Philadelphia Freedom

When we arrived in Philadelphia Wednesday evening, I immediately starting humming the Elton John song.  While this is not a song I think about at any other point in my life, it became a constant loop in my head the moment we arrived.  When the kids said they had never heard it, Dana and I were incredulous.  So here it is... we learned that John wrote the song as a favor to his good friend Billie Jean King for some sort of tennis tournament she was running.

With notions of freedom dancing in our mind, the question was how to best devote our 2 1/2 days in Philadelphia.  With a central location and gorgeous weather beckoning, we set off.  I was intrigued by the night tours, so we opted to do our own thing during the day, taking the Phlash, Philly's easy and economical public bus system, to travel the downtown loop.

First stop was an early cheesesteak lunch at the famed Reading Terminal Market.  While we know that it's South Philly which is most known for its cheesesteaks, like any good market, this one has a dozen different varieties and offshoots from other locations.  A bit of quick research determined which we would most enjoy, and so we made our choice.  Seeing two local cops opting for the same spot assured me we chose well.

Once on the Phlash, we started the downtown loop.  When Dana expressed interest in making the Eastern State Penitentiary our first stop, I was skeptical.  So much for Philadelphia freedom!  Still, his instincts were spot on.  A colleague had recommended the tour, narrated by Steve Buscemi, who came across the penitentiary when looking for locations for a film he was directing, and it was beyond compelling.

What none of us expected was that, in addition to the fascinating tidbits about Al Capone's stay in this facility, or the history of how this was initially supposed to be a paragon of what a prison could be, allowing for the criminal to become penitent and truly reform his ways (here is where the term penitentiary began), we would be overwhelmed by the chilling facts regarding incarceration today.  With jarring statue sized graphs and video clips in a special exhibit, peppered throughout with voter registration stations, I left wanting to transform Birthright America into a nonprofit for prison reform (I jest, but only slightly)

After a couple of hours roaming behind the walls of this prison, it was time to explore some of Philadelphia's more uplifting claims to fame.  We knew they city was celebrating Flag week but somehow lost track of the fact that yesterday was actually June 14, Flag Day, until we arrived at the foot of Betsy Ross's home.  This is the area most know best.  After touring the home and sharing a blueberry flavored Ice (their version of a snow cone, available, today, in only three flavors - cherry, lemon and blueberry; personally, I thought they should have left the lemon out and just gone for straight ice!), we walked past Benjamin Franklin's grave and straight to Independence Visitor Center to see the Liberty Bell.

There are so many things to do in this area alone that one could easily spend the entire day here.  Still, we had an early dinner to catch (at the delicious Parc on Rittenhouse Square), a quick stop back at the hotel for phone recharging and a change of clothes, and then a 7:45 night tour bus to catch.  Therefore, we planned to come back to explore some more of the exhibits within the next two days.

As I anticipated, a city that has several night tours is likely a great city to tour at night.  We had a perfect evening, clear and crisp, with none of the recent humidity that has been making such tours less pleasant.  We climbed aboard the open-aired second floor of the bus along with 35 or so others and headed off.  Our guide, Zayne, said he was from New Zealand, but Dana noted more of a Wayne/Garth vibe.  Still, he was enthusiastic and informative, providing not just history lessons but fun little facts along the way.

 One I particularly enjoyed was about the two buildings pictured below, two of Philadelphia's newest skyscrapers.  The one on the left (Comcast, I think) was designed to look like a memory stick and the one on the right to look like an old flip phone.

As we neared the Liberty Bell at night, Zayne told us he could save us the hours long wait in line and allow us a different vantage point.  I appreciated both the nighttime glimpse and the knowledge that we had accidentally timed our own visit earlier that day in such a manner that we waited no more than five minutes, as we moved our way through the line and bag check, to see the iconic symbol of America's perseverance.

 The city is truly beautiful, though our tour guide suggested he didn't find the residents as friendly as the City of Brotherly Love moniker would suggest they should be.  Thus far, we've found everyone quite friendly, and our evening tour was the perfect time for the kids to run the Rocky steps (satisfied Clay? ;p) while I played videographer, to learn that the reason so many things here remind me of the game of Monopoly is because the man who created it came from Philadelphia and spent his summers in Atlantic City, and to rest up between what promise to be two long days of walking.

 As I write this (and hope it actually goes through the first time!), we are getting ready to head out for our last full day of vacation.  There will likely be an art museum of some sort, perhaps a Hamilton exhibit, and certainly some time in Spruce Street Harbor Park.  Since we check out tomorrow, at which point we'll take a spin through the University of Pennsylvania campus before heading to the airport and our respective flights to the two different Hollywood's, this will be my last post from the field.  Thanks, as always, for coming along with us.

The "First State" is First-rate - Take Two!

