Hey, Boss! It's Downtown Philly. Wha'd ya expect?

Colonial Williamsburg set the standard for me. During various stages of my life, I’ve enjoyed three visits to the historic triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg, colonial capital of the Virginia colony, cemented the concept with its historic district and the living-history museum. Each building has been intricately restored and the entire historic district immerses the visitor in the colonial America experience. I walked where George Washington walked (for real, on the real hardwoods) and talked with Thomas Paine and others, attending programs of reenactment featuring “nation builders.”

Philadelphia-Old State House

Dwarfed by skyscrapers

How I wish that same essence could be present in Philadelphia and Boston. The Old State House and the Liberty Bell visitor’s center are dwarfed by skyscrapers and sandwiched between busy, noisy streets, underground and elevated parking garages. Surface parking is rare for large vehicles. The spaces have been drawn so closely together that if the SUV wedged into a spot, the doors could not open. We found a slot, most fortunately, where a lady was pulling out and grabbed it, paid the price, and walked to the core of Philadelphia’s historic offerings.

            Betsy Ross’ house is away from the main attraction which is The Liberty Bell.

The Real Deal

 Airport level security delays everything at all museums, artifact sites, and tours. Our fall tour reduced the time to get through the procedure leaving us to wonder what that process could be like in the summer vacation months.

            The Liberty Bell is awe-inspiring. Seeing the Old State House and Washington Park which surrounds it was terrific. I could not get over, however, seeing it diminished by the city-scape, the noise, and the raucous rumblings of downtown Philly. In fact, a valet at one of the surface parking lots commented, “Hey, Boss, this is downtown Philly, what’d you expect?”

Declaration of Independence read here first

We created own tour in Boston

Paul Revere and Old North Church

            I hesitate to say that we never found a parking spot in Boston, but it’s true. Marvin and I did not go on a walking tour, but we created our own Tour Bus trip with me offering the narration, Marvin pulled to the curb, I hopped out (Hop On-Hop Off) to get a photo and back in to continue our tour. It was a challenge, but we saw the sights and headed for points north.

Nation's first city park