North To Pennsylvania!

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When Jeremy and I moved to the East coast, we said right away that we were going to take advantage of our location and see the Eastern states. We have a long list of "must see" places to get through, but we knocked two of them off the list for this trip! It was our anniversary too (11 years), and since we didn't get to do anything last year, we really wanted to do something this year! So we went to Gettysburg and Philadelphia!

Gettysburg first. We drove up on the 30th. It's only a couple hour drive from Northern Virginia so we left after Jeremy got home from work. We got to Gettysburg just after dark and checked into our hotel. I was trying to save money this trip so booked a hotel that is a bit lower in class that the Marriott's that we normally stay in---big mistake! I told Jeremy, from now on we will book hotels that are at the same level of quality as our own house! Ug! Anyway...we toughed it out for 2 nights. We started our tour of Gettysburg on July 1st at Cemetery Hill, which is right where the battle of Gettysburg began...on July1st 1863, which was also a Wednesday. Coincidence?

Cemetery Hill is just across the street from the Gettysburg National Cemetery, which is where President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address. We walked though the cemetery grounds. Thousands of grave stones of each Union soldier dotted the grounds in a circular pattern, and a U.S. flag was placed at each one. In the days after the battle, the bodies of the dead were just left on the battlefield. The war was still raging on and the soldiers did not have time to properly bury the bodies. It came down to the citizens of Gettysburg to clean up the mess. Gettysburg was just a small town. The number of dead and wounded far out-weighted the population of the town: 2,400 residents and over 51,000 casualties. Every house, barn, store....every structure in the town was used to house wounded soldiers. Could you imagine? Every 1 adult resident of Gettysburg buried an average of 5 bodies. Some were buried in shallow graves, some unmarked, many unknown except for their uniform. I could not imagine that today.

In the month following the battle, the weather had been extremely rainy. The ground was soft and the soil eroding. The bodies started to come up. The Pennsylvania state Governor came to visit to see the damage and he saw all the bodies coming up from their shallow graves. It was such a waste and such a disgrace! He then commissioned the Gettysburg Soldier's National Cemetery give proper burial and honor to the Union Soldiers, and he put a local attorney, Wills, in charge of overseeing it. The Union soldier were dug up and moved to the cemetery. Each state of the Union who fought in the battle has a section and their soldiers are buried in that section. There is also a section for for unknowns. The confederate soldiers were left in their battlefield graves. Some states commissioned groups to come up and gather their dead to be placed in a cemetery in their state. But it's expensive to do that, so many confederate soldiers remain on the battlefield. There were 3 confederates who mistakenly got buried in the Gettysburg cemetery, but they were removed once they were discovered. The mentality at the time was that these were not our fellow countrymen. They were traitors and the enemy, and they were not going to be honored as the Union soldiers were.

Leaving the cemetery we went to the Battlefield Visitor center. They have a movie and a cyclorama which is a giant painting done in a circle. When light hits it it changes can change from dawn to day to sunset...it's really quite amazing! They do a light and audio show telling the story of the battle. Then we went on the auto tour of the battlefield. If you have never toured a battlefield, it's just a drive with little markers and you read the excerpt on the map that corresponds with the marker. They did have audio CD tour that you could buy that would take 2 hours, but we opted to not pay for that!

The tour winds though the town and countryside surrounding Gettysburg. There are memorials lining the whole way. SO MANY MEMORIALS! Really, if you throw a rock in Gettysburg you will hit a memorial! It's a testament to just how big the battle was there! Over 150,000 soldiers descended in this small town. There were almost as many casualties in this single battle as there were in the ENTIRE Vietnam War! Incredible! And incredibly sad.

After we finished the battlefield tour we went to the historic part of Gettysburg to see the town. Gettysburg is such a cute town! There are so many shops, restaurants, and tourist stops...I really loved it! Many of the old buildings that pre-date the battle are still open for business or for tours. We toured the railroad station where Lincoln arrived for his famous speech, and had a delicious dinner at a local Pub Restaurant.

Since the sun had still not set, we decided to start the 36-mile "scenic valley tour." It's a turn-by turn tour that takes you one the scenic country backroads of York county. We ended up doing it at the "Golden Hour" just before sunset. So lovely! Gettysburg is now one of my favorite places and I can't wait to go back!

