Month: June 2018

One of the highlights exploring the city was touring the Philadelphia Mint.   There are primarily two mints in the United States that make coins, the other is in Denver.  This was our first look at a mint and it was a very interesting visit.  Mark was especially interested because he is a coin collector and continues to collect on our trip, visiting coin shops when available in the various towns and cities we come across.   The self-guided Mint tour took us past windows that looked down on the many machines.  We were provided information on the history of the Mint which began in 1792 and produces circulating coins, commemorative coins and medals.  Designs are created and engraved here and we learned about the process from the beginning to the striking of the design, washing, packaging and storing of the coins before they are taken to a Federal Reserve.   After reaching a Reserve, coins become actual money but until then they are essentially worthless.  It was fun to look down and see stacks and mounds of penny blanks and nickels.  It was thought provoking how much money in coin passes through here.   No pictures are allowed inside, so can’t share anything of the process we viewed.

One day we visited the National Constitution Center, which is a very large museum focusing on all aspects of the U.S. Constitution and how our country has put into place various laws and policies throughout the years.  There are fun photo spots for the kids and in the picture above, Luke participates in a swearing in ceremony as the next president of the U.S.  As Mark and I have been traveling we have encountered numerous school groups on field trips.  We have sat with them during films at visitor centers; joined tours with them at state capitol buildings and followed throngs of energetic kids navigating the halls and rooms of museums and historic sites.  But the Constitution Center was the most intense yet.  Have you ever visited a place that was so chaotic and loud that you wanted to escape and find some quiet before you lose your mind?   Even though the building here is huge, the noise was deafening and the number of young people milling around unreal.  It seemed like many schools were coming at the same time to get in their obligatory visit before the school year ended.  It became impossible to concentrate on the exhibits so we cut our visit short.

A high point of the museum is Signer’s Hall which features 42 life size bronze statues of the Founding Fathers.  They are displayed as if they are at the final day of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Independence Hall.  In the room you can find famous faces such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.  Some of the signers stand in groups or pairs conversing, creating an interesting and creative exhibit.  Above, Jonathan and Levi stand with good old George.  And below, Luke enjoys a moment with Benjamin Franklin.

My favorite building in Philadelphia was the City Hall.  The first time I saw it I was like, wow, this is magnificent!    Reported to be the largest municipal building in the United States, it was begun in 1871 and took 30 years to complete.  The 548 foot tower is the tallest masonry structure in the world without a steel frame – it is just brick and stone on top of each other.  A 37 foot high statue of the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn stands on top of the tower.  The building is very ornamental with at least 250 statues on it.  Although we did not take a tour inside, the rooms are supposed to be very lavish as well.  In front of the Hall, we met a friendly officer who told us the building was almost torn down.  I did some research and found out that 20 years after the building was finished, there was talk of dismantling it because it was in the way of traffic and considered a monstrosity.  The building was saved because it would have been such an enormous expense to tear it down.  Because of the size of the building, it is hard to capture it all in a photo, so this is just a part of it.

In front of the building is the neatest fountain system.  Jets of water spurt up from the concrete and since there are many crisscrossing paths, it is a great place for the young (or young at heart) to run around!

The huge decorative gates at the entrance are more than 25 feet tall and very cool.  They were installed in 2015 at immense cost and lead into an interior courtyard that gives an opportunity to admire more of the building’s magnificence.   Below, our family heads outside past the gates.

We were fortunate to find two fun museums for the kids in Philadelphia.  The first was the Franklin Institute which I wrote about in an earlier blog.  The second is the “Please Touch” museum which has been serving children here since 2008.  When we got to the outside of the museum I was surprised to find this grand building that was not what I expected for a children’s museum.  We found the inside to be a remarkable work of architecture as well.  It was built for the 1876 Centennial Exposition which was the first World’s Fair in the U.S.  Below is a look at the main entrance area with a Statue of Liberty torch made completely of toys sitting under a glass dome.

The museum has two floors of interactive exhibits that encourage children to play, learn and build.  Some of the activities are a supermarket, restaurant, pizza shop, ice cream store, doctor’s office and shoe store.  Children can be construction workers, drive a city bus, take a ride on the metro or launch rockets.

The favorite with many kids including Luke and Levi was the fancy carousel.  With an all day pass they enjoyed many rides before wearing out.

One of the most interesting places to eat in Philadelphia is Reading Terminal Market.  This place is a feast for the senses.  One of America’s largest and oldest public markets since 1893, it offers an incredible selection of almost any kind of food you might want.  Although you can buy produce, meats, breads, cheeses, etc., we came here twice to eat dinner.  The market has more than 75 small businesses and there is something to tempt anyone with an array of ethnic and specialty foods.  From the central seating area, we fanned out to choose our meal and gathered back to see what everyone came up with.  In the picture below, Luke eats lobster macaroni and cheese.

