The City of Brotherly Love

Is there a better day to talk about the city that was our nation's capital for ten years than Presidents' Day? Probably, but this will have to do.

Last month I thought it would be a good idea to plan a day trip to Philadelphia the day after my Inauguration trip ended. After four days of running around with high schoolers, a good day of rest is needed to finish paperwork, but I went anyway so that I could get to explore the city and make a little bit of money checking a group in at the airport. People actually pay for someone to walk with them through security and watch their plane take off.

The day started out with yet another early morning trip on Megabus from Union Station and therefore a chicken biscuit and sweet tea from Bojangles. My tastes can't be tamed by DC's lack of proper Southern cuisine.

Unlike D.C. where the bus leaves from the train station, in Philadelphia you are dropped off on a random street by a parking lot behind the train station. If anyone wants to complain about public transportation in the District, they need to go to experience the metro in Philly. They don't have metro cards. Everyone pays exact change for tokens that are not available at every station entrance.

The city is divided into four major area that each have a park at their center. Most of the things of major historical significance are all in one section, so it's easy to see the highlights of Philadelphia in a day. Just don't tell anyone that works in the tourism industry that you're only planning to spend a day there because they will get confrontational. I stopped by the City Hall to ask some volunteers in the tourism office where I needed to go to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. When I told them I was only in town for a few hours and just needed to get some destination knowledge for my job, they seemed slightly offended that my tour company would only spend a day in Philadelphia when it deserved so much more.

In reality, you could spend a few days there if you want to go to their museums, the historic sites, and experience the culture through the restaurants and neighborhoods away from downtown. Otherwise, a day is all you really need. Everything is really walkable, and all of the historical sites are free to visit. The National Park Service has a great welcome center right by the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. National Park Rangers have really good stories about all of the areas and a worth talking to if it's not crowded at any area.

After the capital of the United States was in New York for a year, it moved to Philadelphia for the next ten before ending up in Washington. You can see the original Supreme Court building where the first cases were tried. I also learned a lot about the history of being a justice. They were mandated to travel through an assigned circuit every year and were not compensated for the money they spent on lodging. That's why they were only in session for less than three months. It was necessary at the time to reinforce the national law and show the presence of the national government throughout the country, but it was really difficult to get anyone to agree to do it or to keep the position for more than a year. I can't say that I blame them.

Right next door to the Supreme Court is Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were discussed, written, and signed along with the House and Senate chambers. Unfortunately, very few of the furniture pieces are originals, but they are historically accurate. There are also copies of different documents like the Articles of Confederation that are on display.

Across the street is the Liberty Bell in its newish building, and a few blocks away are Benjamin Franklin's grave and Betsy Ross's house. This is only the surface of the historical importance that Philadelphia has to offer, but it's plenty for a day trip. I'll be back there on tour in March to test my memory skills.

Well, that's really all that Philadelphia had for me in a few hours time. After I got the group checked in at the airport and on their plane, I made the last bus back to D.C. and slept for days before heading to Albuquerque. I'm glad I got to experience Philly, get my Hard Rock glass, and mark another city off of my go to all the places that had the Real World list. That last one's a joke. Kind of.