever saying (above) I threw a few pennies down too.

Again, this was the Quaker Meeting House. I really liked it there. We debated attending a service there, but chose Christ Church instead on Sunday. William Penn, founder/creator of Philadelphia was a Quaker, so there was a lot of his belongings and facts concerning his life here.

Christ Church... where Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, & Betsy Ross (after she was dismissed from the above Quaker Church because her third husband wasn't a Quaker) attended church. It is now Episcopalian, so it was quite different than what Dan and I were used to... all the reading aloud together, when to sit/stand, etc. We actually sat in Ben, George, John, & Betsy's pews that they worshiped in each week. I guess they had assigned seating back then... I didn't ask. Apparently it was thought good luck to walk over graves in the church, so all along the middle and back isle of the church were large stones level with the ground stating 'Here Lies the Body of' so and so... for some reason I always thought it poor manners to walk across a grave, so I was hopping around them getting some very funny stares.

Outside of Christ Church.

The very fist Post Office, built and ran by Ben Franklin. He also created the first fire station, sanitation pick up, and night watch system.

Independence Hall... where the Declaration of Independence was signed. It amazes me that each man thought he was signing his own death warrant by affixing his name to that document. The chair at the front of the room is actually the chair George Washington sat in with the famous 'rising' sun so eloquently described by Ben Franklin.

That chandelier was made in 1774.

Philadelphia has a large amount of murals that cover many of its buildings in the city.

The Ben Franklin Bridge.

New Jersey... the other side of the bridge.

Betsy Ross' House. We toured the inside, but were not allowed to take pictures. She was rare in her day to be such a successful business woman.

Second Largest guitar in the world... the first is in Las Vegas.

The famous Love Park.

Row boats under the Pennsylvania Railroad in Fairmount Park.

I had to include this picture because it is the scene where Will Smith, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air intro was filmed.... 'in west Philadelphia born and raised on the playground is where I spent most of my days'.... y'all are all hating me now for putting that song in your head!

Town Hall

This house was built for President Abraham Lincoln but he never made it to the house before he was killed. Also the house that was used in some famous movie.

The Thinker

The first Free Public Library also created by Ben Franklin.

This was the Catholic Church in Philly- also the first Catholic Church in America... we attended a small part of a wedding here... as you can tell, I don't think they knew we were there. The building is so magnificent that to be married here there is a 3-4 year waiting list.

Really large Monopoly pieces.

Sorry!

Rocky and some old statue.

The 'Rocky Steps' and yes we went to the top to see the art museum too.
Looking at Center City from the Rocky steps.

Triumphant George Washington.

Independence Hall

The Senate House. Also the exact spot where John Adams was sworn in as our second president and the same building George Washington was sworn in for his second term (upstairs).

More shots from the window of our hotel.

Outside of the Senate House.

The Liberty Bell, such rich history this bell has lived. Dan was like a kid in a candy store walking through this city.

Outside of Independance Hall.

This lady was in the Visitor's Center.

Dan and I got a 24hr pass to ride this double decker bus. It went to 21 different stops. We rode all day getting on and off at everything.

And two of the greatest things in the city.... Philly Cheesesteaks and coffee. I was not disappointed at all in Philadelphia's food. Everything we put in our mouth was so delicious. We ate at a ton of places and everything was so so good. How can the whole city have such good food?

Some of the other places we went to worth mentioning, but I think I've put too many pictures up already are.... China town (third largest in the nation), famous South Street, East State Penatentery, Reading Terminal Market, Boat House Row, US Mint, Ben Franklin's home site & workshops, George Washinton's house site, Penn's Landing, and finally the house that Sixth Sense was filmed in.