Nothing Like the City

The weather did not look promising this morning. In fact, it was downright ugly. Weather or no weather, I still wanted to meet my friends Linda and James Young from Georgia in Philadelphia to see some of the historic sites. I did have a very good omen right before I left. I use an old purse as a camera case. I was looking for the pocket that was for money and coins. When I found it, that pocket contained nine dollars and at least a dollar-fifty in change. Combined with the 35 I earned raking for Miss Ellie, the 7 dollar rebate check from X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in September, and my own money leftover from my paycheck last week, I had 60 dollars to play with today.

After my stop at the bank to cash the afore-mentioned check, I rode over to Collingswood and jumped on the PATCO train to the 8th and Market stop. It was still raining when I finally met Linda and James at the National Convention Center, which turned out to be two blocks from the 8th and Market Gallery Mall PATCO stop. I was glad to see both of them. They looked as lovely as ever. I haven't seen them since the WENN convention we all went to in Queens in June 2001.

It turned out we had a little time before the 11:20 Independence Hall tour. We walked through the Liberty Bell's home. For a day with such lousy weather, the entire area was bustling. There were several groups of schoolchildren on field day trip to see history, in ages from middle elementary to high school. It was especially busy in the Liberty Bell building. We saw the story of the Bell, from it's creation in England in the 1770s to the last time it was rung, in George Washington's birthday, in 1846...when the crack got so bad, they couldn't ring it again or they'd risk breaking it in half. James said it was outside when he last visited Philadelphia in 1976, but it had been moved into it's own building in the 90s.

Our next stop was Independence Hall...once we got past a long security line. There was one at the Liberty Bell, too. James said the last time he came to Independence Hall, people just walked right in. Not in post-9/11 America. I thought they were a little rude, but I imagine sitting in a cold tent poking in people's stuff all day couldn't have been a picnic.

The tour was surprisingly short...and there was a fairly large crowd despite the weather. We were herded into one plain, yellow-and-white room first with nothing but chairs and a painting of the Signing of the Founding Fathers. After the man gave us an entertaining lecture on the signing of the Declaration of Independence and afterwards, he took us upstairs to Independence Hall. We saw the room where the Founding Fathers met to argue the Declaration of Independence, and later the Constitution and the laws that would govern the new country. The room for court and judge was on the other side. It all had excellent reproduction furniture and huge marble fireplaces and a beautiful glass chandelier in the discussion room.

We headed back to Market Street and down to South Philly to meet a friend of Linda and James', John Baxidine, for lunch at a little restaraunt in South Philly. John has worked with Rupert Holmes, the creator and head writer of Remember WENN, on several of his shows. It was wonderful to hear him talk about the shows he's orchestrated (he's an orchestrator) and about Rupert's many projects. James and I got to trade stories of fast cars, crazy dads, and long car rides while we ate cheese steaks. Linda had her favorite chicken soup.

After we finished lunch and left John, we headed right over the bridge and into Penn's Landing. Penn's Landing is Philly's restored waterfront area, filled with boat-museums and lovely parks. At least, on days when it's not cold, windy, and raining like crazy. The wind was awful going over the bridge. Even so, we took in the large Seaport Museum, exploring Philadelphia's maritime past, from trading with China to immigration to ship-building.

In addition to the land based museum, Penn's Landing is home to two ship-museums. The first, the Beuna, is a submarine. It was really nerve-wracking getting down into that ship. The stairs were narrow and very slippery! It wasn't as bad once we were actually in the sub, but it was a bit of a tough tour, thanks to the narrow conditions. It was facinating to see all the real items they used aboard the sub, though, and learn things from from Navy-history-loving James, like how the men used to sleep next to the torpedoes.

There was somewhat more space on the older Olympia. Olympia is the oldest war ship still afloat at 117, and it looks something like a Cape May home on the water, with lots of wood and antique tools and furniture. It was slightly easier to get onboard, too. This being a larger ship, there were more rooms...and more to see, including a dentist's office, a laundry room, an infirmary, and a captain quarters that was more than triple the size of the one in the sub.

It was getting darker when we finally got off the Olympia. The rain had stopped by then, but it was getting colder and windier by the minute. We stopped back in the Seaport Museum right before they closed. Linda and James bought books on Naval history and ships. I didn't see anything I liked. A SEPTA bus driver was nice enough to drive us over the bridge after we explained that we wanted to get around the windy bridge to the nearest subway.

I walked with James and Linda as far as the Walgreens on 8th Street. The rain was gone, and the wind was far less where there were 600 buildings to block it, but it was still cold. James was thirsty, so we stopped at Walgreens to buy water. It was really busy, but I found the open cosmetics counter when I was looking for WebKinz, so we could all get out quick. (I never did find WebKinz.)

We parted ways outside of Walgreens. James and Linda wanted to find the subway and head back to their hotel. I browsed the Gallery Mall for about an hour or so. I finally found the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles "Those Aren't Pillows!" edition I was looking for last week and a very cheap used copy of the public-domain Road To... movies Road to Rio and Road to Bali. I've had them on video since high school, but it'll be nice to get them on DVD. (The DVDs turned out to be scratched, but they worked when I put them in the DVD player.)

I took a very, very full rush-hour PATCO train home to Collingswood. Unfortunately, the rain had returned by that point. I had a long, windy, rainy ride home. I called Linda when I got in to reassure that I had gotten home fine. I ate leftover enchalada casserole and watched Sailor Moon Super S episodes while warming up.

Thanks again, Linda, James, and John for a lovely day! :)