Both times Mark could not resist his perennial favorite, a fresh carved turkey dinner with all the fixings.  Levi selected the orange chicken which reminded him of the Panda Express version he enjoys so much.  I can’t resist a grilled cheese sandwich and tried an unusual offering featuring sharp cheddar, macaroni and cheese with brisket.   On our second visit Jonathan and I were curious to try DiNic’s, voted best sandwich in the U.S. by Travel Channel some years ago.  It consists of roast pork, sharp provolone and broccoli rabe in a French roll.  I thought it was really quite good.   Shannon brought back donuts for dessert that are very popular, hence a long line.  When Mark and I spotted someone eating great looking cannolis, we tracked down the bakery making them.  The shells are filled with the ricotta cheese mixture in front of you when you order.  They were good, but I have decided after eating cannolis a few times lately that they are not a favorite of mine.  In the picture below, the pastry bag hangs above the shells.

It was a great week in Philadelphia creating fun memories.  There is more I could share, but it is time to move on to our next spot, the Amish country in Lancaster County.

Thanks for reading!

One of my favorite activities during our Philadelphia exploration was the evening we spent at the Chinese Lantern Festival held at Franklin Park.  This is the 3rd year for this event and how glad I am that we were there.   This is an opportunity to see 29 colorful sculptures made from 1,500 individual lanterns and lit with more than 15,000 LED lights!  The number of sculptures along with the size, creativity and lighting is truly amazing.  Since we arrived before it got dark, we were able to see them during dusk and how they changed when it got dark and the lanterns were lit.  Some of the sculptures changed color with the lighting.   Above is a picture of the koi fish that beautifully lined the entrance into the park.

Chinese lanterns were originally made from bamboo, wood, wheat straw and stretched silk or paper.  In today’s modern world, metal frames, LED lighting and mechanics bring the sculptures to life.  In one of the sculptures, the elephant’s ears move back and forth.  We were intrigued by a bicycle placed next to the elephant that when pedaled caused the surrounding orbs to change colors.  In the picture above, Jonathan gives it a whirl.

The lanterns are constructed by Chinese artisans in the City of Zigong, Sichuan Province which is reported to have been the traditional Chinese lantern making area for thousands of years.  The handcrafted lanterns were brought to Philadelphia to be assembled.   The sculptures represent a number of animals, plants and mythological figures from Chinese culture.  Above is a picture of Luke and Levi in front of one that pays tribute to the Chinese Year of the Dog.

Almost all of the pieces are new to the festival this year.  Only two of them, including the 200 foot long Chinese Dragon weighing 3,000 pounds are favorites that returned from last year.  The dragon is quite impressive to see and fun to photograph due to its length!

The other returning favorite is the panda collection.  These Chinese Lantern Pandas are adorable, just like pandas in real life.   This was also Mark’s favorite and one of my favorites too.

The boys enjoyed the Great White Shark tunnel which was fun to walk through with its changing lighting and shades of blues to purples.

Each of the sculptures has a sign describing the animal or object like the Poison Dart Frog above.  This description mentioned that the poison dart frog is native to tropical Central and South America and brightly colored.   “Their vibrant hues reflect their toxicity and levels of alkaloids and serve as a warning to potential predators.”  This lantern frog changed into a variety of colors too!

The Fairy Tree sign said that this display was making its world premiere at this year’s festival.  “The Fairy Tree has been depicted in many ancient Chinese stories and it represents vitality and life.  With its delicate design, this lantern transports the audience into fairyland.”  The orbs on and around the tree changed into a variety of colors.  I liked the purple orbs (above) the best.

The Rose Date was a beautiful and fun sculpture.   The centerpiece is a giant rose that changed colors from shades of light blue to violet.  It is surrounded by colorful red hearts and smaller roses.  A place to take photos of loved ones.

Other lanterns were dolphins leaping in the waves (below), giant daisies, a huge menacing spider, a caterpillar with toadstools and sea turtles swimming in a reef, to name a few.  I wish I could have shared pictures of all of them but of course my post would have been much too long!  As you can imagine, there was a great variety and something that could appeal to everyone.

Besides the lanterns the festival featured stage entertainment of acrobatic feats, music and dancing as well as food.  We were so captivated with the lanterns though we spent most of our time admiring them.  Our grandsons Luke and Levi wanted to take a few rides on the carousel that is a regular fixture at the park.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our fun and unusual experience in Philadelphia!

