Day 12 - Fun in Philly

Today, our last full day on the road, the goal was to do some things in Philly that we had not done before.  That meant our first stop of the day, after a late start to sleep in a little, was the US Mint.  This is the location where most of the US coins are made.  I found a perfect parking spot a short walk from the Mint and we went in.  Unfortunately, what we didn't know was that the Mint is not operational on the weekend, so that left us to read info on the walls and in the exhibits, which as any loyal blog reader knows is not the preferred activity of the Volk children.  The machines looked quite impressive, but since they weren't working it kind of lost its impact.  At one point we came up to a group that was being led by someone that worked at the Mint, so we slowly walked behind them to hear what he was explaining.

We finished at the Mint (after, of course, buying stuff at the gift shop) and headed next door to what looked like a very old cemetery.  From inside the Mint we could see people walking around the cemetery, so we figured this wasn't any old cemetery.  This was a correct assumption, as this turned out to be the burial place of Ben Franklin, the Christ Church Burial Ground.  There was a small admission price to enter, and as we were paying the cashier mentioned that they were having what was basically a scavenger hunt for kids that related to 7 signers of the Declaration of Independence that were buried either at this location or on the church grounds.  The man who explained the details gave Amanda the pamphlet and she and Debbie were off and running. 

The answers to the questions for five of the men were found on their graves at the cemetery, and Amanda dutifully read the info and wrote the answers.  We then got in the car and drove a few blocks to the church, where I once again found a very good parking spot (George Castanza would have been proud) and we headed into the church.  This church was where not only Ben Franklin attended, but so did George Washington and the Penn family.  So we didn't actually go someplace where Washington slept (unless he dozed off during a sermon or two) but did sit where Washington sat.  Amanda found the last two answers and headed to the gift shop for her momentous prize (not really momentous, as I guess the thrill is in the hunt).

After leaving the church we headed nearby on Market Street for lunch at a cheese steak place that was recommended by one of the people that worked at the church.  The place was small, but the food was good (although the lack of a fryer for cheese fries was a big mark against the place) and the woman cashier was very good at upselling the "cole slaw, macaroni salad and potato salad that [her] mom makes."  Like suckers, we bought all three sides. 

By the time we finished lunch it was around 2:45, and we had arranged to meet Derek's family at Mariah's dorm room at 3:45.  The ride there should have only taken 20 minutes or so, so we were kind of in no-man's land.  But we decided to head there anyway, figuring we would walk around when we got there.  Good thing we left early because the traffic was awful on 476 and 76.  We didn't get to Eastern University until a little after 3:30.  Derek, Amy and Mariah were still in a meeting and they asked us if we could go pick up Dylan, Lilly and Serena from Danielle's house (and Adam's house, just easier to reference one name each time) to bring them back to the college so they would have time to say goodbye to Mariah.  We drove the short distance to Danielle's house, got the kids and headed back to Eastern.

By the time we got back to the college the meeting was done so we all convened in Mariah's room.  Good thing her roommate decided not to attend school right now, because there would not have been enough space in there for 3 families.  It's a very cute, little room that Mariah was already making her own, and we are sure that very shortly she will love being in college there.  We bid our goodbyes and headed out.

Now it was time to bring back the memories, as we headed towards the Penn campus.  First stop, the Book Store.  I am sure if I looked back on blogs from 2 years ago I said the same thing, but I have to say again that I really prefer the old book store from when we were in school versus the Barnes & Noble book store of today.  That place had the real college feel.  OK, it was small and cramped and was always a zoo, but it was a true college book store.

Anyway, we spent lots of time looking for new Penn gear, and everyone got something.  We finished at the book store around 6:15, so we headed up the street to the Sammy house to see if we could get in.  No luck.  The place was locked and no lights were on, so we just took a few pictures out front and moved on up the street to Lee's Hoagies (at this point in the blog I am sure Matt is rolling his eyes, but I don't care).  I found a parking spot (again with the parking spots?) on 41st Street directly across the street from 219, where both Debbie and I lived (not at the same time, at least technically).  As I walked across the street to take a picture, Debbie noticed that a light was on in Apt. D (top floor, our apartment) so I rang the buzzer.  A woman answered and I explained quickly that Debbie and I had lived there years ago and wondered if would be possible to come show the kids.  Not sure if she truly believed me until she came down to open the door and saw the kids standing there.  She nicely let us in and up the 3 flights we walked and entered a time warp.  Other than the fact that they converted what was our living room into a 7th bedroom it pretty much looked the same.  We showed the kids where Debbie's room was and where my room was, and left.

We walked around the corner to Lee's and ordered.  As has been the case since 1987, I ordered a tuna hoagie (again, deal with it Matt, it has meaning), Debbie and Brian had turkey, Ethan got corned beef and Amanda went off the grid and got chicken fingers.  Yes, it was tuna on white bread with Provolone cheese, but mmmmmmm was it good.  We finished our hoagies and left.

As for evening plans, we simply headed back to the hotel because Ethan needed access to a laptop and the internet because he was going to be involved with a fantasy football draft with his camp friends.  Unfortunately, the draft that was supposed to start at 8:00, giving us a slimmer of a chance of walking around afterwards, has not started as of 8:45 as I type this.  Oh well.

Tomorrow I think we will head back to the Penn campus to walk around and see what is new.  After that, I believe we will wrap up Volk Tour 2012 and drive back to reality.  Waaaaaaah.