Did You Know We Went to Philly?

Good Morning,

This post has been a long time coming, I don't know why it has honestly taken me so long to write it. Naturally when we were there and touring around I was taking pictures thinking about the post I was going to write and then there is just so much information to put in that it seems overwhelming and I put it off and the longer I put it off the less I felt like writing it. I thought about just not posting about it but honestly it was a really a great day and I think its definitely a place worth visiting so I'm not sure how this post is going to go, whether it will be full of information or just a quick overview.. we'll see!

So a couple of weekends ago Jason and I planned to get up early on Saturday and head to Philly for the day, we had talking about doing this forever with Philly being so close but the entire year we were in Jersey City we just never got there, weather, Jason's work schedule.. you know how it goes! Now being here its even closer and we wanted to check things off our list of things to do in case we ever actually get out of here. We watched the weather, got up early and hit the road.

Its funny we take so many LONG road trips that I forgot how nice it is to drive just two hours away and enjoy the scenery and the trip! We arrived in Philly quite early and because Jason had already managed to spill his coffee all over his white shirt our first stop was CVS for a tide to go pen! HA! Honestly I generally have one of these in my purse but I took a small purse because we were going to be touring around all day and that thing just didn't make the transfer, I will know better for next time! We also ran into the post office because it was right there, we needed stamps and there just isn't one handy where we are in New Jersey. Fun stuff right? Keep reading, it gets better.

We parked just off from all the historical stuff on Market St or Chestnut St.. I cant remember but around that area. There were tons of convenient parking lots which was great, you parked and paid a flat rate and it wasn't super far from everything.

Before going I had made a list of all the things I wanted to see and do there and when researching where everything was and considering that we had one day we decided that the best way to get to everything and enjoy it would be by getting a Big Bus Pass. This was by far the best way to see things on account that you can get on and off the double decker bus at whatever stops you want to make and then hop right back on. We decided that we were take the bus tour and get all the history and then start jumping on and off at the places we wanted to go to. I wont lie we ended up walking pretty much everywhere after the bus tour anyways but like I said it was great to be able to hear all the history and little tales about the buildings and historical spots that you would have never otherwise know.

Our first stop that we made and toured around was The Eastern State Penitentiary, all the reviews that I had read said that this was the place to see and I knew I would love it. If you missed the post I wrote about our time spent at the Eastern State Penitentiary you can read that HERE. I highly recommend making this part of your trip, we did the audio tour and it was well worth our time!

Another place I had to stop was The Philadelphia Museum of Art, I would have loved to actually wander through the museum which we did a bit but definitely didn't cover the whole thing, sadly museums aren't really Jason's thing. But what I really wanted to go there for was because I am the biggest fan ever of the Rocky movies! I wanted to see the steps and the statue and let me tell you guys, it was amazing!!

This was actually in the visitors center where we got our tickets for the big bus tour! 

From the stairs there was the most amazing view of the Philly Skyline! 

I don't know who this guy is.. a Rocky fan obviously. There was a huge line up to take pictures with the statue and not a moment where you could get a picture without someone in front of it.. so there's this guy! 

I am so glad I got to go here and see all this, I watch the Rocky movies every single time they come on TV, and seriously its absolutely beautiful here, this is also a place I highly recommend seeing on a trip to Philly! 

Across the street from the museum there was a small park with a large fountain which I believe had a statue of George Washington (I could be wrong about this because its not on the map I am referencing but I am pretty sure) and they also had a ton of food trucks and the nicest mobile bathrooms I have ever seen. I know that's a pretty odd thing to mention but seriously, when you are touring around a city all day you are bound to have to use gross public bathrooms and these ones were AMAZING, air conditioned and CLEAN! It was actually quite warm the day we went, possibly even downright HOT. 

After this we decided to grab some lunch, obviously Jason had to have a Philly Cheesesteak and he had done his research before going and we stopped at Sonny's Famous Cheesesteaks. Obviously I don't eat red meat so I did not partake but Jason said it was absolutely amazing. I meant to take a picture because I will admit it looked really good but I forgot. Sorry! Jason said he would highly recommend this place, it was absolutely packed with people when we went in but he got his sandwich really quickly and said it was excellent! 

After Jason's sandwich we headed to the Reading Terminal Market which was also highly recommended in all my research. I wont lie I wish we had eaten here, they had a TON of places to eat with an amazing variety! We toured around here for quite awhile and decided we would come back before we left because Jason felt he needed some pumpkin whoopie pies and fudge. 

After this we did a ton of touring around this historic area. There is so much American History here that is really worth checking out! I'm going to photo dump here and tell you whats what!

Disclaimer: These pictures are not in the order that we saw them. 

This was a mural right across from where we parked! I love street art. 

