I'm being chronological, although three weeks late. Bear with me, you'll hear about it all. I'm home and haven't caught up from the car lag, all those mountains, time zones and real life when I returned...here goes)

Day Three – Philadelphia

I had forgotten how New England has a way of insinuating itself into life through the weather. Granted, we have rainy days here in PA, but the East Coast city rain is unforgettable. We headed out for our last (rainy) day of touring in Philly to the National Constitution Museum just around the corner from our hotel. I'd pretty much been 'constitutioned out' by this point with all of our museum hopping, but was very pleasantly surprised. The tour began with a twenty or so minute presentation in a circle theater in the center of the building. It was exceptional. With a single woman speaking eloquently in the center, the history of our framing and founding father's trek from treasonous behavior, to revolution, and finally to independence was presented in a phenomenal visual experience. Every inch of the theater was used to show pictures, present moving images and the continuous movement of the actor giving the information kept us all more than interested. Following the presentation, there was a great self-guided tour of the history of our country with numerous exhibits with original items of the various presidents and events played out in our history. I had that yearning for about the fifteenth time for the museum to be closer to Erie so we could visit with the students.
We snuck out of the Constitution Center to quickly run across the street for an unscheduled tour of the US Mint. Leaving everything but our licenses outside we wound our way through security and took the escalators upstairs to follow the hallway of the history of the mint on the way to the actual minting part. Once on the assembly line, it did indeed resemble the show on TV many of us had seen. Not very many people work there. Most of it was automated. It is pretty cool though to see those massive rolls of copper/zinc/who knows what that actually make our pennies. And pennies are pumped out at an amazing rate, along with all the other coins. The only workers we saw were working in the special area where ceremonial/medallion work is done and even then, there were only a dozen or two at most. I was glad we took the tour, worth the effort.
We ran across to the other corner before leaving to throw a penny or two on Ben Franklin's grave like every other tourist. How ironic is that? Isn't he the one who said, 'a penny saved is a penny earned'?He's probably getting a chuckle about our behavior based on that one.

Onto the bus and off to Dave and Buster's for lunch. Built in a huge warehouse at the docks across the river from New Jersey, it was a beautiful dining area with a multitude of tiny intricacies in decor. We ordered and then someone told me to walk to the back and look. A room just as huge filled with arcade games and bar dominated the room. I was told there's one in Pittsburgh. It's a must see if you are down around that area.

The National Seaport Museum was next on the list. The history of Philadelphia maritime history was show to us on a guided tour which included a look at the boat building shop in the back where they construct various sailing vessels to use in their education program as well as maintaining the items in the museum. They were featuring an in interesting Tattoo exhibit about sailors and their use of tattooing to show patriotism and self-expression. We stepped outdoors for a tour of a Spanish-American war ship and I decided not to step down into the submarine available for touring. Growing up on the East Coast and being in the Nautilus in Groton, CT more than once gave me more than enough reminders about how claustrophobic it would be. The museum was interesting and enjoyable to visit.

Next stop? Eastern Penitentiary. Recognized as the first penitentiary in our country, this prison was a great example of architecture of the time. Seen on television more for it's 'ghosts' this prison was founded on the belief that solitary confinement was the way to go and prisoners were forbidden to talk while held in individual cells with no contact with others. As time went on, things changed and eventually they were known to have baseball teams that worked hard to hit home runs over the wall as a way to smuggle notes out to the people in the street. Al Capone was once a resident for eight months, some suggesting he found a minor charge to get him inside until the heat from the Chicago Massacre died down. We toured in the pouring rain, which added nicely to the somberness of the place. A very informative tour guide led us through the disintegrating structure telling some great tales and giving us look at something I never would have imagined was hiding up on that hill in a residential neighborhood! I've been to Gettysburg and any other number of haunted places in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania (I think PA has more reported 'ghosts' than any other state. It's all economics I believe.) but this location had several areas where I got goosebumps and at one point felt like someone was literally walking inches behind me when no one was there. Creepy. I loved it!

The bus took us back to the hotel where some of the group went to the Phillies game (they lost) and the rest of us found dinner and in my case a washer and dryer. One more day and I'm off for California and the laundry won't wait!