Philadelphia and the Liberty Bell

One of the reasons we decided to stay at Homestead Farm Campground was its proximity to the Lansdale train station, where we could catch the Regional Train, SEPTA, into the City of Philadelphia. We didn't get as early a start as we had planned as we needed to gas the Toad. Three of the four supposed gas stations that our Garmin GPS unit told us about, no longer had gas pumps. Finally I got smart and called the fourth place and got an assurance of gas being available BEFORE we drove there!

Fortunately, the gas station was only a couple of miles from the train station. Parking cost us a dollar (for fifteen hours on a meter!) and there was NO CHARGE for our train tickets. We just had to show our Medicare cards! We waited about twenty minutes for the train which then took a little over an hour to get to Center City at 30th Street.

We checked in with Traveler's Aid at the train station and the very nice gentleman there told us where to walk to the other end of the station to the Subway station and where to get off on Fifth Street. And, just as importantly, he made sure we knew how to get back again! Once again we showed our Medicare cards to the subway attendant and were passed through the turnstile with no charge (sometimes it's really nice to be a Senior Citizen!).

Right across the street from where we came upstairs from the subway station was the Independence National Historic Park. At the end of the green area stands Independence Hall where the Constitutional Convention met and was the site of our nation's first government.

The bell currently in the tower was made from a combination of Union and Confederate cannons melted down after the Civil War --

You have to get tickets to tour Independence Hall early in the morning, so we were not able to go inside. But, you don't need a ticket to go see the Liberty Bell.

You just had to get in this l-o-n-g line! It actually wasn't too bad. I think we had about a 40 minute wait.

Then you get to the Liberty Bell Center where your bags are inspected and then you wind your way down the inside of the building  -- as far as the line outside goes...

It is an awesome sight! The bell actually cracked the first time shortly after it arrived from England and was recast. After it cracked again, you can see where there were attempts to put bolts in the crack to keep it from spreading --

When you look at the back side, you can see other small cracks and pitted areas --

I tried to get a shot from low enough to show the clapper, but the crowds were getting pretty tight, so I didn't do real well...

We wanted to take one of the Duck Tours of the city. It would have taken us into the Delaware River to view Philadelphia from the water. But, there was a tour group of sixty some Junior High age kids who were going on the Ducks. The adults with them were having a time getting them together to get on and they were all yelling and chasing each other around. The lady buying the tickets said it had been a long day and they "were very wound up..."  Forry and I looked at each other and decided we would just as soon take the double-decker bus tour.

It was a good overview of the downtown area of the city. This is the house that Betsy Ross lived in and where she made the first "stars and stripes" flag.
 

The modern skyline of the city stars this building that is supposed to look like a computer memory stick or flash drive --

And contrasts with the very baroque City Hall --

Topped off by a statue of the illustrious city founder, William Penn --

 In this city founded by Quakers, the dome of St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Cathedral --

This is the wall of the first penitentiary -- the Quaker's revolutionary approach to incarceration. Instead of being jailed in large common rooms, the inmates were put into individual cells with only a Bible so that they could think about and repent of their sins.

After our bus tour, it was another subway ride back to the very imposing train station --

And a walk down to the other end to the Regional Train area --

This was one of the SEPTA trains coming in on the other track --

While we waited at Track 1 for our ride back to Lansdale station at 6:17.

We had stopped in the main terminal Food Court for sandwiches and raspberry croissants at Au Bon Pain and waited for the five o'clock commuters to clear out a bit. We had a pleasant ride back to Lansdale and were quite tired when we finally got back to Auntie Violet.