Day 1: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When I became an empty-nester I thought I would travel all the time . . . I have not.  A few days ago, after an awful couple of days at work on a whim I booked a trip to Philadelphia.  I would leave in less than 48 hours!  It was kind of exciting and if nothing else I would just relax and enjoy the hotel!  My flight from DFW was delayed and we arrived at PHL around 2am.  Thankfully I had booked the airport hotel and just had to walk across the street.  As easy as it sounded it wasn’t really that easy.  I was tired and nervous and well what should have taken me 2 minutes took me 20 because I read the directions wrong and ended up in a very dark and scary parking garage.  I back tracked and found my way and was never so happy to take a shower and crawl into bed . . . only to be wide awake at 3am!

I woke up earlier than I planned to be awake but took the opportunity to get the day started!  After a quick ride into the city, I was off!  I had a list of places to visit and wasted no time starting my own walking tour!  First stop:  Betsy Ross House

 

Elfreth's Alley . . . the nation’s oldest continuously inhabited residential street

I was hungry so a quick stop for lunch.  I was told that when in Philadelphia you must eat a Philly Cheesesteak; so I did.  I picked Sonny’s.  Steak beef, with, whizz or something like that!

Back to my walking tour for a stop at Christ Church Burial Grounds.  This is Benjamin Franklin’s final resting place.  It was neat to wander around and see how long ago this cemetery burial ground had been around.  It looked a bit odd to see a recent headstone in the mix of all the old.

 

The leaves were so pretty.  I do not get to see the leaf changing color season in Texas so this was a treat.  It was the end of season but still pretty.  Next stop was the Benjamin Franklin Market Street House that has a reproduction printing press with demonstrations on how the process worked back in the day. 

I had a tour of Independence Hall with a park ranger.  These tours can be hit or miss but today our guide was a former social studies teacher, and she was fabulous! 

She was full of great stories and factual information too.  We learned that John Adams gave his inaugural address here and it was less than twenty minutes!  

 

I stopped by to see some important documents to our U.S. history; Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States.  I wandered across the street to see the Liberty Bell . . .

. . . I thought it was cool that Independence Hall was in the background!  I feel safe walking around however there are some shady people so I knew that I really wanted to be back to my hotel before dark.  The day was winding down so I made one last stop at Redding Terminal Market.  It was so neat to explore all the aisles with so many unique foods.  I was not super hungry and decided to have an apple dumpling at Dutch Eating Place. 

My hotel was just two blocks away.  I had dropped by bag when I arrived and finally able to check-in to my room . . . which was a total delight!  My diamond status with Hilton is ending at the end of the year since I don’t travel that much anymore so I enjoyed the upgraded room at the Canopy by Hilton Philadelphia Center City Hotel.  I have stayed at another Canopy Hotel and always find them so unique and fun!

It was a great day and when all was said and done, I walked 18,733 steps or 8.2 miles!