Philadelphia - Reading Terminal Market

http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/

This is another place where we didn't spend enough time. We were tired, but the real issue is that we were getting close to closing time, and so instead of wandering around a lot looking for the different restaurants, we took a cursory glance at the area near where we entered and settled on Hunger Burger.

There wasn't anything wrong with Hunger Burger, but this is one of the places where you can try a lot of good Pennsylvania Dutch food  without heading into Pennsylvania Dutch country. However, those shops close earlier and are not open on all days, and we could have lost valuable time trying to find one that was open. I was curious about their versions of pretzels and shoofly pie.

In addition to many food options, there was also a flower stand, various book, craft, and linen stores, and bee products. All in all, there are nearly 80 independently-owned small businesses. While this is a far cry from the nearly 800 vendor spaces from when this served as a terminal market for the Reading Railroad, it's still a lot of stuff.

Once we had eaten and gone outside, I really enjoyed walking around the outside and enjoying the signs they had to indicate what wares you might find inside.

 

This is right across from the market and is a stop for the hop on, hop off buses. It was quite near our hotel, so this was where we grabbed it the next day.

 

Philadelphia - All along Arch Street

From the last two posts it sounds like we didn't make the most of the Betsy Ross House or Elfreth's Alley, not taking the tours or even spending very long. That is true, due to lack of information and circumstances, but that was still an important section of our tour.

First of all, you are in a very central location. We started right across from the Independence Mall, where you catch the tour buses. Everything we were doing was too close to take a tour bus to it.

We knew we were very close to the National Museum of American Jewish History, where we had already stopped by, and also quite close to the Philadelphia Mint, which we were not against seeing but we ran out of time.

(We were also quite close to the US Constitution Center, which didn't interest me much as it is set up for the interpretation of history rather than being an actual historic location, but it does get good reviews.)

However, what we really wanted was to see the Betsy Ross House, the Christ Church Burial Ground, and Elfreth's Alley. We made it to two of those, and although we went by the Burial Ground it didn't really seem to be open. (It was getting late in the day.) We took some pictures but there is really nothing to them, including no signs of ghostly activity.

However, just walking between those three locations brought us by so many other things. This sign may give you an idea of how densely crowded this area is with attractions.

It's got so many things it can list, it doesn't even mention an old but still in use Quaker meeting house and a synagogue, and yet we noticed them and their importance because religious freedom was an important part of Pennsylvania's foundation. Yes, the big attraction here is Christ Church, because not only is Benjamin Franklin buried in their cemetery but he, George Washington, and Betsy Ross attended the church itself, but it was only a part of the history of this area. The Old First Reformed Church that is on the sign goes back to 1727.

We also passed Girard Fountain Park, right near Engine 8 of the Philadelphia Fire Department, who maintain the park, with a large bust of the Fire Department's founder, Ben Franklin. Also, as the name implies, there is a fountain.

That is just the tip of the Ben Franklin ice berg for this area. If you go in the other direction you can find Franklin Court on Market Street and the Benjamin Franklin Museum on Chestnut. It really is his town, and that is shown in various subtle ways.

Now, Elfreth's Alley is not on Arch Street, so you cut along 2nd to get there. At the corner of Arch and 2nd is the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society. I don't have any idea how historic it is, but we stopped and looked at the cute little animals. Priorities!

Philadelphia - Elfreth's Alley

http://www.elfrethsalley.org/

"Our nation's oldest residential street" dates back to 1702, though some of the houses are newer.

Essentially you have one narrow alley with tall, narrow houses facing each other. The standard model is to have three floors, with each floor being a single room. This is also known as a Trinity house.

We read that it was one of the top ten things to see in Philadelphia, so we went, but we did not know that there was a Museum House or tours. We may have been there at the wrong time for that. Without any interpretation it may seem a little dull, though there were some charming features.

Our bus guide had told us that there were houses for sale, but in addition to being expensive I suspect they would be very inconvenient. Residents seem to take pride in their proximity to history though, at least based on all the flags. This is just one example.

We just walked down the street and back up it, slowly looking around.

There was one detour we were not expecting, in that this alley has it's own alley, Bladen's Court. I had not seen any mentions of it previously, but it does show up on this page, and people seem to like it.

http://www.ushistory.org/tour/elfreths-alley.htm

From a real estate point of view, a house on Elfreth's Alley could set you back almost $800,000 while a house in Bladen's Court would about half that price, so that's something to think about while shopping.

The trees and the quiet do give the neighborhood a nice atmosphere, and you are within easy walking distance of many important and interesting historical locations, but I ultimately do consider this more of a place to visit than to live.

Philadelphia - The Betsy Ross House

The Betsy Ross House is on Arch Street in Philadelphia:

http://historicphiladelphia.org/betsy-ross-house/what-to-see/

We had about an hour and a half to walk from the main drop off point, view the Betsy Ross House, Christchurch Church and Cemetery, and Elfreth Alley, then get back to catch the last bus. Because of that, we decided that we wouldn't take the tour.

A lot of our attention was taken by what I thought was a cistern but may have just been a statue, because it featured cats.

The really funny thing was that there was a sign for her grave that seemed to be pointing to the statue. Was Betsy Ross a cat lady?

No. This page says that she was not known to have any special affinity for cats:

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/house/room2.html

Also, when we were inside we asked about it and they said the grave was in that direction, but a little further.

That did look more like a grave.

While much of what we associate Betsy Ross with are apparently myths spread by her grandchildren, the house does play up the flag, as well as needlework, and definitely strips and stars.

If you do go inside without taking the tour, you will find a small shop, but also information on special events like this candle dipping class.

In that way, even if Betsy Ross is not the part of history that we think of, the house still becomes a way of preserving history in general.

After all, these were still important times, and she was there, no matter who made the flag.