Philly

We drove down to Philly on a misty Monday morning, just a short trip of about an hour or so.   We were staying in the middle of downtown Philly at a Campus Park and Ride that had RV parking with water and electric and a 7,000 volt fence to keep the rif-raf away from the US Customs lot next to us.   As the place was located on Google Maps in a place called Forgotten Bottom, I was very conscious of Hurricane Jose churning off the coast.   We couldn’t see the river, but knew it was not far on the other side of some dense brush.

Then next morning we headed toward the old town and Freaking Google Nav   took us back into Jersey and we had to pay the $5 bridge toll again to get back into Philly to reach destination.   Glad we weren’t in the coach as I looked at my Ipass account and it was $30 to cross that bridge with 4 axles.

We located a parking place next to the US Mint, paid the parking machine and put our stub on the windshield showing we paid for 2 hours.  (the max)   I hobbled in the Mint with my crutches and did the self-guided tour.  Unfortunately, you are about 40′ above the mint floor and all the machinery looked the same.   I had to consult the pictures on the boards to know what machine was what.   I couldn’t pick out a sorter from a die press.  They were all housed in similar blue metal boxes.   I was kind of underwhelmed from what was visible.

After I spelled Kathy with the pups so she could take the tour, we walked to the Liberty Bell,   It was nearing closing time and we did the whirlwind trip thru the building.   Right next door is Independence Hall, and just down a ways further was Carpenters Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed.   Then it was off to find the car as our 2 hours were just about up.

 

The second day we drove into downtown without revisiting NJ to find a Philly Cheese Steak place I scoped out.   They had some outside tables, so the pups could dine with us, and the sandwich was pretty good.   After lunch we walked toward Penns landing and found this small park with monuments to the Irish Potato Famine and a Scotts’ memorial too.   While there it started to rain, so we walked up a few alleys to find the City Tavern for a brew.   It looked original inside and out, but I believe I read that it was a reproduction.  The beer was good and they brought out a pie tin with some water for the pups.

The rain soon stopped and we walked out looking for our car.  We walked past the first Bank in the US and snapped a pic.   It was time to head back to the coach and find a place to stay for the next day.  We were done with Philly.   Kathy thinks it’s the dirtiest city she has ever seen.  I guess she forgot what Tijuana looked like.