May 4, 2019 – Saturday

Philadelphia, PA

Today we took the Hop-on, Hop-off  Double Decker (open top) bus around Philadelphia (city of brotherly LOVE).  We decided to stay on the bus the whole 1 ½ hours tour, taking pictures along the way. 

City Hall:  

The building was constructed from 1871 to 1901 within Penn Square, in the middle of Center City.  City Hall is the largest municipal building in the United States, containing over 14.5 acres of floor space.

State Penitentiary:  This place is very eerie from the outside.  It was once the most famous and expensive prison in the word.  Now it stands today in ruin and believed to being haunted amongst the crumbling  cell blocks and empty guard towers.  This was the world's first true "penitentiary", designed to inspire penitence, or true regret.  A couple of the most notorious lawbreakers held here were "Slick Willie" Sutton and Al Capone.   

Rodin Museum:  Rodin is widely regarded as the father of modern sculpture.  This sculpture is of "The Thinker".  Which Johnny inherited a replica of this statue from his dad.  

Betsy Ross

No history comment needed, you should know.  In case you don't, she was created the first Stars and Stripes Flag for the U.S.A.

ROCKY Balboa Statue

You might notice the picture we did not get is of Rocky Balboa statue.  This is because there was a special event happening and our tour bus was unable to stop.  It’s the most photographed statue in the city.   The statue standing 9' tall and weighing 2k pounds and had it's original resting place standing proudly in front of the Art Museum. It stood there for several months at the 72 step entrance of the museum.  However, once Rocky V was wrapped up, it was sent to the Spectrum arena.  After a period of time, it was voted to move it back to the Art Museum.  In 2006 it was placed on a pedestal in a grassy area near the foot of the steps to the right of the Museum.

Feeling hungry we went into The Bourse (meaning place of Exchange) Building for a bit.  The building hosts several types of restaurants.  It was the first commodities exchange building in the US, was completed on 1895.  The building was one of the first steel-framed building to ever be constructed. Building history).  

After lunch we headed across the street and did the tour of the Liberty Bell.  Very impressive to see this bell up closely.  Some of us ask why is the bell cracked.  Well, the metal was to brittle and cracked during a test strike.  The bell has been recast twice and after the British invasion of Philadelphia, the bell was hidden in a church until it could be safely returned to the State House.

Our guide told us about the "One Liberty" Observation deck.  It's located in a building on the 56th floor and gives you a view of the whole city.  Not feeling like it was worth the cost of $15 per person, we headed out of town and stopped at a Super Charging area, went into a nearby restaurant and spent our $30 there on drinks.  We are staying at a Candlewoods Suite which has a full kitchen, so we decided to eat in and bar-b-que.