Saturday, July 31, 2010

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!






3 comments:

Heather O'Steen Photography said...

We love visiting all those places - we have been on many field trips there! Enjoy your visit.

Just a "TAD" more said...

Never have been there but you make it look like a trip we would love to make! Again thanks. What is that about Karen don't look??? Let us in on it. Toinia

Cary said...

She does not like to see the horses pulling the coach around in the hot weather. They looked well cared for though and I asked him if he was ok and he said he loved his job and has met a lot of interesting people on the street. (haha)