This is Penny Franklin, you can read about him HERE. He is made entirely out of pennies and is of Benjamin Franklin who coined the term "A penny saved is a penny earned" this is also why people throw pennies on his grave site which is also here. We were told on our bus tour that every year the pennies thrown on the grave total $3,000-$4,000 which all goes towards the upkeep of the grave and its surroundings.  

This is the Chinese Friendship Gate located in the China town area of Philadelphia. This amazing piece actually has nothing holding it together, not one nail, screw, etc. It is essentially a giant jigsaw puzzle which is pretty amazing. 

This is Philadelphia's City Hall, the building is absolutely INCREDIBLE! It took 30 years to build and believe it or not they wanted to take it down at one time because people didn't like it, didn't think it fit in the city. However because of its grandeur and sound structure they figured it would take just as long to take it down as it did to build it. So here it sits, and I think its for the best. 

Guys I am sorry I cannot remember for the life of me what this partial house was, I even tried to google it but its hard when you don't know what its called. I will see if Jason knows and if so I will make sure to post it in the comments. If you know, please let me know in the comments below! 

Independence Hall, if you look to the first floor on the far left where the curtains are half drawn that is the exact room where the Declaration of Independence was signed! Pretty amazing! 

Tomb of an Unknown Soldier with the eternal flame. 

These historic plaques were all over the city! 

So this is a little bit of a funny story, both Jason and I really wanted to go to the Betsy Ross house. As you can see above she is buried there with I believe her third husband, you can tour her home and they have a gift shop as well. Well this historical landmark we were told could possibly be a fraud, ha! I kid you not. We heard that her house actually could have been the one beside this house, we were told that no one for sure knows if she actually made the flag because there was nothing in writing and that she may in fact not even be buried there! I couldn't believe it. I mean there has to be some truth to all of it otherwise they could not claim all these things but good lord can you imagine if none of it was true?

This is why I cannot wait to post about things, or like when we were in Hawaii I need to have a little book and write notes because this building has some story behind it and let me tell you I have no idea what it is. Its not part of the tour but on the way to the Eastern State Penitentiary. I'm sorry guys.. eek! 

Statue of the Joan of Arc.

Logan Cirle. 

Logan Circle with City Hall in the background. 

Love Park.

After a long day of walking around all day we were definitely hungry and ready for some dinner. Neither Jason or I are foodies, we are both super fussy about what we eat and tend to stick to places we know we will like. I know we are probably missing out by doing this but on the plus side we are also never disappointed. Jason loves the Hard Rock Cafe and we have been to them all over when we can find them, he has been wanting to go for a really long time and so when we saw this one on the beginning of our trip we figured that would be a good place to go to dinner. Fun fact outside the Hard Rock is the second largest guitar next to the one in Vegas. 

Sorry this picture is blurry the guy seating us wouldn't stop so I could take a picture even though I announced my tourist moment so I was trying to be quick. Dinner was great, it didn't disappoint at all and I had a strawberry basil lemonade that was too die for! 

When we finished dinner we went back to the Reading Terminal Market to get Jason's treats and they were CLOSED! I almost died, they close at 6pm on a Saturday!! Poor Jason was sooo disappointed! We managed to find him a cannoli, the best one of he had ever had he said so it wasn't a total bust! 

After that we decided to go for a walk as it was a beautiful night and we wanted to take in as much as we possibly could. We had wanted to go in and see the Liberty Bell but when we were in the area on and off during the day the line up was absolutely ridiculous. However after dinner when we were walking by there was no one around so we decided to pop in! 

My apologies for the bad lighting, the whole building is glass so it was really hard to get a picture without the sun ruining the lighting. 

The Liberty Bell. 

Jason admiring the Liberty Bell. 

After touring around the Liberty Bell we decided to head down to the water and walk along the boardwalk. We wanted to see the U.S.S Olympia and just enjoy the night. 

Sadly where we ended up we couldn't really get down to the water without taking a major detour so we just took in the Delaware River from Christopher Columbus Blvd I believe. I don't remember what this bridge is called but it takes you from Philly into Camden, NJ. 

We had an amazing day in Philadelphia, I would honestly go back and tour around more because although I really do feel like we took in as much as we could I know there were things that we would have missed and would probably catch the second time around. I really enjoy learning about history and seeing things for myself, its amazing to read about things and places and then see them for yourself in person. This was definitely an amazing trip that I am so glad that we took and I highly recommend it to all of you as well. If you would like to read more about historical Philadelphia you can click HERE to do so. My apologies for the fact that this post is so long, I'm not going to lie it took a really long time to write as well! 

I hope you are all having a great day, and that you learned something from this post! Thank you as always for stopping by! 

Eastern State Penitentiary - Philadelphia

Good Morning,

As I mentioned earlier in the week Jason and I spent Saturday in Philadelphia and had a really great day, I have been meaning to write about it all week but sitting down and putting in all the information which by the way is a lot along with all the pictures and what not seems quite daunting and I just haven't felt much like it to be honest. We have had a terrible week of weather, I mean POURING down rain and COLD! which just makes you feel so blah, on top of that at the beginning of the week I was feeling pretty crumby so I basically did nothing but read.. big surprise!

