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June 30, 2015  Day 10  New York Summer 2015

Penn’s Landing Marina
Philadelphia, PA

What a busy day we have had. We left the marina at 10:00 and caught the “Phlash” bus downtown. This bus makes several stops along Market Street and is free for Seniors!

Independence Hall

Our first stop was the Independence Visitors Center.  While there, we picked up our tickets to tour Independence Hall.  The tickets are free but they assigned us a specific time of 1:30.  The crowds would not be manageable without this system.  So, we arranged our schedule around that assigned time.

We took the bus further down Market Street and got off at 12th street and walked over to Macy’s.  Macy’s (located in the original Wanamaker’s Department Store Building) has one of the largest pipe organs. It was built for the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 and was purchased by John Wanamaker in 1909 and expanded to have 28,500 pipes.  We knew that the organist plays at noon and we did not want to miss it.  We have heard it before on a road trip to Philadelphia, and wanted to hear it again.

Looking up at some of the pipes that are visible
of the Wanamaker organ at Macy's




Independence Hall - the Rising Sun Chair is original

After Macy’s we found a good deli for lunch and then walked back down to Independence hall for our guided tour.  It was a very special feeling to stand in the room where both our Constitution and Declaration of Independence were written, especially as we quickly approach the 4^th of July.  Our tour guide was excellent, knowledgeable and had a very quick wit.

From there we went back to 12^th Street and went to the Reading Terminal Market, a huge building full of vendors and merchants selling prepared food, fresh cheese, meat, produce, baked goods, flowers, chocolates, and more. There are several eating establishments within the terminal as well. It really is a destination of its own.  We have been here before, but wanted to experience it again.

We caught the bus and rode it the entire length which included Fairmount Park,  the Franklin Mint, the Art Museum, and more. We got off back at Penn’s Landing where we started our day.  We decided to duck in the Seaport Museum because it was starting to rain.  However, at that point Bill realized he had left his cell phone on a chair in an outdoor eating area of a restaurant downtown. Joyce called the restaurant and they found it! So, back we went again!  By the time we got there, the rain was very heavy and everyone was running for cover. We got drenched in the process.  But, we were able to retrieve the cell phone and that was worth it.

We caught another bus back, but since it was the last bus of the day it did not go all the way back to Penn’s Landing. So we got off on 2^nd street, found an Italian restaurant and had dinner. We needed to relax anyway!  Then we walked back to the marina and stopped to visit the Irish Memorial on the way. It is a meaningful memorial to the Irish immigrants who came to America.

We finally got back to Carried Away about 7:30, exhausted but happy to have experienced some of the history of Philadelphia.

We will depart early in the morning and head back down the Delaware River to an anchorage near Reedy Point and the C & D Canal.





The Irish Memorial