The City of Brotherly Love.

The birthplace of American Democracy.

There was so much to see and do in this historic city.  As usual, we weren’t able to visit everything on the “Want to Do List”.  For one thing, our first flight was cancelled.  (Yes, like go home and come back tomorrow because it is raining in Philadelphia – cancelled.),  We lost an entire day.  What to do?

We took the Big Red Bus Tour in order to get an overview of the sights of the city.  From our seats on the upper deck, we were able to at least get a preview and an introduction to Philadelphia. (That is a gold leafed bronze statue of Joan of Arc.)

We first toured sections of the Old City.  Elfreth’s Alley is the oldest residential street in the nation.  It dates back to 1702, and it is so narrow.

The home of Betsy Ross was also in this area.  They said she probably did not make the first flag. (I was crushed.)  If I go back, I would still like to visit this home.

Philadelphia has the third largest China Town in the nation.

Be still my heart.  4,000 sculptures and works of art adorn the city.  They have a 1% rule.  When a building is built in the city, 1% of the cost of the building must be set aside for art.  What a great plan.

Murals are also everywhere.  I believe they said that Philadelphia has the most murals of any city in the nation.

That would be a statue of William Penn on top of the courthouse.  Being a Quaker, that would have been against what he believed.

The courthouse is the largest courthouse in the United States.  The founding fathers were creating a great nation, and they wanted buildings to reflect this greatness.

World class museums were also along our route.  The Rodin Museum has one of the largest collection of Rodin sculptures outside of Paris, France.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is also world famous. One of the top attractions in the city are the east steps of the Museum of Art – better known as the “Rocky Steps”.  Here you can run the steps and have your picture taken with a larger than life statue of Rocky Balboa.  (Maybe next time we will get to visit these museums.)

We were able to visit the Barnes Foundation. (It was open late on Friday nights.)  The collection of impressionistic to modern paintings is wonderful.  Ever-Lovin’ mentioned that it was a strange feeling to see a painting and think, I have seen pictures of this painting.  Art by Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Rousseau, Modigliani, Soutine, and many others filled the walls of the museum.  I wished for my museum buddy Jorene while there.  She would have loved it.  Photography was not allowed.  This impressive museum is highly recommended.

Tours are also offered of the Eastern State Penitentiary which opened in 1829.  These is much information of their website, and it is interesting.

Eastern State Penitentiary broke sharply with the prisons of its day, abandoning corporal punishment and ill treatment. This massive new structure, opened in 1829, became one of the most expensive American buildings of its day and soon the most famous prison in the world. The Penitentiary would not simply punish, but move the criminal toward spiritual reflection and change. The method was a Quaker-inspired system of isolation from other prisoners, with labor. The early system was strict. To prevent distraction, knowledge of the building, and even mild interaction with guards, inmates were hooded whenever they were outside their cells. But the proponents of the system believed strongly that the criminals, exposed, in silence, to thoughts of their behavior and the ugliness of their crimes, would become genuinely penitent. Thus the new word, penitentiary.

Ben Franklin sleeps here.  The connections to our early history are everywhere in this city.

I think Ever-Lovin’ really wanted to visit the shipyards.  It would have been interesting.

I must share the view from our hotel room.  This is called Logan Square (I know, it is a circle.) and the cross is atop the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.  Wow!

Now, this is what we did not get to visit (except for the Barnes Foundation).  (Plus there were another bazillion things that I omitted.)  I will share more of what we did see in other posts.

Blessings to you and yours,

Thank you for reading Lanabird.  I do appreciate and love ya.