7 Hours in Philly

I flew up to meet Aaron on the second night of his double overnights in Philadelphia on Saturday evening. Both he and I arrived late in the evening so we only had time for a few hours of socializing with crew before we were headed to bed. On Sunday Aaron had an evening report time and I had an evening flight back home but we had all morning and afternoon to explore Philadelphia.

We got up early and took the train downtown. Our first stop was the Liberty Bell. We learned that the famous crack in the bell occurred when the bell was first being hung and tested in the Pennsylvania State House and that the inscribed Pass and Stow refer to John Dock Pass and John Stow who recast the bell after it's initial crack. Also inscribed is the famous "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

After seeing the Liberty Bell, we passed the grave of Ben Franklin--- and stopped to toss pennies for good luck--on our way to tour the former home of Betsy Ross. At the Betsy Ross house we heard the story of how the Continental Congress sent a committee of George Washington, George Ross, and Robert Morris to Betsy's upholstery shop and asked her to sew the first US flag. Despite the possibility of being arrested and killed for such an act of treason, she undertook the task and created the first Stars and Stripes.

Our next stop was Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was first read on July 4, 1776 declaring the 13 colonies no longer apart of the British Empire and where the US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 becoming the law of the land for the United States. Independence Hall still contains the chair that George Washington sat in as he presided as the first president.

For lunch we stopped for the best Philly Cheese Steaks in town before heading to Christ Church. Surprisingly Christ Church was my favorite stop on our whirlwind tour of Philadelphia. There we met a knowledgeable docent who answered all our questions about the church's present and past role in the community. The church was fonded in 1695 and services are still held there even today. Inside the church there are graves of former church members. It is considered good luck to walk on these graves as you are thought to be walking on good spirits.

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No trip would be complete for us without some geocaching to mark our travels. We managed to find 3 of the 5 caches that we hunted for. We even traded geocoins for the trip back home.

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We managed to see and do a lot in our 7 hours in Philly. We walked a lot around Independence National Park, Market St, and the Delaware River riverfront. We were both very tired by the time we separated to make our flights; mine back to home and Aaron's back to more work.