Thursday September 17

We started out the day with Carol's homemade waffle in the Comfort Inn Waffle Maker. (She loves those things :-)) In the morning we drove from Allentown down to Philadelphia. That was an adventure. Philly was the only truly large city that we entered during our trip. We didn't get lost but you can ask Carol sometime about how she felt about my route choice to downtown!

We entered from the northwest, drove by the Franklin Institute and around the huge Franklin traffic circle. There in front of us was a very large, ornate, 1800's style building. Thinking that we were there we drove around in a circle about three times to find a parking spot. We had to pass several open parking garages because the truck looked like it is taller than the 6ft tall entrances. We walked across the street and began wandering around this huge, very non-touristry edifice. We wandered around until we found a very small visitor center in one of the halls.

Some very nice ladies were there ready to tell us that we were completely confused. We had landed at the Philadelphia City Hall. Historical (1860's) for sure, but not the history we were looking for. That would be eight blocks down Market St.

Back to the truck, pay the folks for our half hour and drive around some more looking for a parking spot. At least once we parked, we were in the correct area of town. We walked down the street to the open mall area in front of Independence Hall and immediately noticed the US Mint. Ok, that sounds like fun, so in we went to see coins made. It's kind of cool to see a box that is about four feet square and three feet high full of pennies!

We walked across the street to Constitution Hall. It was full of shcool kids on tours and did not seem to have much we really wanted to see so we headed out down the grassy mall to Independence Hall. We went to the ticket booth to get into one of the half-hourly tours. Our tickets were for about an hour in the future so we asked around about Philly Cheesesteaks. We were referred to Sonny's, down Market St.We walked down there and we each had a freshly cut and cooked cheesesteak. Don't ask anyone for a Steak and Cheese sandwich because they will look at you with a quizzical look and make you a baloney sandwich. It's a cheesesteak!

Back to our tour and a history lesson from an fellow that teaches like a college professor. This guy really knew his stuff. Ind. Hall is really only two rooms but it's a very cool place. Very moving.

We then walked across the street to the liberty bell museum. The window behind the bell is very large and faces Independence Hall. Again, very moving. We found the truck and escaped the city just ahead of the rush hour traffic. We drove on down the peninsula to Salisbury, MD for the night.