Driving into the city - do we want to do this? |
Philadelphia
is notoriously inaccessible for RVing visitors. Some high-priced campgrounds
serve the area but were not in our budget, and the ever-reliable Walmart option
was too far away. But the visitor information center recommended the Callowhill
Bus Center, just a few blocks from the heart of the city, where tour buses
park. Not for the delicate or faint of
heart, the bus yard, although fenced, is literally sandwiched between two
interstates in a seemingly unsafe neighborhood, graffiti-tagged with much-littered
sidewalks. But heck, they allowed us to park for 24 hours for only $30. We figured
out how to use the subway (old and grubby compared to the Metro in Washington
DC) (but free for those of us over 65,)
so we left Lilypad with the buses and launched off to explore the historic
district.
We remembered very little American
history from our schooldays and found ourselves learning a great deal about the
beginnings of American government here in Philadelphia. We took the tour
through Independence National Historic Park including Independence Hall where
both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and
signed. As always we were awed to see a place where history has actually taken
place. Whether it is the bus station in Montgomery or the church in Birmingham
or the house in Appomattox or the room in Independence Hall, there is an
indescribable feeling throughout your body when you are standing there where it
happened.
We also took
in the American Jewish History Museum. It
was exciting to see the influence cultural historians have had over the years,
now including the perspectives of women and other disenfranchised people as a
part of the story. This museum included an exhibit called: “Chasing Dreams:
Baseball and Becoming American” about the assimilation of Jews and other
minorities into the American mainstream and the role of baseball in that
process. Thinking about baseball reminded us of our goal of visiting America’s
Major League Baseball stadiums. So back on the grubby subway we went, following
the crowd of Phillies fans to find the stadium. Following the advice of our
visitor center advisor we called for a cab to take us “home” on the return
trip. Even the cab driver seemed to be a little concerned about our
neighborhood, but we were exhausted and the roaring freeways lulled us to sleep
very fast.
We decided
not to spend another night in the bus lot, so the next morning we followed the
route of the ubiquitous sight-seeing buses and drove through beautifully sunny
historical Philadelphia. Passing the zoo, we noticed oversize vehicle parking
in the “Giraffe Lot” so we parked Lilypad and jumped on the local transit to
head back downtown. The ancient trolley reminded us of the bus in the Rosa Park
Museum: it seemed to be of the same vintage. The trip was long, the bus was
crowded; but the sometimes beautiful, often dilapidated places we passed and
the humanity aboard were both quite interesting.
Back in
historical downtown, our first stop was lunch at the Central Tavern. Touted as
the favorite haunt of Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers, it serves
colonial period foods accompanied by costumed servers. One of us tried the tofu
made from an actual recipe by Benjamin Franklin and the other went for the meat
pie. Neither was a disappointment. From
there we walked up to see the Liberty Bell and learn about its history. It was
smaller than we had imagined, but a powerful experience to stand next to it.
Jefferson and slave names from Monticello |
Next we ventured
into the National Constitution Center which houses the imposing “We, the
People” exhibit, all about the US Constitution. From an introductory live theater performance to interactive social media displays this museum goes all
out to make the US Constitution a living document. Discovering in ourselves a desire to actually
study the constitution, we both would have liked to spend more time here and
thoughts are germinating about a future “Road Scholar” visit. The Center also
had a special exhibit: “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello.” A huge amount of research was done to tell
the moving and powerful stories of six
enslaved families who lived and worked at the Jefferson plantation, including the
contributions their descendants have made to civil rights and other aspects of American
history.
After a tour
of the Betsy Ross House, where we learned she had to sew flags in her bedroom,
because the act was so seditious in the British-occupied city, we got back on
the bus, back to Lilypad, and out of the city. And we made a quick stop at
Valley Forge to learn what really went on the winter of 1777-1778.
In fact we
could have spent a lot more time in Philadelphia in general and we find
ourselves joking that this blog might be longer if we wrote “What We Didn’t See
in Philly.” We regret that the grit, traffic and feelings of not being safe
kept us from spending more than a couple of days there. The city is obviously
home to many creative (and courageous) people and has many nooks and crannies
that could be explored. There is much to learn and experience in Philadelphia.
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