While traveling it is wonderful to find a museum like the Franklin Institute, a place where kids and adults can share a day of playing and learning.   This science museum was started in 1824 and is housed in a huge and impressive building with three floors.  It was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin who was quite a scientist in his day.  Pictured above is a memorial to Franklin located in the rotunda, a 20 foot high, 30 ton marble statue.   There is so much to do and see at the Institute that it can easily take most of the day to do the majority of it.  We spent hours here and still did not experience all the museum offered.  I would rate this as one of the best museums I have visited in my travels due to the high quality and number of exhibits.

The beauty of this place is that most of the exhibits are hands on and our family which includes three generations all had a great time trying things out.  It was especially fun doing these with our grandsons Luke and Levi and they never tired throughout the day.  I don’t think we ever took a real break, it was go, go the whole time.  Later in the afternoon, we found it amusing that Levi had only eaten half a bagel for breakfast and a small snack for lunch but was still full of energy as the place is so captivating.  We had initially planned to visit this museum for a few hours and then head to the Natural Science Museum a few blocks away.   Later in the afternoon when we were still trying to to finish seeing all the exhibits at Franklin, we decided we would rather spend the rest of the day here.  Pictured above is perhaps the most adventurous activity at the Institute, the Sky Bike which is like riding a bicycle on a tight rope across the room with a safety net underneath.  No one in our family got to attempt it, while Jonathan was on his way a large group got there just ahead of him.

We started off watching an interesting planetarium show then headed to the Train Factory with its full size steam train.  Next came the Franklin Air Show room with a jet cockpit to climb into and fun activities related to air and space travel.   The grandkids had arrived to the museum before us and even though they had already visited the Giant Heart room, they were eager to show it to us.   There is lots of things to do here including walking through a two-story high model of a heart.  This was created more than half a century ago and designed for learning how the heart works.   In the picture above, Luke and I are walking through lots of narrow passage ways to see the different parts of the circulatory system.   Besides the giant heart, kids can also crawl through tubes designed as giant arteries.

Levi’s favorite part of the heart area was the exhibit (above) showing how the size of a human heart compares to that of other animals.  The different heart models are on a turning spiral.   When you push a button for that animal you can hear how fast the heart beats.  Kids and adults can learn how the smaller the animal the faster the heart beat.

The kids got a kick out of the electricity area where they tried different experiments in conducting electricity using their bodies.  In the picture above, Luke ponders static electricity where the kids got to feel a little “shock.”

My favorite activity was in the “Changing Earth” section.  It was here that the kids and I were able to practice and record our own TV weather forecast and then watch the video of our accomplishment.   Luke did a great job giving the report as the anchor.   You can probably tell from the video that rain was likely in Philadelphia since I am carrying my umbrella, hee, hee.

We learned about earthquakes and the kids tried to build the best earthquake proof structure.  After building they pushed a button, selecting the intensity of the quake from mild to severe to see if their building could withstand the impact.   This was harder than it appeared and often the buildings collapsed.  In the picture above, Levi devises a strategy for making a strong building while grandpa looks on.

In Sir Issac’s Loft (named for Isaac Newton), there are a number of neat activities revolving around physics such as a domino chain reaction, swinging pendulums, optical illusions and pulleys.  In the picture above, Luke assists Levi in lifting himself in a chair with the help of pulleys.  It took a lot of strength for these little guys!

We knew Levi would love the centerpiece of Isaac’s Loft, “Newton’s Dream.”  This is a large system of tracks that carries small balls through a series of twists and turns.  Levi was enthralled because he loves building and operating his marble run set at home and has spent lots of time putting tracks together for his hot wheel cars.  I think he might be a budding engineer.  This creation entertained him for quite some time and you can see the joy on his face.  Actually we all thought it was pretty mesmerizing.

The Sports Zone on the third floor was a favorite with the family.  Everyone enjoyed trying out the “Bike Race” and competing with each other by quickly turning the wheel of a bike while watching the screen to see who would win.  In the picture above, Luke and Levi race to the finish.

Luke reported that his favorite activity at the museum was the racing.  A museum employee set the start time and video so the kids could race down their lane competing against an athlete running on the screen.  Luke enjoyed doing this more than a few times.  Other activities in the Sports Zone included jumping to touch the highest hanging basketball, balancing on a surfboard, learning with a model how to ski downhill and practicing a pitching stance that was recorded then displayed on a video screen with a real athlete for comparison.

When the museum was nearing closing time we walked several blocks to Pizzeria Vetri for dinner.  The pizza baked in a wood fired brick oven is some of the best I have ever had with an amazing crust and a variety of intriguing toppings.   We ordered several different kinds, above is a picture of the largest one we got.  We even ordered a dessert pizza made with Nutella and marshmallow, yum, yum!

It was another great day in Philadelphia!  Thanks for joining us – in the next blog we find more memorable things to do here!

