Philly
We went to Philly for a long weekend from July 14-17, 2017. We had some trouble getting there as the city was experiencing a bunch of storms and our plane was delayed for a few hours. I had been to Philly for work a few times and was excited to take Kyle this time for a mini-vacation. Since we got there so late in the day we just settled into the hotel, Hilton at Penn’s Landing, and had dinner at Moshulu which is an old grain ship converted into a restaurant that now sits on the Delaware River.
Eastern State Penitentiary
Our next day, we headed straight to the Independence Hall Visitor Center to get our tickets for Independence Hall and also bought the Philadelphia City Pass. The pass included a hop-on-hop-off bus which we used to get a nice tour of the city. We got to see the oldest residential street in America (Elfreth’s Alley) and Ben Franklin’s grave on the tour. We decided to get off at the Eastern State Penitentiary. The penitentiary from the outside looks like an old, weathered fortress. Inside, they give you an audio guide which is narrated by Steve Buscemi. We learned a lot about the model the penitentiary used and their idea of isolating the prisoners. It’s an eerie feeling walking around in there and looking at the cells. We didn’t get too much into the scary parts and they do have haunted tours around Halloween time. We got to see Al Capone’s cell which looked nothing like the other inmates cells. They say he got to listen to music along with his lavish decorations and the prison guards gave him preferential treatment. After the penitentiary, we headed over to the “Rocky Steps” which we walked up (72 of them). There is an art museum and fountain at the top. Other than that, there really isn’t anything else to do. Everybody wants to go there but once you do the steps, it’s kind of like, now what? So after the steps, we took the bus to the One Liberty building and went up to the observation deck. It was awesome because there was hardly anybody there. We didn’t have to wait in any lines and got a private ride in the elevator. The deck had a very welcoming atmosphere.
Playing giant cards in One Liberty
There were chairs to sit in, bean bag toss, checkers, and giant cards which we played Go Fish with. After the observation deck, we walked through City Hall, which happens to be smack in the middle of the road and the largest City Hall in the US. The William Penn statue that sits on top of the hall is 38 feet tall and also, the largest. We walked back to Independence Hall where we got to see original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and Constitution, which were all being closely guarded by an old guy in a wheel chair. We then went into Independence Hall where we saw the court and the room in which the United States was found. It was really cool to see it and imagine the founding fathers sitting in the room and what they went through. After that, we had dinner at the Hard Rock Café and completed the day with the Grimm Philly Tour where we learned about prostitution, bodies that are buried in the parks, and the haunted City Tavern.
Sloth Bear
Our last full day, we went to the Philadelphia Zoo which happens to be America’s first zoo. This was one of my favorite zoo’s we’ve been too. I especially liked their rare mammals section where we saw animals we’ve never seen or heard of before. A lot of the animals in there have population numbers so low they are close to extinction. The zoo also had hippos which we don’t get to see often and a sloth bear that we had never seen. It was a nice zoo and wasn’t really that busy either. After the zoo we caught the bus again and finished up the part of the tour that we didn’t get to see the day prior. We got off the bus at Spruce Street Harbor Park and had lunch. The park is really cool as it is decorated with colorful lights, all sorts of food vendors in old shipping containers, and hammocks and chairs. We then took the river ferry to Camden, NJ and went to the Adventure Aquarium. The aquarium was PACKED. There were so many people there we actually missed an entire section. They had lots of sharks, rays, turtles, hippos, penguins and a couple touch pools. I’m glad we got to go but wish we could have enjoyed it more. After the aquarium we took the ferry back and hung out in the hotel. It was very hot the last two days and we pretty much spent most of it outside so we needed a break. That evening
City Tavern
we got our souvenirs and had dinner at the City Tavern. I wanted to ask to sit in the haunted section but in my better judgment, decided it was best to stay away. The City Tavern is a replica of the City Tavern that stood in the same spot in the 18th century where people like Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson used to go. The staff dresses colonial dress and they serve a period menu. It was a cool place to visit. The story goes a bride and her bridesmaids were on the second floor when a candle was knocked over and the room went up in flames. They were trapped and they all perished along with the building. People say you can still hear the screams and may even see the bride searching for her groom. Others have noticed items being moved. We did not bare witness to this.
Overall, we had a good time in Philly. I really love it there and would like to go back again. Kyle didn’t really like it as much as I did but he still had a good time.
