The Peculiarities of Travel BUCS series:
The Bizarre, Unusual, Curious and Strange things that you find when traveling
Author Archives: edwinandlisa
A Long Final Day
Our last day on our trip was spent at Valley Forge National Park before heading back through rainy weather to the Philadelphia International Airport for our flights back home…
Valley Forge was fascinating… Although no battles were fought here, the site is historic because this is where the Continental Army was finally trained as one cohesive, disciplined army that eventually won us our independence from England.
After our visit, it was a long bus ride to the airport and then a six-hour flight to San Francisco with a two-hour layover. We didn’t land into Portland until 1:30am and didn’t make it to bed until 2:30am — 5:30am east coast time, so basically we were up for the last 24 hours and finally, finally it was time for sleep!
Philadelphia Meanderings, Day 3
Our final day in Philadelphia before making a visit up to the King of Prussia…
Our go-to breakfast spot, Sabrina's in the University District
On this, our final visit, we opted for the simplicity of homemade granola with milk, and an Apple and Wisconsin Cheddar omelette
Life-size heart of a 220 foot man, a popular exhibit at the Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute had a cool sports science wing, and Lisa and I had fun trying out all the sports related exhibits
Train wing
The Dude responsible for all of this
After the Franklin Institute, we strolled over to the Academy of Natural Sciences
After touring both museums, we walked towards City Hall and found more impressive buildings like this church
Flight wing
Interior
East gate
And finally, you can't come to Philadelphia without getting a photo in front of the famous LOVE sculpture!
City Hall, with 700 rooms and at the time it was the tallest building in the world
Dinosaurs Unearthed was the featured exhibit
Butterfly Garden
Philadelphia Meanderings, Day 2 on a Tandem Bicycle
After a day of walking around the city, we decided to rent a tandem bicycle and tour around Fairmount Park…
To prepare for a day of riding, we returned to Sabrina's to try some other items from their diverse menu.. This time we went with another Challah stuffed French Toast
Overlooking the Fairmount Water Works and the Schuylkill River
Cycling along the Schuylkill River Trail
Playing Angel's sculpture
Ulysses S Grant sculpture
Our cycling route brought us to view many historic homes and mansions. This one is Mount Pleasant mansion
Strawberry Hill Mansion
Will you Road through East Fairmount Park and then up to Wissahickon Creek
We came upon a great lunch spot called Deke's BBQ
Crossing Schuylkill River on Falls bridge
Have you across the river to Laurel Hill Cemetery
After crossing the river, we biked through West Fairmount Park and up Belmont Plateau for this City View
We took a much needed rest break at Belmont Mansion, site of the Underground Railroad Museum
Ohio House
Fountains at Fairmount Park Horticulture Center
Massive statues at the entrance of the Please Touch Museum
Smith Memorial Arch, a memorial for the Civil War
On the way back to our starting point. The Philadelphia Museum of Art looms large in the background
On front of the Rocky Steps leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Inspired by the Rocky movie called Osseo area has been transformed into a public workout with many different groups doing hardcore body exercises. Cool, sign me up!
But after a long day of a going up and down the hills of Fairmount Park, we were content to just get some dinner and head back to our Airbnb to rest and recover…
Philadelphia Meanderings, Day 1 Walking Everywhere
Our Airbnb room is located near the University District, which is perfect for us since it is very close to a great brunch spot called Sabrina’s. Offering one of the top brunches in this city, we are just a 6-minute walk away. So we got up early on the Sunday morning and were one of the first customers for their 8 o’clock opening…
We split this special menu item Challah French toast along with a plate of eggs and potatoes. We were definitely stuffed.
After that filling breakfast, we spent the next 10 hours wandering around the city centre taking in all of the old churches and all of the historic sites. I accidentally left my map back in the room, so for the first couple of hours we were just going off a Google map on our smartphone so I might not have all of the names of the places we went to.
I spent a lot of time trying to set up this shot, but my gorilla camera accessory was not cooperating and the camera kept flopping down. So of course I need to post this picture as a reward for all of my hard work!
Another no name church, but it is so beautiful!
It was hard to resist the temptation, but we were able to leave this sweet bakery without any damage
Sculpture fountain at Rittenhouse Square Park
Lots of tall buildings!
We went to the Hyatt at Bellevue and rode the elevator to the top floor to get in some of these great views of the city looking East towards the Delaware River
This is actually the Ritz-Carlton inside some old bank, with City Hall looming in the background
Finally I have the name of one of the churches that we went to
Interior
The Old City Philadelphia, and just the downtown core itself, has many of these signs up to provide a little history as you walk around which is pretty cool
He strolled through the Reading Terminal Market and made our way up through Chinatown and this Chinese friendship gate
At Franklin Square Park there is this miniature golf course set up with number of Philadelphia's historic buildings in miniature as prop pieces for the golfing
We went to a number of gift shops throughout the day, and of course Lisa was always drawn to the book section so that she could add more books to her Goodreads account. This gift shop was inside the National Constitution Center
Inside the Independence Visitor Center posing next to some dude that is probably important!
When in Philadelphia, you have to get a Philly cheesesteak. Unfortunately we were not able to make the long Trek to the Italian market and try to find offerings from Geno's and Pat's. Pat's. However, we did try this one from Sonny's and it was delicious
This is an old think that the National Park Service has now converted to displaying National Portrait Gallery
Well it is not the Liberty Bell, but this is one of the iconic landmarks in Philadelphia at Independence Hall
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Washington Square Park
We strolled along the Washington Square District through Antique Row and then walked down busy South Street and Came Upon This tourist attraction called The Magic Gardens.
We were thrilled that we stumbled upon this Frozen Custard Stand and we ordered up Heath bar vanilla milkshake that was perfect for this sunny Sunday afternoon
Hand on to Penn's Landing, where there is a hub of us frantic activity with people enjoying the riverfront area
On this evening Penn's Landing was hosting a Hispanic Festival with a band performing on the concert stage. Here Lisa takes a short break from all of the walking that we have been doing
This is the Irish Memorial, with placards surrounding the site explaining the Irish emigration to the United States and the years of suffering they went through during the hunger years.
We finished the evening by getting a slice of pizza at Big Ass Slice, then riding the subway back to our Airbnb. Whew, another great day meandering about!