After leaving our camp site in Delaware, we had the shortest drive of our trip (39 miles) to a KOA campground in New Jersey.  This was the closest full service campground I could find to Philadelphia.  Last fall, our daughter Shannon had a great idea – she, Jonathan, Luke and Levi would fly out to Philadelphia during the spring time for a visit.  We decided on May as a good month for exploring the city.  They planned to stay in a hotel for a week near the historic district.  This was exciting for us as we would be together again for the first time since leaving California last September.  Rather than driving into Philadelphia and dealing with traffic and parking, we decided to take the metro train in each day – a 20 minute drive from our RV park to the closest station in New Jersey and then another 20 minute relaxing ride across the Delaware River to Philadelphia.  Once we got out of the station it was a few minutes walk to the National Park Welcome Center, a great meeting place for the day.

It was fun to be able to explore Philly with our family and we started our first day of exploring on Mother’s Day.  We all enjoyed the history, even our grandkids, Luke and Levi.  In this post, I wanted to talk about some of the places we visited.    We started out with a visit to the Liberty Bell with its message, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.”  One of “Philly’s” most popular attractions, there is usually a line to get in, although the wait wasn’t too bad.   Once inside, we could spend as much time as we wanted to view the exhibits, learn about the Bell and see it.   This bell once rang in the tower of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall.  In the photo below, you can see Independence Hall behind the bell as Shannon and Luke check it out.

We learned that this is not the original bell.   The first was from a London foundry in 1751 and during the first test ring it cracked.  It was then melted down and a new one cast here in Philadelphia.  The bell is made mostly of bronze and weighs 2,080 pounds.  It would ring to call lawmakers to their meetings and the townspeople together to hear the news. The bell developed a thin crack again in the early 1840’s after nearly 90 years of hard use.   The wide crack is actually the repair job when the crack was widened to prevent further spread and restore the tone of the bell.  The repair was not successful as another fissure developed and the bell was silenced forever.

In order to see Independence Hall (pictured above), we had to get timed tickets for a free tour by a park ranger.  This keeps the crowds in the Hall to a minimum.  We got to see the room where the founding fathers gathered to sign the Declaration of Independence and Constitution – the birth place of America.   The room is furnished with reproductions of furniture from the time.  The original furniture was burned by the British during the 1777-78 occupation of Philadelphia.  There is one original piece left, the armchair sat in by George Washington while presiding over the 1787 Constitutional Convention.  You can see it in the photo below to the left of our family at the back center of the room.

Independence Hall is a stunning building both inside and out.  The inside has a grand stairway that Benjamin Franklin frequently used to get to his office on the second floor when he served as Governor of Pennsylvania.  We spent some time admiring all the gorgeous architectural details.

The National Park Service has a fun program for kids.  They can collect cards of well known people from history like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.  Since history is big here and there is lots to see, rangers with cards can be found all over.   The kids had to approach them and after answering a historical question got a card.  Sometimes the rangers were out of cards or only had cards the kids already had, but most of the time they got a new one to add to their ever growing collection.

We visited the Betsy Ross house, the 300 year old two story home that she lived and worked in.  Betsy is famous for having sewn the first American flag.   The story is that General George Washington visited her regarding a design for a flag for the new nation.  We were able to do an audio tour and our grandsons even had their own special kid tour as they made their way around the two story house seeing a number of rooms.  They were able to learn about Betsy, the flag and life in the 18th century while they solved history mysteries.  Betsy worked as a seamstress in an upholstery shop and in the picture below, Luke learns about Betsy’s work from a reenactor.

After our inside tour we learned about the drinking of hot chocolate during colonial times.  Demonstrators showed with a mortar and pestle how colonists ground cacao beans that could be mixed with spices and hot water.  We were able to taste the finished product, a very good hot chocolate.  Below, the boys check out the cacao pods and beans.

Speaking of tasty things, you can’t come to Philadelphia without having a cheesesteak, the iconic food of the city.  While walking around, we stopped in at Campo’s,  known for good cheesesteaks.

After cheesesteaks we stopped in at Christ Episcopal Church, constructed between 1727 and 1744, perhaps the most historic in Philadelphia.  When the steeple was added in 1754, it was the tallest building in North America.  The church was attended by 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence, Betsy Ross also attended here.  The pews are those neat old fashioned box kind and the ones used by Washington and Franklin are marked with brass plaques.   In the picture below, Luke and Levi occupy Washington’s pew.

One of the best things about Philadelphia is just walking around the city looking at all the buildings and monuments and just enjoying the vibe.   We walked down Elfreth’s Alley which is said by some to be the oldest residential street in the United States.   People still live on this very narrow cobblestoned alley with houses built between the 1720’s and 1830’s.  These narrow rowhouses are pretty cool to check out.  In the picture below, Luke photobombs his parents.

Thanks for coming along while we sightsee in Philadelphia.  In the next blog, I will write about our further exploration of this great city!