The next morning we headed out for Philadelphia. We opted for the "scenic route" though Lancaster. But that ended up being mostly highway too. Eh. Pennsylvania is so beautiful! It's green and not overcrowded with trees like Virginia is. You can see into the distance, which I love! And it's hilly! Lush green rolling hills...really really beautiful! We just drove through Lancaster and saw a few Amish folks from our window. We'll have to go back and spend some time there sometime! We got to our hotel in Philly and what a difference! Thank you Marriott! Jeremy is a "Marriott Rewards" member so he collects points for stays. Then he can cash in his points to get free nights stays. So our fancy Philly hotel was comped!

We didn't have a game plan when we got to Philly. I know...huge shocker! I grabbed a tourist map and visitor guide from the hotel lobby and just started circling the things we wanted to see. We didn't have time to do museums, so aside from taking a picture of the outside, we just skipped them. Most of what we wanted to see was in the same general location, so we decided to save that for the following day, and spent the rest of that day seeing stuff that was close to the hotel. Our hotel we right in the heart of downtown. We were right across the street from City Hall with a magnificent view of it out our window! The gorgeous Arch St Episcopal Church and the Masonic Temple were just outside the hotel door. JKF plaza and the Love statue were a short walk away, and the Reading Terminal Marketplace was 2 blocks! We really could not have been in a better location! The Reading Terminal market is so amazing! I wish we had one here! It's an indoor market...sort of like a farmer's market but with permanent vendors. You can get fresh groceries, cooked food, flowers, Lancaster farms products like jams and canned fruit. There are bakeries and chocolateries, ice cream shops and butcher shops. It's all right there under one roof and it's fantastic!

We tried a Philly cheesesteak from a vendor who had a long line, and we were incredibly disappointed. The meat we like fake beef. It was super thin and like those "Steak-ums" that you could buy in the frozen isle of your grocery store. Very disappointed. From that point on, I made it a point at every other place we stopped, to look at their meat and how they were cooking it before I paid $14 for a sandwich. Many of the places had the same kind of thin fake beef, and onc place that toted being the "best" actually had the meat pre-cooked sitting in a big metal container on the side of the grill, and would just throw some of that onto the grill to heat up when someone ordered a sandwich. The sandwich shop we love here uses thick real beef. And they cook it fresh in front of you. And they don't charge extra and give you a nasty look if you want lettuce or mayo or anything other than cheese! I was really looking forward to having a "real Philly Cheesesteak" and was incredibly disappointed. However, to be fair, we were told by 2 locals that Ishkabibble is the place to go for the best Philly's. It's on south street, which is a neighborhood we skipped in our tours since we were short on time. It would have been a special trip down there just to eat, and I was walking on a partially fractured tibia as it was so we weren't going to go there just for some lunch. Next time tho, it's on the list! (PS, many be people say Gino's or Pat's is the place to go...locals told us it's the place for "shrubbies" (tourists) to go, and that they are all hype and not very good. Even the Visitor's guide said to skip them!)

The Big Bus Hop on hop off tours offer a night tour in Philly that drives you around the town and gives commentary on the sights. We decided to partake since we didn't want to walk more than we needed to, and for the most part, this was just a "see the sights" trip. The bus left at 8pm from Terminal Market. It took us through the streets of downtown, past the Eastern State Penn, and to the Philadelphia Museum of Art were we got off and were allowed to walk around for about 15 minutes. We went to a gazebo overlooking the Schuykill River, and around to the front of the museum to the Rocky Steps! The tour guide said that is what most people come to Philly to see....the Liberty Bell and the Rocky Steps! Can't say I was any different. :D Back on the bus we drove down Market Street, through "Society Hill" and the "Gayborhood" where a gay pride rainbow flag was added to all the street signs. We got down to South Street which is the "touristy" part of Philly, and then over to Penn's Landing along the river where we were lucky to catch a fireworks show! We ended the tour back at the market. J and I had skipped dinner so were looking for anything that was open (the terminal markets close at 6, but most run out of food before then...fyi!) and we came across BurgerFi! Has anyone ever heard of this place? I guess they are a chain that started in Florida. They do burgers, dogs, and sides...and custard! They are all natural, fresh ingredients. No microwaves, no heat lamps....all delicious get-in-my-tummy hot juicy burger heaven! If you haven't gone (and you like burgers) go!

