Philadelphia

Philly

After a busy day yesterday fighting thunderstorms and mechanicals we are in Philadelphia today. A very cool place to be on a Saturday, although I would rather be home any day. It was a perfect day here about 78 degrees and sunny. People were out eating at little cafes and touring the city. Our hotel is right in the middle of the historic district. It is next to Betsy Ross's home where she made the historic American flag.

Her house was built in 1740 by this guy and as you can see a home is never really finished. He is still hard at work today.

Next I walked down to the pier and saw some very historic ships. The first two are from two different periods in Naval history. The black submarine is from WWII and is the USS Becuna. It was stationed in Pearl Harbor in 1944-45. The second light colored ship is the USS Olympia and was launched in 1892 during the Spanish American War. It was one of the first ships to have electricity and sailed throughout WWI.

The large masted ship is the largest four masted ship a float in the world. It was built in 1904 as a cargo ship and has sailed the world over 54 times. It had been captured by the American and Germany Armies over the years and was purchased and turned into a 4 star restaurant in 1974.

This picture is just a picture of the inlet with a sailboat out on a leisurely sail. Looks relaxing.

As I was heading back to the hotel I walked through this historic district that was very quaint. These are homes in the city still on some of the original cobble stone roads.

There are several horse and buggy tours (Karen don't look), that walk through the historic district pointing out sites.

These next two pictures are of Carpenters Hall. Early meetings were held here for the Colonists in 1771. The First Continental Congress met here in 1774 and put into affect new resolutions to ban the slave trade. It was captured in 1777 when the British took over Philadelphia.

Right around the corner is Independence Hall. This is the place where the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were debated and adopted. The bell tower steeple in Independence Hall is also the original home of the Liberty Bell. Today the bell tower holds the Centennial Bell which was created in 1876 and the Liberty Bell is on display across the street.

Lots of history here and a good summer place to visit. Be home soon!

Coast to Coast

San Fran

It has been a busy few weeks flying. The trips I have been getting have been brutal. Very cool places and beautiful sites but flying on the back side of the clock is tough. These trips fly out to the West coast and then sit all day and leave around midnight or two am and either fly back to Minny or all the way to the East coast. The flight to Minneapolis is not too bad. It is about three and half hours and I get in at 0600. The flights from the West coast to the East coast are rough. They are about five and half hours and we arrive at 0700. The coasts are completely different as well. I am used to the East coast and its feel - tropical with lush foliage and palm trees. The West coast is completely different. It is much more rocky and hilly with very little foliage. This last trip I was in San Francisco and took in some very cool sites. Let's take a look.

This is a picture down at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. If you look closely you will see what looks like a bunch of sharks in the water. Actually it is a bunch of swimmers. They are all wearing wet suits as the water is very cold. They were practicing for a Triathlon.

This picture is the well known Alcatraz. This island was named after the pelicans that lived there. In the 1850s it became a military fortress and incarceration facility for war prisoners during the Spanish American war. In 1934 it became the infamous maximum security prison for members of organized crime. It was nick named "The Rock" and one of its famous prisoners was Al Capone.

San Francisco is known for it's fishing and everywhere I went there were fishing boats both large and small.

I even stumbled across this row boat. Two men rowed, yes I said rowed this boat 5000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco. It only (haha) took them 189 days and they rowed continuously 24/7. One man would row for 2 hours while one man rested then they would switch. Wow, can you imagine. I can't even imagine rowing for two hours straight. I'll bet they were in great shape!

The next cool ship I saw was not a ship at all. It was a submarine from WWII. It's name was USS Pampanito. It actually survived the war which was a feet in it self. More than 33 percent of the WWII submarines sank, many because of the mechanical issues or failures. It was one of the most dangerous duties for serviceman. That is why it was completely voluntary. Lets look inside.

The plush sleeping accommodations.

The spacious laundry facility.

Modern Kitchen.

Office space without a view.

And of course any home would not be complete without their very own torpedo room! The sign said Keep Out. I kind of thought that went with out saying. Cause I know, when I get in a cramped submarine and see a open torpedo door I just get this feeling like climbing in. (Not)

From the pier you can see in the distance the Golden Gate Bridge. It was completed in 1937 and was a marvel in it's design. It has to withstand over 6o mph winds and as you can see is usually surrounded by fog and clouds. There are also very treacherous ocean currents that made this bridge very hard to build. It is designed to sway 27 feet to withstand up to 100 mph winds and is painted in the very distinct orange.

Time to catch the cable car to get up the steep roads to the famous Lombard street. The cable car was introduced in 1873 after many horse and carriage accidents on the steep hills. The cable car was the main mode of transportation until 1906 when the great earthquake and fires hit San Francisco which destroyed most of the cable car system. It is the only operational cable car system left today. The cables run under ground and you can hear them running all the time.

As you can see looking back down the street, it would be extremely hard for a horse and carriage to travel up and down these streets.

Lombard street. It is known as the crookedest (Yes that is a word) street in the world. It was built in 1920 and has 8 very sharp turns. These turns allowed cars to travel down the 40 degree slope.

Very cool place to visit with plenty to do. It is a little chilly at 60 degrees in July and usually cloudy but still fun to explore. Be home soon!