Philadelphia: Nov. 10

On Friday we woke up and tried to figure out what to do during the day. We decided to go to Center City (which is what those high-fallutin' people call downtown). Here is where I have to do 8 tons of research to figure out where the hell we went exactly. I have the general gist, but I still have to look at a map. (And ask Tom.)

We took the trolley and the subway to our destination. It was pretty much like other poob-lick transportation systems, I guess. We got yelled at for making the driver wait 0.005 seconds for us to put in our $2. The trolleys go on tracks on the road (which sucks if some asshole gets in the way, because they can't go around). They also go underground, like the el in Chicago.

First we went to the Liberty Bell. They have a security checkpoint there and the guard stationed outside seemed as bored and annoyed with his job as humanly possible. "LIKE I SAID...take everything out of your pockets! Everything!"

The Bell was sort of anti-climactic, I guess. The funniest thing was that we briefly named everything in the "museum" its name with "Freedom" in front of it, such as Freedom Bell, Freedom Chair, Freedom Document, Freedom Jefferson Davis, etc. By the way, the picture of him that was posted looks EXACTLY like Abraham Lincoln, so I unthinkingly said "Freedom Abraham Lincoln" and then felt really dumb.

Here is a picture of the bell showing the misspelling of Pennsylvania (it says "Pensylvania"). I don't know if there is a reason for that or if it's a total mistake. I'm inclined to think there is a reason. I also made sure to have part of a guy's legs and arm and a lady's hand in the picture. That is always a priority for me.





















Next we walked around the area a little bit. We passed over a sidewalk which had historical people's names engraved in it. Here is a sampling. I am making up the names, but see if you see anything funny.

George W. Roberts, Gentleman
Franklin A. Smith, Lawyer
John M. Percival, Gentleman
Thomas J. Wilson, Book-Binder
Dr. Andrew J. Thompson

There were a couple of things about that which we found hilarious. 1) That they titled multiple people "Gentleman." 2) That Dr. Andrew J. Thompson wasn't good enough to get a title (or that they considered "Dr." his title).

We passed by Benjamin Franklin's grave which was hilarious because you have to pay to get in, but it's right next to a giant opening in the wall, so you can see it well from outside the wall. So, there was a gathering around it inside the wall and another gathering outside. I found it funny and slightly awkward.

We went to a place called Elfreth's Alley, which is (somehow) the oldest residential street in the country. We discussed how that happened (i.e. when did they start deciding to preserve the houses?) but couldn't come up with anything. It's completely surrounded by a dense commercial and industrial area. Right around the corner was some company which said "Established in 929" because the 1 had fallen off. We joked that that modern-looking building had been there for over 1000 years and Native Americans had started the company.

Here is a picture of the oldest residential street in the country. There is a union jack hanging off one of the buildings. I believe people still live in some of the houses, and there also seemed to be a museum of some sort.






















Here is a picture of one of the doors. It really bothered me because the residents are obviously trying way too hard to be 18th century, or something. There is no way "Letters" was ever spelled like that.

















We went to a record store near there which reminded me of Electric Fetus here in Mpls.

We then walked a little more and sat down by the Delaware River. For your information, it separates Philadelphia from Camden, NJ. (From what I gather, Camden is every Pennsylvanian's favorite city.) Here is a photo taken from our resting spot of the Ben Franklin Bridge.

















Another one of some boats.


















Here is another one of Camden.

















After that we walked some more to a nearby area (South Street) which is pretty much a bigger version of State Street in Madison. We went to Tower Records to see if they had any cheap stuff, since they are going out of business. They didn't have anything good.

At that point I was getting ridiculously tired so we went back closer to Tom's abode to a restaurant. The restaurant we patronised was called New Deck Tavern. We had to wait a while, but it was worth it I think. Yum. It was extremely loud in there.

After that we went home and pretty much watched some screen-related entertainment and went to sleep.