Anyways today I decided to get it together, break the Philly trip down and write a post! So here I sit with a cup of tea and the heat on to tell you all about the Eastern State Penitentiary!

So when we decided that we were going to spend a day in Philly I started doing research on the things to see and do. I will be writing another post on all the other things we saw and did but I thought this place deserved a post of its own. I remember taking a trip in elementary school to an old prison in Toronto and absolutely loving it. I loved that their log books were hand written in the most incredibly beautiful writing, they were so detailed and interesting. We toured the cells and the history and really managed to get a sense of what it would have been like to be imprisoned so long ago.

Knowing that Eastern State Penitentiary was the worlds first true penitentiary and stated to be a building designed to inspire penitence or true regret in the hearts of criminals I was more than a little intrigued. The original seven cell blocks are all still standing, although barely and resemble the shape of spokes of a wheel in setup. These cell blocks believe it or not had running water and central heat before the White House did. Can you imagine?

This was the first actual tour on our trip, we didn't have to wait to get in and decided that it would be a good idea to do the audio tour to make sure we got all the information but were also able to go at our own place. The audio tour is narrated by actor Steve Buscemi who did an amazing job and the information was in depth and so interesting.

The prison was operational from 1829 to 1971 and refined the revolutionary system of separate incarceration which focused on principles of reform rather than punishment.

I wont lie the prison today stands in ruin, its crumbling around itself right in the middle of the city but holds such historical significance they are doing everything they can to preserve it, it is currently a U.S National Landmark. Naturally it is a major tourist attraction that you can come in and tour around yourself, you have the option of an audio tour, an actual tour with a guide and of course they do night time ghost tours. This place is amazing in its own right, but I wont lie.. its also creepy as hell. 

The audio tour allows you to go through the cell blocks and listen to actual voice recordings of people who were imprisoned in the Eastern State Penitentiary as well as guards from way back when. They are able to give very visual descriptions and accounts of trying times and prisoners from many years ago. 

They had some super creepy artifacts such as this mummified cat named Jamie. 

This is an actual cell, some that we were able to look in were completely empty and others had things like seats and dressers pictured above. Again most items are falling to pieces but the fact that they are still standing is pretty amazing and seeing original pieces only adds to the experience and gives you a better understanding of what prisoner conditions were like. 

It was really interesting to see how things have evolved from that time, these doors are quite unlike the cells you will find in most prisons today and let me tell you they were quite heavy. 

Ick. 

This is a view of the center of the prison and entrance to the different cell blocks. 

Some cell blocks are better maintained for tour purposes I suppose. Although this looks extremely eerie and it is, it was an absolutely amazing sight. 

I believe in cell block 9, although don't quote me on this you were able to go up on one of the catwalks to get a completely different perspective and it was an amazing view. On the audio tour the narrator states that this is his favorite view of the entire prison. 

As previously mentioned this penitentiary housed many "famous" prisoners such as prolific American band robber Willie Sutton and American gangster Al "Scarface" Capone. Fun fact, Al Capone's wisdom teeth were removed at the Eastern State Penitentiary. Al Capone was eventually released from prison and died in January 1947 after suffering cardiac arrest following a stroke. 

Below is a picture of Al Capone's cell as it was when he occupied it. I would say that his living conditions were much better than most of the prisoners at that time. 

The prisons history is so interesting, their tactics were eventually decided to be quite inhumane and the treatment of their prisoners was not accomplishing anything positive. I highly recommend checking HERE and reading all about the prison as it truly is a great part of American History and an extremely interesting read. 

If you are interested in visiting the Eastern State Penitentiary which I highly recommend if you are in the Philadelphia area then there are many ways to do so. Obviously you can go straight to the grounds which are located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of the city, it is also a stop on all the major bus tours that go through the city. If you happen to purchase a bus tour ticket you can add that option to include the cost of entry into your bus ticket if you would like as well.

I truly believe this is worth the time, I believe we spent an hour or so there and gained so much worthwhile information throughout our tour. Upcoming events at the prison include:

• Prison Food Weekend (June 6-7): Sample official recipes of Nutraloaf, the "food product" used as punishment in many U.S Prisons, and learn about the prison fare throughout Eastern States History. 
• Family Weekend, Pets in Prison (June 27-28): Discover unique stories about animals throughout Eastern State's history and how they continue to play a role in prisons today with New Leash on Life USA. 
• Bastille Day (July 11 @ 5:30pm): FREE TO PUBLIC. Eastern State teams with The Bearded Ladies cabaret group to present one of Philadelphia's largest free theatrical performances, with a playful reenactment of the Storming of the Bastille.

Have you guys ever visited the Eastern State Penitentiary or any other prison in North America for historical purposes? If so please tell me about it!