We walked around the area of the historical city that was
devoted to homes and had fun looking in all of the windows. When it was time to go to the 10:30am Tour of
the Independence Mall, we found ourselves being sent around a couple of large
blocks to get to where we needed to go.
The reason was Vice President Biden was going to speak at the July 4th
opening and all of the major streets were blocked off for his arrival.
We finally met out tour group at a new location and spent
the next 2 ½ hours on a walking tour of the Independence Mall area seeing lots
of historical sites and hearing about the history of Philadelphia.
After the tour, we went to the Dolly Todd Madison and Bishop
White’s homes which were very interesting in that one was a middle class home
(Madison’s) and the other was middle – upper class home – the Bishop
Whites. It was interesting seeing the difference
in the two homes. After that we went to
the Betsy Ross home for a tour.
Next we went to the original Quaker meeting hall where they still hold their meetings. We spent time with one of their members learning about the Quakers and I we were very impressed.
Next we went to the original Quaker meeting hall where they still hold their meetings. We spent time with one of their members learning about the Quakers and I we were very impressed.
Next we took the bus to the two most famous Philly
Cheesesteak places, Geno’s and Pats. They
are located in south Philly and are on opposite corners. To see which was the best, we bought a
sandwich at each and split them. We both
liked the one from Geno’s but decided that we had tasted enough Philly
Cheesesteaks for our life!!
By this time, it was 5:00pm so we took the bus back to the
hotel to change for the evening.We took the bus part way to the fireworks and then walked the rest of the way, about 2 miles. As we were entering the grounds, we found a food stand that was named Festival Foods!! They had huge lines, but they didn't know how to move them.
We found a perfect spot in a baseball field, watched people, listened to the music and waited for the fireworks to start at 10:30pm and they finally started at 11:00pm. We both agreed that these fireworks were the worst of the cities we have visited – but it was still fun. Then a long walk back to the hotel and time for bed as it is already tomorrow which is our anniversary.
Night from Philadelphia and we hope that everyone had a happy fourth.
Barb just looking!
Pat's Cheesesteak
Geno's Cheesesteak
The Quaker meeting hall
