To quote Lauren, "Ben Franklin is more popular than Jesus in this city!"
The first building we saw on Wednesday was the United States Mint:
Too bad we didn't have time for a tour. Money, money, money...
I then snapped a photo of Independence National Historic Park:
A bunch of us went to visit Benjamin Franklin's grave:
We walked down the street a little bit to the Betsy Ross House:
This colonial gentleman COULD NOT BELIEVE that I journeyed all the way from the Connecticut Western Reserve to visit Ms. Ross's home:
I learned some interesting things about Betsy Ross. She was one of SEVENTEEN children and married three times. She trained as an upholsterer (extremely rare for a woman at the time) and left a legacy of flag-making in her family.
We passed by the Free Quaker Meeting House:
Free Quakers were Quakers that supported the American Revolution. They could not "reconcile themselves to the Quaker principle of pacifism when it came to defending their country" and subsequently broke from the other Quakers. Betsy Ross regularly attended this meeting.
Some silliness ensued outside of Independence Hall:
We went through security and neared the building itself:
Don't ask me about this picture:
We eventually made it into the building where so much history occurred. Here is a photo of the Assemblyroom, where THE Declaration of Independence was signed:
While we were waiting to get into Independence Hall, Emily and I hopped across the street to visit the Liberty Bell:
I like how you can see Independence Hall in the background here:
The earlier Philly photos were with the whole WISE gang. We were in town for a brief visit to the American Society for Testing and Materials, or ASTM. My three roomies and I had some unfinished business and came back to Philly for the weekend.
After piling out of the Chinatown bus and walking some distance, our first stop was Geno's Steaks:
On our walk back north, we went through the 9th Street Italian Market. I somehow resisted the temptation to buy beautiful-looking strawberries at ONE DOLLAR a carton... Instead, I splurged on a cute green top while my roomies got gelato.
We hit South Street and proceeded to do a massive amount of shopping. So many cute boutiques with relatively inexpensive clothing and accessories! Upon acquiring too many shopping bags, we dropped off our stuff at the Bank Street Hostel.
We then hailed a cab to the Franklin Institute Science Museum to see King Tut:
The first thing we saw upon walking into the Franklin Institute was this Lincolnesque statue of - you guessed it - Benjamin Franklin:
We originally had wanted to go to the Phillies game instead of the King Tut exhibit. In my opinion, we clearly made the right choice (even though the Philadelphia baseball team did triumph 10 to 4). We got to see so much cool stuff from the pyramids of Egypt!
We got dinner at Pietro's Coal Oven Pizzeria and heard a band on Walnut Street before calling it a night.
The next morning, we had a most delicious breakfast at FARMiCiA:
Afterward, we headed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The collection was fantastic and made me miss the love of my life, CMA. We barely had time to walk through Photographs, European Art 1850-1900, Modern and Contemporary Art, European Art 1500-1800, Arms and Armor, and European Art 1100-1500. (We didn't get to see Asian Art or American Art.)
This art museum also allowed cameras; here are shots of the Armor Court, a fountain, an impressionist painting, and a modernist painting that I liked:
The Eastern Entrance of the museum is where Rocky was filmed:
Here is a picture of a statue of George Washington in Eakins Oval:
The Comcast Center, still under construction, recently became the tallest building in Philadelphia:
Here is the view down Benjamin Franklin Parkway:
We had just enough time to sneak into the Rodin Museum, which has the largest collection of Rodin's works outside of Paris. I have a special place in my heart for The Thinker, since there is a version of this sculpture at the CMA. (I used to go talk with him after I failed physics tests.) There are casts of The Thinker all over the States and the world; here is Philadelphia's take:
Here is the front of the museum:
This is looking outward from the front steps:
The Age of Bronze:
Erica, me, and Emily before leaving the museum:
We ate lunch/dinner at the City Tavern. George Washington and John Adams frequented this establishment, which still serves authentic 18th Century cuisine. Here is what one of the dining rooms looks like:
After eating, we returned to Chinatown to catch the bus back home. The return bus ride was not pleasant at all; the bus smelled, and we were stuck in traffic sans air conditioning for some time. We made it back to DC much later than anticipated, came home, and CRASHED.
Weekend spending total: $199.57 (OUCH...retail therapy is good once in a while)
