Traveling With History

I know the history of Philadelphia.  I was born here for Pete's sake!   With the exception of the fours years I spent in Pittsburgh attending college, I have spent my entire life in the City of Brotherly (and Sisterly) Love.  I know almost everything about Philadelphia and its long history.  Or so I thought.

On one of the never ending rainy days this August (in fact the entire summer), my boyfriend (Brian) and I were perched on my livingroom couch watching a Philly's game when he turns to me and asks "Where is Betsy Ross's house and have you ever been there?"  I shot him a look that said "are you kidding me" an immediately rattle off the address to Besty's house.  But to my shock and with some dismay I had to admit that I had never been to Besty's house.

When people think of Philadelphia 4 things come to mind, Ben Franklin, Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell, and Besty Ross's House.  Experiencing 3 out of 4 was not acceptable to a history buff such as myself.  A week later Brian and I  began our tour of Historical Downtown Philadelphia

From the onset we decided that the best way to travel would be by public transporation.  So we navigated the 15 min trip from my house to the SEPTA Fern Rock Transporation Center.  The station is great.  It is the only transporation center that has public parking on the permises.  It also contacts the Broad Street Subway line to a number of local buses, the suburban regional train lines, and is handicap accessible. We paid the required 2 dollars for parking, purchased a bag of tokens for the subway fares and off we went.

First things first, and the first order of business was breakfast.  Once we departed the subway train at City Hall we took a short walk down Market street to the Reading Termnal Market.  Once in the Terminal we walked around for a few minutes sizing up our options before settleling down at the lucheon style counter the the Dutch Eating Place.  I had done my research before leaving home and new that the place was a Pennslyvania Duch breakfast and lunch eatery famous for its blueberry pancakes.  Brian had that day's special of eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage with a side of coffee.  The pancakes were fabulous, light and fluffy.  Once I pushed the plate away I have that feeling  of a ton of bricks lying in my stomach, like I usually get after eating pancakes.  Brian remarked that the coffee was the best he'd had in a long time and the special was far better than any dinner he's ever visited.

Hot Tip:  The Dutch Eating Place is a poplar breakfast spot.  We arrived at 8:30 and just managed to get two of the 5 seats left in this 24 seat establishment.  There was a line of costumers waiting for a seat to empty the entire time we were there.  Also, look for the $7.00 breakfast and lunch meal deals offered 7 days a week.

Our next stop was the Independence Visitor Center.  At the block long center we found maps, brochures, and a friendly staff that could answer all of our questions.  Once in the center we made our way to the National Park Service station and picked up tickets to tour Independence Hall from a ranger stationed there.  The tickets are time stamped and we couldn't get into the Hall until 4:30 that afternoon.  With 5 hours to explore before our tour we headed over to the Customer Service desk for suggestions on how to pass out time.

At the Customer Service desk we were greeted with a big smile and a "Weclome to Philadelphia".  Once we told the Customer Service lady where we were from and what we were interested in doing, she immediately jumped into action.  She laid out before us a 4 page newspaper entitled "Historic Philadelphia Gazette".  The paper was filled with attraction, tour, and program schdules.  I was awe stuck.  Not only by the many historical buildiings that I thought were just buildings, but by all the special events and activities centered around the history of the city.  There was no way we where going to get through everything we wanted to see in a day!

Hot Tip: The Gazette is published once a month and is absolutely free to visitor's of the center.

With our copy of the Gazette and our mapped out route, we started our walking tour of Historic Philadelphia.  Our first stop had to be the Liberty Bell.  After clearing the security check and making our way down the long corridor of freedom themed exhibitions, we spent a few moments marveling at the Bell.  Next, a block from the Bell was the Free Quaker Meeting House.  Among the exhibits here was a 5-pointed star tissue pattern that Betsy Ross used in the making of the first American flag, along with an original copy of a draft (including edits) of the Declaration of Independence.  Directly across the street from the Meeting House was Christ Church Burial ground.  Here we joined a guided tour of the grounds and learn that along with Ben Franklin a number of other signers of the Constituation were buried there as well. We then followed this up with a visit to Franklin Court where the Postal Service Muesum, Franklin Print Shop and Franklin Muesum are located.  We even got a look deep underground into Franklin's privy, one of the many artifacts discovered when the site where Franklin's home once stood was excavated.  Sadly, it was then time for our tour of Independence Hall.

With a full day behind us, we broke for dinner and then headed home.  Besty's house along with the zillion other things we didn't get to, would have to wait for another day!

Hot Tip: All of the historcial building (i.e., Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Independence Living History center, etc) owned by the National Parks Service, along with programs and special events presented by NPS are free to the public. Many of the historical sites operated by the city of Philadelphia charge a fee.  But hey, the fee is nominal, usaully between 3 and 5 dollars.