So day 2 we got an early start. Independence Hall is a free tour, but you have to get a ticket to see it. Same-day tickets are given out starting at 0830AM at the Independence visitor center. It will be the long line....you can't miss it. We got to the visitor center around 830 and the line was already long, but we still got tickets for the 0930 tour. So not bad. But a tip, you can go to the NPS site for Independence Hall and reserve future tickets....then skip the line and go strait up to the window to collect your tickets. That requires some planning ahead though, and as I said, we planned nothing!

So we went strait to the hall from the visitor's center. Independence hall was originally the Pennsylvania State House. It was renamed Independence Hall after the Declaration of Independence was signed in it. It was completed in 1753 and was the site of the Second Continental Congress before being the site of the Constitutional Convention. If you remember, Philadelphia was the original Capitol of the United States. George Washington designed the layout of Washington D.C. during his presidency, but he never resided there as President. So although the buildings and monuments in D.C. are spectacular and house so much history, the buildings where that history was made are in Philly. Some of the oldest structures our country has left standing are in Philly. Independence Hall is one of them.

Independence Hall was built by Quakers. Quakers by nature were very conservative in spending, and built for necessity. When the building was finished it was just a square brick structure. The delegates of Pennsylvania decided this would not do for their state house, so decided to add the tower and ordered a bell from the best bell maker in England. The bell arrived and it cracked the first time it was wrung! So the bell was recast by a local pots and pans manufacturer, Pass and Stow. In their first attempt, the bell had too much copper so it would "thud" instead of ring. So they cast it again. The final bell is placed in the bell steeple and rings for meetings at the Pennsylvania State House. The bell was replaced and put into storage in 1828 and cracked sometime between 1841-45. It toured the country for many years but now resides in the Liberty Bell Center across the street from Independence Hall. The line to get in wrapped nearly halfway around the block, but it was a busy time of year to visit it, and the line moved relatively fast.

Some of the other interesting sites we visited were the first Post Office. Called Franklin's Post Office, it pre-dates "the United States" so it is the only operating post office in the US that does not fly the flag. Ben Franklin lived behind the post office. The foundation of his house and print shop was preserved and can be seen there. There is also a little Benjamin Franklin Museum there. Christ Church is just down the road and is the church that George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and many other signers of the Constitution worshiped in. The church was founded in 1695, and the current building dates back to 1744. The baptismal font dates back to the 1300's and was a gift from the All Hallows Church in London. It was the same one that William Penn was baptized in. It was used to baptize his children, the Franklin children, and is still used for baptismals today. The bells were cast in 1754 by the same England company who cast the first Liberty Bell. There are 8 of them, all are still in tact. One of them was brought down to the church and you can ring it yourself.

Elfreths's Alley is just up the street and is considered the Nation's Oldest Residential Street. It dates back to 1702 and has been continuously inhabited. The houses and narrow cobblestone street are all original. There are 2 houses that were turned into museums that you can tour. I did not know that while we were there an am just reading about it now. Boo! This is why I usually plan! Nonetheless, it was still very cool to walk down the alley and realize how close every one lived back then! Now we thrive on wide open spaces, but then, everything was smaller and more intimate.

Heading back to the hotel, I was able to snap a few photos of the Ben Franklin Bridge. I love bridges! Crossing this bridge would put you in Camden, NJ. We went back to Terminal Market to pick up some Amish wares before they closed, and managed to get some super fresh Chinese food for dinner! We decided to beat the 4th of July traffic and leave that night since it was only a 3.5 hour drive. Three and a half hours and 4 states. So odd for us coming from the west where all of the states are hours long! It was a great trip though! Nice and relaxing and seemed much longer that it was! 😊

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Comments

[Kelly]

Awe...mazing!
So much History in this blog makes me wish that I could just teleport thru my computer screen and go on a little tour! One of these days I will make it to all of these places, but until then, I am so happy that I get to see everything thru your photos. Thanks for sharing! :)