My cousins and mom were planning a girls weekend, and invited myself along (as a surprise for my mom). We had grand visions of escaping to a warm place in the midst of our Chicago, Philly, Indy, and Seattle winters. Work schedules limited our travel window so we opted to find an AirBnB in Philadelphia. I hadn’t thought of being a tourist in Philly but with all the US history it was a great city.
We toured the Eastern State Penitentiary. We did the self-guided audio tour which I’d highly recommend. There was a lot of good info about why it was initially designed a specific way and how the use of the facility evolved. At the end, there’s an installation about the modern prison system which was enlightening.
We reserved a time to visit the Magic Gardens, a 3000 sq ft outdoor, mosaic art installation run as a non-profit by Isaiah and Julia Zagar. I would definitely go here again.
Our self-unplanned walking history tour involved Elfreth’s Alley, Ben Franklin’s Grave, The Betsy Ross House, Christ Church, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell. We had a list of ideas and places, but didn’t really have an agenda for our days.
We met up with Sarah Sunday evening for dinner and, then Monday morning we wandered the International District for lunch before heading to the airport.
We found and ate very delicious food… and drinks all weekend.
There were murals every where, over 3,600 in fact. This wasn’t even close to one of the best, but I like the perspective. I would have captured more murals, but I was far more occupied with the doors throughout the city.
