Philadelphia

We arrived safely at Timberlane Campground this past Tuesday and were pleasantly surprised. It was a nicely maintained campground and very convenient to visit Philadelphia.  

We decided to go into Philadelphia yesterday but first we had to get breakfast at a typical New Jersey diner. We pick out a diner called Cherry Hill Diner and drove about 20 minutes to get there. The breakfast was very good, especially the hash browns, with everything homemade. We picked this diner because it was fairly close to the train station, where we would take a subway into downtown Philadelphia.

 

 

The subway was only about a 25-minute ride to where we disembarked at 8^th & Market, just two blocks from the Independence National Historical Park. Julie has visited Philadelphia before but I never had, so it was especially interesting for me. Walking to the park we passed by Declaration House. This was the actual site where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

 

 

Next, we visited Liberty Bell Center. There were many visitors there but not too crowded.

Then we walked a few blocks down the street to Franklin Court to a small post office to get a post card stamped with a special Benjamin Franklin post mark. We decided to visit the Benjamin Franklin Museum run by the National Park Service. It was very interesting and presented a chronological history of his life, including his printing businesses, travels, and inventions. I was surprised to learn that his printing businesses did so well that he was able to retire when he was 42. It also surprised me that he invented a better streetlight, bifocal eyeglasses, a wood burning stove known today as the “Franklin stove”, and much work with electricity.

Finally we walked up to the famous Reading Terminal Market near the convention center to have an early dinner. The Reading Terminal Market, established in 1892 is the nation’s oldest continuously operating farmers’ market. We both tried authentic Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches and they were very good.

We headed west today across Pennsylvania and the drive was very hilly, crossing both the Appalachian and Allegany mountain ranges, even on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. .

Steve & Julie Cornelius