PHILLY – DAY 4

After a late night at Longwood Gardens (definitely worth it!), it was a slow start on Friday morning.  But we did it, and were on our way in good time.  My friend Ron insisted that no trip to Philly would be complete without seeing all 3 stadiums (football, hockey, baseball) so as we flew down the expressway I snapped pictures of all of them.  There.  Mission accomplished! That’s actually as close as I needed to be, and we had a full day.  Flyers, Phillies, Eagles-  complete. 

And speaking of Ravens, our first adventure was the Philadelphia residence (although only for a very short time) of Edger Allen Poe’s home.  It was very unique in that there was no furniture at all.  There were murals on the walls depicting his life and writings – including Catterina his cat and the black cat in the basement, complete with authentic cobwebs!  The crowning glory was the statue of the Raven in the yard. 

Throughout the day we attended ‘Once upon a Nation:  There were 13  benches scattered through the historic area, and at each bench a storyteller shared a little known yet interesting (and often humorous!) tale.  Some of the topics were the origination of Hoagies, superheroes, the over-worked washer woman, slaves, the battle of the itch, Dolly Madison, sisters for freedom, a barrel battle, and the Oneida Indians.  At each bench we received a star for our booklet. 

Once we got all 13 stars we could ride on the carousel in Franklin Square. The park was decked out for the Chinese festival  so we walked around looking at the dragons and pandas and lanterns – and decorations. Kathy took pictures for her IUP student who loves pandas! 

We went back to Betsy Ross’s house, and this time we were able to go inside.  Although there is evidence that she lived there, and could be buried there, and sewed the first flag, none of that is documented facts.  We loved walking through the house and seeing the parlor set up as a sewing room, seeing her ‘work in progress!’  I’m willing to invest my belief in the fact that she lived there, sewed there, and is buried there. 

We had lunch at Sonny’s again – still yum! – then went on to the Christ Church cemetery.   The tour guide there was wonderful and we learned about the signers of the Declaration of Independence and many of the brave men who fought for our freedom.  We also saw a pattern of the flag that we had never seen before.  There’s a lot of stars on that thing!  We saw Ben Franklin’s grave, and the pennies thrown on it in honor of his ‘a penny saved is a penny earned.’  They have collected a lot of coins for worthy causes. 

We went next to the state house, the county court house, and sat where history was made and made alive.  We stopped at the Independence gift shop – of course! – and then took one more walk through the city – one more glimpse at history, and one more sweet visit to Elfreths Alley. I could live there! 

On the way out of town Perry drove us to the Philadelphia Museum of Art – the Rocky statue!   And the steps!  I didn’t run up them, but we climbed them to the top, and the skyline was amazing. 

We pitched in for expenses with money from our purple bag, went back to Cann Road with Perry and Anita cooking for us – better cooks and chauffeurs and hosts we could not have asked for – including strawberry shortcake.  We were spoiled and pampered – an embarrassment of riches.  Family that are friends; friends that are family.  Our Philly trip will live long and happily in our hearts and memories.  As we slipped into bed that last night we were both content and sad – that it had to come to an end!  Maybe, just maybe, we can do it again someday!