PHILADELPHIA – a meeting with Betsy

Tuesday – After a good night’s sleep – breakfast at 8.30am – the usual fare – cereal; toast and vegemite; juice and coffee.  This is the breakfast room where we plan yet another day of rearranged itinerary, in other words ‘let’s go out the door and see what the morning brings!’The Government shutdown is still on so we can expect some more closures – let’s hope not too many.  We will take a different tack and explore first up the rear of Independence Hall – still barricaded and patrolled by uniforms – the morning air is crisp and the skies are blue so that’s a good start.  At the rear of the building is a statue of Commodore John Barry – Father of the US Navy.

HISTORY LESSON : Obscured by his contemporary, naval commander John Paul Jones, Barry remains to this day an unsung hero of the young American Republic. As most naval historians note, Barry can be classed on a par with Jones for nautical skill and daring, but he exceeds him in the length of service (17 years) to his adopted country and his fidelity to the nurturing of a permanent American Navy.

Indeed, Barry deserves the proud epithet, “Father of the American Navy,” a title bestowed on him not by current generations of admirers, but by his contemporaries, who were in the best position to judge.

A few adjustments on the camera to compensate for the shady trees and the dark of the statue and I am once again snapping away.  There are no people around and an occasional patrolman sticks his head around the corner of the building every now and again to make sure that we are not up to no good which we are not.

We walk through the lovely little park area (much better than the street) and spy the 2nd Bank of the USA which incorporates the Picture Gallery; next Carpenters Hall and the First Bank of the USA – all CLOSED.  But we can take pictures – and after all it is a lovely morning with blue skies and just a hint of a breeze blowing through the coloured leaves that flutter to the ground.  A little bit of poetic grammar for you all.

We head off for our next stop Christ Church.  Not so very much of a walk and a very interesting place that has a small burial area containing more tombs of the Signers.

HISTORY LESSON : Christ Church was founded in 1695 by members of the Church of England, who built a small wooden church on the site by the next year. When the congregation outgrew this structure some twenty years later, they decided to erect a new church, the most sumptuous in the colonies.  Christ Church is considered one of the nation’s most beautiful surviving 18th-century structures and a monument to colonial craftsmanship. Modeled on the work in London of Christopher Wren (think St Paul’s Cathedral) it features a symmetrical, classical façade with arched windows and a simple yet elegant interior with fluted columns and wooden pews. 

We are lucky enough to have one of the vergers (Trish Byrne) giving history lessons on the church and its famous members.  She has the knack of keeping everyone interested with her way of retelling her never ending supply of facts – what an interesting lady!  On a part of our ‘tour’ Trish points out the Washington Pew – the very place where George, Martha and family came to pray.  We are even told we can enter the pew and sit in the very same seats  – surely this is some sort of sacrilege, but no, everything is OK.  You can see in the photo Kylie standing at the entrance to the pew.

When we have explored all we can inside it is time to explore the outside.  A quaint garden that holds the tombs of more Signers.  It is a very quiet and pleasant place that definitely has a very historical feel about it.

As there are not many people here we can wander and take our photos without interruption, stopping every now and again to contemplate what these people achieved.

Next historical place on the itinerary – Betsy Ross House.  Betsy Ross was born Elizabeth Griscom in 1752 and died in 1836.  She is widely credited with making the first American Flag for our friend George and this is the very house in which she did her sowing.

Entering the gates we see Betsy’s tomb is in the front garden.  Once through the front door we purchase our tickets and wishing we were only 5 feet tall we proceed up the narrow hallways and stairs.  The rooms have been restored to the way they were in Betsy’s days.

A pleasant surprise – there is Betsy herself working away on the flag. She looks up, smiles and then tells us the story of her life and times and how she came to make the flag.  What an interesting lady she was and what a very intriguing life she had.  You can read all about it on the above link – so no need for me to go into the details here.

Of course the necessary purchases at the Gift Shop on the way out and we head for Elfreth’s Alley.  Where? I hear you say.

Elfreth’s Alley is referred to as the USA’s oldest residential street, dating to 1702.  It is named after Jeremiah Elfreth, an 18th-century blacksmith and property owner. Among the alley’s residents were tradesmen and their families, including shipwrights, silver and pewter smiths, glassblowers and furniture builders. In the 1770s, one-third of the households were headed by women – isn’t that an interesting fact?

Some of the houses have pumpkins on the steps and witches in the windows but not as much as I thought there would be seeing that Halloween is not far away.  What a quaint little alley.  Lots of work being done on the inside of existing houses – to look at them from the outside they don’t look very big but they are spacious inside.  We walk down the alley and then back up the alley so now we have an appetite.  Not too sure what to have for lunch, we finally decide on a little corner cafe. Looks like a family run place, nice and clean with good sounding food.

I order a grilled chicken roll with ham and mayo and a side salad – it was delicious – but enough food to feed a truckie! After finishing the feast I decide I need a gold charm for my bracelet – something along the lines of the Liberty Bell to represent Philadelphia.  We are told there is a whole area of jewelers not far from where we are so off we trot.  We visit a couple of shops but they don’t have anything I like – I am getting discouraged.  Walk into a quaint little shop – lots of antique pieces and am lucky enough to find exactly what I want – and reasonably priced – it is of course a cute little Liberty Bell.

We walk back up to the area of the President’s House and Liberty Bell – both of which are still shut but there is great excitement as the local news is out filming.  There is one lady who is talking about traveling all the way from Alabama. I turn and say yeah, well I’ve come 10,000 miles away on the other side of the Earth and with that the reporter finishes up the interview and asks me if I would like to say a few words – and not one to pass up 30 seconds of fame, we commence. Waffling on saying ‘I am from Sydney Australia visiting your wonderful city and disappointed to find things closed – that’s a bummer. Not too sure what your politicians are doing but we have just had our elections back in Australia and got rid of our lousy government – maybe you guys should think about who you vote for next time’.  Too much?  Everyone seems pleased and we are told it will be on tonight’s news.  Unfortunately no-one asks for autographs so time to move on.  We really should walk off our lunch a bit more but that seems too much of an effort so we grab a cab to the other side of town to visit the Masonic Temple.

Unfortunately there is an hour wait before the next tour – cannot just go walking around by ourselves – so we decide to give it a miss.  I didn’t even spend much time taking photos and what I did take, the temple was half in shade and half in sun – so not good.  Seems like I have lost interest although it does seem to be an interesting building.  Maybe just getting there and then being told to wait an hour has something to do with it.

Walking back to our hotel we stop and get coffee at Starbucks which will hold us for a while.  After our Nanna Naps it is time to head out for a walk.  The night is a bit on the cool side but lovely nonetheless.

Back through Washington Square to say hello to George – and then onto Independence Hall.  There is a military officer on duty patrolling the precinct and we strike up a conversation with him.  He is glad of the visit and tells us that since 9/11 all historical buildings and places of interest have been patrolled.  He also tells us that when the buildings are open many people stop and have a chat with him, unfortunately now they are closed due to the ‘Government Shutdown’ he doesn’t get so many chats.

Moving on to the Liberty Bell – shining in the night – so of course more photos.

Our time in Philadelphia is drawing to a close and still no sign of the Government getting back to work.  Tomorrow we head for Valley Forge and more history of George Washington and the Revolutionary War.

We get back to our hotel – pack most of our belongings and get ready to watch my TV experience – how exciting.  Even the guy on the news desk has a smile on his face when I finish.

We have decided to have a sleep in tomorrow morning because of the VF closure so it will be an easy relaxing start to the day before we head em up and move em out!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY : Saying G’day to the USA