Since we’ve been home almost a week already, it’s time to take the ramblings from my trip notebook and share with family and friends some of the highlights and impressions from our trip to Philadelphia. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed the City of Brotherly Love.

Day 1 – Sunday, Oct. 3: Half the fun is getting there

In our seven years of wedded bliss, all of the other 3+ day vacations we’ve taken have occurred in the summer (except Christmas 2009 which, thanks to Mother Nature, turned in to an extended stay in snowy Rolla). Summer just seems to be a naturally less busy time in our day-to-day lives, so trips in the summer didn’t seem to sneak up on us like this one did. The weeks leading up our departure saw us both super busy at our jobs, and we had something going on almost every evening.  Perhaps a vacation was just what we needed!

Our flights were on time and uneventful, and we landed in Philadelphia early afternoon on Sunday the 3rd. We found our way to the train platform and took a 20-minute ride to Center City (downtown), our home-away-from-home for the next six days. We exited the train at the correct stop and from there it was a short walk to our hotel. We had the rest of the day and evening to do some exploring, so we walked the Benjamin Franklin Parkway from Logan Square to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Museum has the steps made famous in the movie “Rocky,” and there is a statue on the grounds of the museum commemorating the boxer. Another must-see on our first day was the “Love” statue at JFK Plaza. The water in the fountain was dyed bright pink for breast cancer awareness. (Later in the week it was purple!)

Day 2 – Monday, Oct 4: the Philly Cheesesteak

Monday was Dave’s first day of class (the reason we got to take this awesome trip in the first place) and I was on my own most of the day. One of the (many) nice things about our hotel was its close proximity to a lot of the sites on my list. My first stop was the Academy of Natural Sciences Museum. It has an important collection of skeletal mounts of many dinosaur species, plus dioramas of other animal life, and even an Egyptian mummy! It also has the American flag from Robert Peary’s 1891-92 expedition to Greenland.

Monday I also visited the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, a huge and beautiful church. Very peaceful. In the afternoon, I checked out Comcast Center, the tallest building in Philadelphia. The main lobby of the building is open to the public and it has a 2,000 square foot digital wall that is a huge video screen.

When Dave was done with his class for the day, we did some more exploring and found a place to eat our first Philly Cheesesteaks (no I didn’t put ketchup on mine, I think I saw at one time on the Food Network that was a huge faux pas).

Day 3 – Tuesday, Oct. 5: Meeting Cleopatra

I was super excited on Tuesday. It was a chilly and dreary day, but I was planning to spend all day indoors at the Franklin Institute. The world premiere of the Cleopatra exhibit is there, and it has some never-before-seen artifacts uncovered in the search for Cleopatra’s tomb. Wow. It was so neat to see artifacts that Cleopatra herself would have seen and touched – everything from tiny coins and earrings to alabaster jars to huge 15-foot statues of kings and queens. There was even a papyrus scroll with her handwriting on it.

But there is so much more to the Franklin! I went through Sir Isaac’s Loft (hands-on physics demonstrations), the giant walk-through human heart, planetarium, electricity exhibit, train exhibit, aviation exhibit, space exhibit, simple machines exhibit, and more. The rotunda housing the Benjamin Franklin memorial has a multimedia light show every hour.

If you go to Philadelphia, you must go to the Franklin.

Day 4 – Wednesday, Oct. 6: Mrs. Klein, meet Mr. Penn

It would take something pretty awesome to top the fabulous day I had at the Franklin. City Hall did not disappoint. This building has a fascinating history which I got a sampling of on an hour-plus tour. It’s the largest municipal building in the United States, the largest masonry building in the world (I think I heard that on the tour), and the 37-foot statue of William Penn (founder of PA) is the tallest statue on top of any building in the world. Besides the Penn statue, the building has more than 200 other sculptures in pretty much every nook and cranny. We got to see some of the more elaborate rooms in the building, like the Mayor’s reception room (which I was excited to recognize on the local news the next night and exclaim to Dave that I had been in that room) and the City Council Chamber. The last stop on the tour was the tower observation deck, which is 500 feet above street level. It was a beautifully clear day, and I could see for miles in every direction. Awesome!

Day 5 – Thursday, Oct. 7: Ready for Rodin

Thursday was a quieter day. Dave got to go in the rotunda of the Franklin during his lunch break and see the multimedia light show. I visited the Rodin Museum along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the afternoon. Luckily, I arrived just when the daily tour was starting, so I got to learn a lot about the sculptor Auguste Rodin. Pretty much all I knew before was “he made the Thinker.”  After the tour, I can now name more of his works, I know he had no formal training, and I finally understand the process of how the pieces are cast. The museum has the largest collection of Rodin’s works outside of France, and it was started by a Philadelphia philanthropist. It is undergoing renovation on the exterior, but I am really glad I took the time to meander along the construction fence and get a closer look at the treasures.

Day 6 – Friday, Oct. 8: The Syng Inkstand

Dave had his final exam in the morning and was done by about 10:30, so we got an early start on our 20-minute walk to the Independence Hall area. The dreary damp weather that we had earlier in the week was long gone and it was a perfect day for sightseeing outdoors. Our Independence Hall tour time wasn’t until 2 p.m., so we lined up to get into the Liberty Bell Center, which was a zoo of international tourists and middle-schoolers on their field trips. Despite the crowd, it was still pretty special to see the bell and think of all it represents, and those who heard it ring.

Next we saw Benjamin Franklin’s grave at Christ Church Cemetery.

Our next stop was the National Constitution Center. It’s a newer museum, completed within the past few years, and it is dedicated to teaching the citizenry about the Constitution and what it means. We attended a multimedia presentation (with live narration) exploring some of the themes of the Preamble. Another highlight was Signer’s Hall, which has life-size statues of the delegates who signed the document (as well as those who dissented). The “Art of the American Soldier” exhibit featured artwork done by soldiers in wars from WWI to present-day. Very thought-provoking.

We made our way to Independence Hall and lined up for our tour. We were not expecting that the tour would be just two rooms, but they are important rooms nonetheless, especially the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. George Washington’s chair depicting the “rising sun” is the only original piece of furniture in the room.  

I subtitled today’s summary as “The Syng Inkstand” because it is one of the things I will remember most about this day and the trip overall. It is housed in the West Wing of Independence Hall and isn’t on the general tour; you have to check it out on your own. It is the original inkstand used to sign the documents, and the silver is as shiny as it would have been in 1776. Seeing the original Declaration and Constitution three years ago at the National Archives was really special for us and now seeing this original artifact (not to mention the building) brought it full-circle.

Independence Hall’s neighbor is Congress Hall, where the early House of Representatives and Senate convened. On the other side of Independence Hall is Old City Hall, which housed the Supreme Court. Then we found our way to Betsy Ross’ house and gravesite. Next up was the U.S. Mint. We were almost too late for the last self-guided tour of the day, but the guard checking our IDs liked that we were from ND. From the tour hallway, we got to look down at the mostly-automated minting process and saw some coins being stamped out. I pulled out my wallet and dug through my coins until I found one that had the Philadelphia mint mark on it, then got all excited that my coin had returned to its birthplace. Geeky!

One last stop for some souvenirs and it was time to head back to our hotel and prepare for our trip home.

Day 7 – Saturday, Oct. 9: Home Sweet Home

Wow – this post is super long. Flights were uneventful and on time, we got home Saturday, discovered our big tree in the front yard had shed 2/3 of its leaves while we were gone, raked said leaves, and Dave somehow had the energy (after waking up at 5AM Eastern time) to attend the Hairball concert at the Civic Center. I had the energy to go to bed. THE END.