Photo TR: Franklin, Hamilton, Hershey, Morey, and Knoebel

[ytterbiumanalyst]

By the way, did you discover any new fave brews in your park trip travels?

Yeah, Cape May Brewing Co. has a great stout and a great IPA, and the Yards IPA is really good too.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Great! And now, I have totally forgotten all their names.

 

I love being old!

[Philrad71]

You know who else eats pizza with a knife and fork....

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

 

Don't be a dick like that guy. Don't use a fork.

 

Ewwwww!!! I kinda pictured him as someone that would try to eat half a slice in one bite and then talk with his mouth full about how awesome that he thinks he is.

 

Actually, if you go to Italy...don't pick up slices with your hands because that's the American way to do to it and you might even get a nasty glance if you're off the beaten tourism path.

 

They actually do eat it with a knife and fork there, although I would imagine that Trump likely never picked up on it after a trip to Italy where he was actually trying to be socially conscious of being in a foreign country.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Good to know about Italy. Maybe I'll get there one day. It'd be fun, but we don't have a realistic chance of going outside the U.S. until the kids are grown, and then the UK, Ireland, and Japan are our first targets, though maybe not on the same trip.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Days 8-10: Philadelphia

 

After a day at Dorney (about 3 hours total), it was time to head into Philadelphia, turn in the rental car, and head for my Airbnb in the south city. I texted Boldikus as I got into town, as he wanted to meet up, but he was busy that Thursday night. Well, I was near enough to Citizens Bank Park that I made my way over there on foot, and bought myself the cheapest ticket they had. It was around $15, which seems appropriate for a terrible team. They were playing the Mets that night, and I was treated to a masterful performance by Jacob DeGrom. Very glad I got to see him, and even though I don’t care about either team that was playing, I’m enough of a baseball fan in general to appreciate the spectacular performance. The Mets clobbered the Phillies, but you root for the home team, right?

 

The next morning it was all about the Philadelphia Art Museum. This is one of the world’s greatest museums, and it was a major attraction on my tour of the city. I got on the bus, and as it turns out, the one that went by my AirBnB goes within a few blocks of the museum, so I was treated to the scenic tour of the city. Philadelphia is a city of murals, and there were several to see, even on my very ordinary bus line.

 

The Philadelphia Art Museum was incredible! I do always love a good art museum, and I was definitely not disappointed by this one. It had some great exhibits; I especially liked the revolution-era furniture and the 20th century abstract eras. It was a very enjoyable day, and highly recommended to any Philadelphia visitor.

 

Once I was done there, I headed down Ben Franklin Parkway toward Logan Square. At that point Boldikus was getting off work and we arranged plans to meet up. I had some time, so I checked out the Reading Terminal Market for a bit before hitting the subway up to his stop. I loved Reading Terminal Market; had a great coffee and some relaxation for a little while.

 

I got off the subway and found a bench until Boldikus’ train arrived. We went out to the Barcade and then onto another bar after that. I have a good friend Jake whom I’ve known for over a decade, and he lives in my town. Boldikus has a very similar personality, and it was a blast hanging out with him. Funny how you keep meeting the same people.

 

The next day it was time to explore the historic part of Philadelphia, including Independence National Park! I was very much looking forward to this part of the trip; as I’ve previously mentioned, this was as much about Philadelphia as it was any of the theme parks.

 

I started near the river, which was really about the most backwards way to take the national park, but I didn’t know what I was doing. I went by the first and second national banks, paid my homage to Alexander Hamilton, and grabbed breakfast at a local diner. It had a very long meandering counter so that one waitress could effectively serve everyone. Good food, cheap food. I was pleased.

 

Moving on with the park, I went by the Ben Franklin Museum, and the guy there mentioned that I should probably get Independence Hall tickets very early as they sell out quickly, especially on a Saturday. I thanked him and booked it over to the Independence Visitor Center for my free ticket. I had plenty of time before my tour, so I went back to Ben Franklin Museum. For $5, it was a great deal. Franklin was such a great man, and the museum really captured his life and great works. It’s small, but it’s definitely worthwhile.

 

All right, now it’s time to tour the nation’s original capitol building, Independence Hall! It’s small but beautiful. I loved getting to tour the place where my heroes hammered out the American experiment. It is a small building, with the legislative chamber right across the hall from the judicial. It’s a great showpiece of our humble beginnings, and being in the same room as the Founding Fathers is a very special experience. The park rangers were as usual extremely knowledgeable and did their best to ensure that we understood the significance of the place we were visiting. I’m always pleased with our National Park Service. They do such a great job teaching American history to their visitors.

 

After the tour, it was time to check off another box while in Philly: Get a great cheesesteak. Bolkidus gave a couple of suggestions, and I settled on Sonny’s on Market Street, and it was amazing! Line out the door, and very well deserved! So good.

 

I caught the underground tram over to the Mutter Museum next. It was such a cool museum. Physically it's very small, but there's a ton of stuff to see. No photos allowed, and they're serious about it. You can take them in the lobby and poison garden, but not once you enter the main exhibits. They have lots of body parts and tumours and such in formaldehyde, and dozens of skulls, each one a bit different from the others. It's creepy and cool. I've never experienced another museum quite like it.

 

That was about it for the day; I wandered around downtown for a bit, then caught the train back to the south side for another goal for the day: My first non-theme park Chickie’s and Pete’s. I went to the one near Citizens Bank Park, and it was really great! The portions are enormous, so I wish I had someone to share it with, but it was really good nonetheless. I’m officially super jealous of you who have one of these close to you.

 

I walked back to my AirBnB totally satisfied with my trip. It had been an amazing week and a half. The next morning I caught the bus to the airport and flew back home uneventfully. It was a great trip, and one I won’t forget easily. Even now about 3 months later, I’m looking back on it fondly, and planning for my next trip to the Keystone State, hopefully next year.

There it is, Alexander Hamilton's Bank of the United States.

It's got a sign.

The second most famous broken thing in America, behind Congress.

This massive building is our very first seat of government. How many of these would fit inside the current U.S. Capitol?

The General!

The Supreme Court chamber

And here is the Room Where It Happened. The Constitutional Convention occurred here.

Washington's chair.

This is the original chamber of the House of Representatives.

The next few rooms are offices and committee rooms for the officers of the House and Senate.

This is the original Senate chamber.

On to the Mutter Museum

The only area where you could take photos is in the poison garden.

In the lobby of the Mutter.

Finally! My first non-theme park Chickie's and Pete's.

I didn't eat half of what they gave me.

30th St. Station--off to the airport!

In the air over Chicago. I believe this is Fermilab.

First stop in Philly

Woohoo! I'm going to see a major league team play the Phillies!

There were not very many people here.

But there was a Chickie's and Pete's!

VIP area

A second Chickie's and Pete's!

This is a beautiful stadium.

The view from my seat. This is what you get when you stroll up to the ticket office and say "Give me your cheapest seat."

Oh look who it is!

It's the best mascot ever!

THE PHILLY PHANATIC!!!

Edited November 5, 2017 by ytterbiumanalyst

[Canobie Coaster]

Some great photos of Philadelphia. Unfortunately I wasn't able to visit Independence Hall or the Liberty Bell the one time I was there since both were closed for the weekend the Pope was there. On the other hand, I was told Philly as a whole looked much cleaner that weekend than usual so I guess that was one plus.