Stuck in Philadelphia!

Well, Saturday morning came and I was packed up and ready to go. I wanted to see a couple more things before I left, and so I set out to do just that!

First up, the President's Mansion! I'd been curious about it since the day before, even if it is just an outline. Honestly, I could have skipped it and been ok with that. They seem to push one particular issue in Philly that sort of surprised me. You'll just have to go and find out for yourself what it is! ;) Anyway, I didn't really get the connection between that issue and the backstory of the house--which is what I was interested in. Oh well. I moved on to Franklin Court!

This is the place where Ben Franklin lived. He was born in Boston but left at a fairly early age and came to Philadelphia. He prospered here with his various businesses, inventions, etc. His house was torn down several years after his death because his grandchildren couldn't afford the upkeep, but now there's an outline, much like at the President's mansion, showing the size and placement of the house. It was a 10-bedroom house that he rented out. Smart man! And it was also right behind his book binding office, printing office, post office, and close to other businesses as well. It's a pretty cool place. And the post office still functions--I sent post cards from there! It's the only post office in the country without an American flag out front--there was no America when that post office started! =)

By then it was time to find my way back to the hotel to get my stuff and head to the train station. Paul offered to drop me off, and I took him up on it! I got there around noon, and the first thing I heard over the intercom was:

"All southbound service has been cancelled. We do not know when it will return. If you have a ticket to Newark, Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington, and other stations south of here, there will be no train due to a tornado in Baltimore last night." Nice.

And so, I had to call Paul to come rescue me again! I called my boss to let her know what the situation was and see what she wanted me to do. I could either rent a car and drive home (not my preference!), or I could stay and work that night. She said that was up to me, so I opted to work another night--I mean, why not? I could use the extra cash, and I like the work. The picnic I was supposed to go to back in DC was cancelled, so I might as well! And I'm glad I did! I needed to do laundry, so I spent the afternoon doing that, blogging, and updating Trip Advisor. Quite the productive afternoon, if I do say so myself! The southbound trains started running late in the afternoon, but by that time I was already set to work. I was actually able to hitch a ride home with my boss's brother and his daughter, who had come up to work the event that evening and were driving home the next morning. Not the most exciting adventure I've ever had, but an adventure nonetheless!

And thankfully, I found out my building didn't lose power at all. Whew! No hard, no foul, no trees downed on my car or anything like that. Thank heavens!

Thanks for joining me on my Philadelphian adventure! There will be another one coming up in a few weeks, so stay tuned! I'll do some different things next time and become more familiar with the lay of the land. =)