For a blog post that promised to be a love song to the state of Delaware, it's amazing the difficulty I've had publishing it.  First, the internet connection at our amazing inn in Montchanin was spotty at best.  Every time, I sat down to upload a photo, it disappeared.  I determined to write the post as soon as I got to Philadelphia, stayed up late and got up early to complete it, only to have the computer suddenly shut down for an update.  I assumed the recovered post would be awaiting me when we returned from our full day in Philadelphia, and I would simply hit the "publish" key.  Instead, I was greeted with a blank screen.  So, here goes nothing... a much less thorough look at a state we came to love a great deal over the handful of days we spent there.

When we left Rehoboth Beach, our first stop was Lewes, the first town in the first state and filled with both the historically significant and charming stores and restaurants that you'd hope to find in a place that has such a claim to fame.

 I was intrigued to find that the National Park Service had designated several stops within Lewes as part of the national historical park.  In the short time we were there, we saw quite a few of them.

Daniel checking out the next long t-shirt possibility - the ongoing quest

the light boat - when a light house isn't possible

When we arrived at our cottage in Montchanin Village, we knew we had saved our splurge for something special.  Our home away from home for the next two days would be "Morgan," in a hamlet of eleven restored buildings from 1799 - 1910 that had once been part of the Winterthur (pronounced Winter tour) DuPont estate.

the lane behind the cottages - it was a short and lovely walk to the former blacksmith's shop transformed to the inn's restaurant.

When Dana found a local iconic breakfast joint named "Libby's" for breakfast the next morning, we were to be introduced to the other side of Wilmington.   After we left the restaurant, I went in search of the story about the victory over condemnation that the owners (pictured below) had secured over the local newspaper that wanted to acquire the land for further development.  Instead of finding that article, I learned about a recent shooting that took place outside of Libby's and of the surprisingly violent reputation that the city has.

While we never felt slightly unsafe during our forays into the city, even when we were there at night and meandering (albeit in a car) through perhaps less than the nicest areas, it is still a stark contrast between those parts of the city and the many DuPont estates, both public and private, that dominate the Brandywine Valley.

When Clay and Alex got me The Most Scenic Drives in America a few years ago to help me in my 50 state quest, I quickly became enamored with the entry on the Brandywine Valley.  Having spent only a few days in this beautiful part of the country, we all can anticipate a future, longer trip where we explore even more of this remarkable area.

 Still, during our time here we managed to visit three of the DuPont estates - the Hagley Museum, Winterthur and Longwood Fountains.  Each speaks to not only the wealth of their founding families but also their love of tradition and nature.  There are so many members of the family that it's hard to keep track of which relative owned which house, and the family trees posted in each estate choose to focus on as few members as necessary in order to keep confusion to a minimum.

The key to Hagley is that it was the first homestead and the place where they made their first fortune through the refinement of a more effective and less expensive gunpowder.  Our tour guide had been an engineer for the DuPont company for his entire career.  Now retired, he loves sharing the stories and history of the family that created the company that employed him for all those years.

the quarry that produced the rocks that made the houses.

After Hagley, we had a quick and lovely lunch at a place I found in Centerville.  

Next stop was Winterthur for the tour of the naturalistic garden.   Henry Francis DuPont, the owner of this estate, was a horticulturalist and loved the natural world, which he wanted to be the focus of his 1,000 acres.  He placed "follies" to ornament the landscape, and built his 9 story estate into the surroundings in such a way that only from a single angle could the size of the house even be determined so fully does it blend into the landscape.

After our day in Winterthur, we returned to the Inn - instant serenity.  We were determined to spend the rest of our time here until heading to Longwood Gardens on the way to Philadelphia the next day.

Privy Lane was my favorite spot within our village

Much of the drive through the Brandywine Valley looked like this - lush, green, rolling hills.

Our foray into Longwood Gardens provided Dana with the more manicured gardens he believes warrant the title, as he felt Winterthur should be called by some other name.  While we didn't have nearly as sunny a day for our exploration of the gardens and fountains, the overcast day provided the perfect cover for all the walking we would do.  We were well into our visit when we realized that we'd actually crossed over the state line and were officially in Pennsylvania, as the Brandywine Valley spans both states.  Therefore, this post can also count as the first of our time in the keystone state.

At this point, the photo shoots are their own meme.

The whispering bench worked as well as the dome in Grand Central Station.

This gazebo captured my fancy.

The night's big agenda was going to be to see the double-feature of The Incredibles and its new, much awaited sequel.  This was the first time one of our family's very favorite films was ever shown in IMAX, so we were excited to make this outing part of our vacation.   We managed to get to the suburban theater, with its cushy stadium seating, in ample time for our 6:00 showtime.   The new film is engaging, funny and warm.  Craig T. Nelson remains a rock star.  Still, our take away was just how much we love the original movie.   And it looked and sounded great!   Wonder how the Parr family might do in Delaware?  Chances are they'd love it as much as we did.