Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Don and I returned yesterday from a three-day trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was Don's first visit. He's a history buff, so we decided to go.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia

He also likes trains, so we traveled by Amtrak passenger train. We left from Richmond to have more choices on times to return. We wanted to return to the South Hampton Roads area in time for our weekly West Coast Swing dance lessons with Wolf and Bee Dance.  We are getting ready for International West Coast Swing Flash Mob Day, but that's another story.

Don enjoys a relaxing Amtrak trip surrounded by gadgets. According to the GPS we traveled fast!

We stayed at the Club Quarters Hotel, which was nice, centrally located, and reasonably priced. From there we traveled on foot or by subway everywhere we wanted to go. We saw Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the nearby Benjamin Franklin Museum. The next day we visited the waterfront along the Delaware River, including Harbor Park.

Don enjoys the waterfront of the Delaware River

At the waterfront we saw two separate memorials dedicated to the Irish and Scottish immigrants to Philadelphia. They were touching and educational, especially the information about the Irish Potato Famine. We toured the Independence Seaport Museum including two ships: the Warship Olympia and the Submarine Becuna. The Olympia was famous from the Battle of Manila Bay and from carrying the body of the Unknown Soldier from France to the U.S. in 1921. Don lived on submarines, but I have never been on one before, so I found our tour of the Becuna interesting.

The Irish Memorial portrays the desperation of the Potato Famine and Great Hunger

Hope awaits the Irish immigrants newly arrived in the U.S.

The Scots, also immigrants, are proud of their Revolutionary roots. Four signed the Declaration of Independence.

We also caught some live jazz music at Chris' Jazz Cafe on Tuesday night. The food was great there and just about everywhere we went.