PICTURES HERE! Philly 2
Friday morning in Philly was a HOT one! Over 100 with a heat index well over that--I thought I was back in the South! But that didn't deter us. And it's a good thing, because the tour we went on was awesome! Not only was our guide a native of Philly, funny, and cute, he also majored in American history and political science in college--just the person you want to have for a tour guide in Philadelphia! There ended up being a group of about 20 of us, which is a good number for a tour like that, I think.
What was the first thing we found out? Philadelphia has the most Colonial homes and churches in the country--and I found out later that it's all within one square mile! That's a pretty big deal considering all the Colonial buildings in Boston and Alexandria, but it's true! And Philadelphia itself was founded in 1682--I know it's logical, but it's so cool to think that many of our cities are older than our country!
Now, while our guide was a native Philadelphian, he made some very fair points and poked fun at his city, saying that it was once known as "Filth-adelphia" for its nastiness; it's name means "City of Brotherly Love," but people are generally NOT friendly--it actually has a reputation as the most obnoxious city in the country! And he made a point to mention that the Philadelphian sports teams all have the same motto: "Next year!" =)
There's way too much to go through the entire tour, and I'm sure none of you want to read all the details I wrote down, so here are the highlights!
The president's mansion: It was torn down many years ago, and now only the floor plan has been built in its place. Chris (our fantastic guide) said that was because when the city decided to rebuild it, all they had was the floor plan; they didn't want to take any chance on misinterpreting the house, so they built the floor plan and have a few walls up as well. It looks kind of artsy-fartsy to me, but once he explained their reasoning behind it, I thought it was pretty cool. Something else interesting about the house is that it was never intended to be a presidential house! It was given to George Washington by Robert Morris (a very wealthy Philadelphian who actually financed most of the Revolutionary War, and he ended up dying relatively poor) as a temporary home while the real mansion was being built. By the time the other one was built (no, I didn't think to ask where the "real" one was--I'll ask next time!), Washington said he didn't want to move! John Adams ended up living in the same house as well when he became president before the capitol officially moved to D.C.
We came upon Signers Walk, where they have a plaque in the sidewalk for all 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Obviously we couldn't talk about all of them, but we did find out about some of the important, but lesser-known, signers. For instance, have you heard of Francis Hopkins? He was the godson of Ben Franklin, and he designed the first American flag! And did you know that John Hancock was known in the Colonies as the "King of Smugglers"? Dr. Benjamin Rush was a doctor far ahead of his time, and he's the one who thought blood-letting was the way to cure someone of an illness--very smart man, but made that one very awful mistake! Benjamin Rush also repaired the friendship between Adams and Jefferson, as a matter of fact. And George Ross was the father-in-law of Betsy Ross. I wish I'd learned more about these men in school!
We roamed around the Liberty Bell and talked about why Philly is laid out as it is (William Penn designed it to be easily navigable, on a grid), and actually Market and Broad Streets go out from the city center and make a cross--William Penn was a dedicated Quaker and wanted the city to make a cross. There's also no 1st Street for that reason. There's a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Street and so on, but nothing can be first except God, so there's no 1st Street (the street where 1st "should" be is called "Front Street").
And now we come to the fun part... There's a square called Logan Circle where they used to do executions. Also, the place that is now lovely Washington Square was once a potter's field--or poor man's cemetery. I'll have to take the ghost tour to find out more about those! =) Apparently there are thousands of people buried there, including yellow fever victims, Revolutionary soliders from both sides, and many people who couldn't afford a grave in a regular cemetery.
Also in Washington Square, however, is a commemorative tomb to the unknown soldiers of the Revolutionary War. The only catch is... we don't know whether the person actually buried there is American or British! The original flags of the thirteen colonies (most of which are not the ones we know to be the state flags today!) and the American flag flank either side of the walk way as you approach the grave with a statue of George overlooking it. It's very nice, and it's a pretty park as well.
Another fact I didn't know... both the Navy AND the Marines started in a tavern in Philly. I always thought John Paul Jones was the father of the navy, but I stand corrected! It's John Barry. I will be researching the backstory on that!
The next building we came to that was of utmost interest to me was Carpenters Hall, just a block or so from Independence Hall. Believe it or not, Carpenters Hall was the place where the first Continental Congress met! It's relatively small, but they've done a good job of keeping things well-preserved in there. They even have some of the chairs from the first Continental Congress in there! Very cool. And out front was the Pentagon from back in the day--all SIX Department of Defense employees met there. Wow! Inside that building are exhibits about the beginnings and progressions of our military. It's amazing to see how they were doing things 400, 300, 200, even just 100 years ago. Highly recommended!
Another very fair and less talked-about bit of information our tour guide Chris needed to tell us was... the founding fathers were not perfect! They were men who made mistakes and had weaknesses. He talked a lot about Ben Franklin and what a genius he was; we wouldn't have so many things without him and his crazy inventions. But he also let his wealth, renown, and knowledge puff him up. He figured out later in life that it didn't need to be that way. He even said that he wished he'd loved his wife better when she was alive.
Don't get me wrong, Ben was a cool guy with lots to offer, but instead of the bald eagle emblem that we have today, he wanted it to be a wild turkey! And our national weapon, according to Ben, should have been the bow and arrow! He also wanted a 35-letter phonetic alphabet instead of the 26-letter one we have now--while that might have been better in the long run, some could argue, it never did catch on. Oh well!
Other stops that warrant mentioning are the Philadelphia Christ Church, which has been continually in use for over 300 years (since 1695), and it was the tallest building in America until 1810! The baptistry they use is 600 years old, and it was a gift from the Penn family. Wow. Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, George Washington, and John Adams all worshiped here, too.
My next favorite place we went was Elfreth's Alley. It's the longest occupied city block in the nation! The earliest house was built in 1702, and people have lived there ever since! It's such a cute block, tucked back from the hustle and bustle. I definitely want to go back and spend more time there next time I go to Philly! I learned a few things about Colonial and earlier architecture. Did you know that the more windows you have exposed to the street, the more taxes you had to pay? And the more steos you had, the more taxes were required as well? Thus the many shutters on old homes, and the phrase, "A step up in society." Who knew?!
I wish you all could have come on the tour with me! It was so much fun, and incredibly informative. I do love a good tour, as you know! =) There are so many more things I could tell you about, but you must come do the tour yourself!
After our amazing tour, Paul and I knew we needed to complete a mission: CHEESESTEAK! So, of course, we asked our guide where we needed to go. He mentioned a few places, but they were all a little too far from us (we needed something walking distance), but he actually said one of his favorite places was just a few blocks away! It's called Jim's Steaks, and apparently it's well-known. So we went, we waited in line, we got our cheesesteaks (mine with provolone, his with whiz, both with onions), and honestly, we were not impressed! Glad we did it for the experience, but we were both kind of wishing we'd done something other than a cheesesteak. Oh well. We did it! =)
And then it was time to rest for a while before work that evening. We were working another event at the Mann Center, doing park assist demonstrations and playing the keyless code game, and tonight was the night we (at least Paul and I) were most excited about. The symphony would be performing the 1812 Overture, complete with cannon fire and fire works! =) This made me very happy! It was the hottest day, the hottest evening, but it was so worth it! Hooray!
More to come... the most exciting part, as a matter of fact!
Don't forget the PICTURES! Philly 2
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