Passover 2016 - Day 2 - Famous, Historic Philadelphia

4/24/16, "Famous, Historic Philadelphia"
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Well, here I am back at Independence Hall, finishing up my time in Philadelphia.  My friend Roberto and I will be coming back here, to this exact same spot, in six weeks.  Raymond and I spent almost the entire day walking around Philadelphia, taking pictures at a dozen of Philadelphia's most famous and historic sites.  There are 67 such sites in Philadelphia, and I will check even more off of my list when I return in six weeks.  Only New York, Boston, and DC are in the same league when it comes to such sites.

My parents will be picking us up here in about 20 minutes, so I will be brief, as I would like to formally close this trip out from here, rather than doing a Return Journey entry from Scarsdale.  It was a little after 3 AM by the time I got to sleep last night, and I woke up a little after 9 AM, unable to get back to sleep due to all the commotion.  I did not think I would have an appetite, but I did, and I soon met Raymond down for breakfast.  Keeping Kosher for Passover, but not Kosher in general, I got some grits, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and an omelet with mushrooms, onions, and sausage.  All good, no chamatz.

We got ready, and we needed to meet my parents at 11:30 AM at their hotel to drop off our bags.  We lit up cigars, me opting for a different Surrogate than last night, but just as good, and we headed back to Holt's after we dropped off our bags.  One of the guys there, whom we had actually bumped into last night, instantly recognized me, for my Trump hat possibly more than anything else, and we smoked in the lounge for a bit.  I got a few more cigars to take home, and we planned our afternoon.

There were 11 National Historic Landmarks to see in Center City, including City Hall, and I wanted to see all 11.  I will not go into detail about each site, instead just listing them and providing a few highlights.  The first site was St. Mark's Episocal Church, then the Academy of Music, which is the oldest opera house in the country.  That was where I finished my first cigar.  From there, we headed to the New Century Guild, where I lit up a L'Atelier.  From there it was the old John Wanamaker store, now a Macy's, then the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, now a Loew's Hotel, which was considered the first International-style skyscraper.

The next stop was the Reading Terminal Headhouse, which was actually right across the street, but I got a little confused and thought it was Reading Terminal Market, so we wound up having to double back.  Next came the Philadelphia Masonic Temple, followed by Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, which is the oldest art school in the country.  From there it was the Arch Street Friends Meeting House, and old Quaker Meeting House, then the Insurance Company of North America building, which is now a hotel, too, I believe.  That just left City Hall, which used to be the tallest building of the world.  We took our ceremonial picture, and I announced, "Center City Complete."

That was that.  We headed back to the Reading Terminal market for lunch, and they had a grilled cheese stand, which offered to make sandwiches on matzah.  I got one with brisket and three chesees, again, Kosher for Passover, but not Kosher.  I lit up a VSG, and we walked towards Independence Hall, with Raymond trying in vain to find a single-serve ice cream.

We passed by the Federal Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and I took a ceremonial picture, wondering if I would try to visit all 12 of them.  I have actually been to the each of the 12 cities that house a Court of Appeals, but I believe I have only been to 3 or 4 of the 12 courthouses.  We were soon at Independence Mall, and we sat on a bench in the shade while I finished my cigar.  I then lit up a Cohiba, my customary cigar to smoke in front of Independence Hall, and we took a ceremonial picture.

I then sat in my same spot from yesterday evening, where I, with some difficulty, created a montage of our 12 sites from today to post to social media and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that we can find my parents and drive home.  Philadelphia is one of my favorite cities in the world.  It is the Birthplace of Independence and full of so much history.  I was glad to have been able to check off 12 NHLs from the list, and I will be glad to return here in six weeks.  Next stop: Athens and Rhodes for Memorial Day Weekend to see the 1896 and 2004 Olympic Stadiums and the site of the Colossus of Rhodes (the last of the Wonders of the Ancient World for me), which will Officially begin an Epic Summer of Travel.