Travelling Trio

USA – Philadelphia – Washington DC – Week 9

• By Denise
• May 31, 2016
• No Comments

We were fortunate enough to be able to catch up with friends from England, Jo and Richard who were visiting their son Tom, in Philadelphia. Since Jo and Richard were very familiar with the city we left our sightseeing in their capable hands.

The city is small compared to New York and Boston but still has a population of around 1.5million or so. One of the must do’s in Philadelphia (in my opinion) is the Benjamin Franklin Walking Tour which starts at the Liberty Bell and the Meeting House where the founding fathers of the US met to discuss the contents of the Declaration of Independence.

Benjamin Franklin’s original Post Office

This walking tour lasts for a few hours and our guide was full of information about the history of Philadelphia and was also quick to point out some interesting facts such as it was the first Capitol, it started the first bank, the first hospital and Ben Franklin set up the first library. There were many other ‘firsts’ but they were the ones that stood out to me.  (Note my spelling of some of these words is the US way of spelling!!)

Tom had recommended we go to the Traders Market for lunch and this certainly didn’t disappoint. This is a market full of various food outlets offering their wares and it was a bustling and loud place to visit which added to the wonderful atmosphere. Carter tried the famous Philly Cheese Steak sandwich and thoroughly enjoyed it! I must say the small morsel I was given to try was delicious!!!  I’m not sure why this concept hasn’t yet taken off in NZ – or perhaps it has?

We met up with Tom for dinner at a popular Irish Pub Restaurant in the University area and enjoyed a meal of fish in chips! Yummy… Tom’s on a rowing scholarship and in his third year of study so is very familiar now with the places to visit and to experience in Philly.

On this basis, our next visit was to the Franklin Museum which has a planetarium, and IMAX theatre showing movies. Carter loved the interactive sporting area they had and was able to test his start speed on a short 20m indoor course. There was also a movie on the IMAX theatre showing the National Parks of the USA which was really impressive and just reinforced how vast this country is. I cannot wait to visit again!   While I haven’t mentioned much about the sites we visited we did see a lot and the walking tour helped us with much of this.

Martin Luther King Memorial

Next day we were off to Washington DC for the day to take in another walking tour which was an “All in One”. This meant that we walked for four hours through the main areas of the city which has been beautifully designed for this. We were able to visit the White House, the Washington Monument, Thomas Jefferson’s memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial Park, the Martin Luther King memorial, the National WWII Memorial, Reflecting Pool (where Forrest Gump ran to meet Jenny), the Tidal Basin, Constitution Gardens and many more historical areas such as passing by the Pentagon.

Yes, it is the White House

If you are visiting any of these cities then I think the Free Walking Tours offered are the best value and provide you with a good overall take on the cities and their history in their own right.  A must do attraction.

Watching the Drexel University Team

We then travelled down south to the Occuquan River where Tom had a rowing race to compete in for his Drexel University team. It was awesome to see this at university level as Carter has shown interest in rowing and thought it was amazing meeting someone who actually rowed for a university and also see him rowing ‘in the flesh’ so to speak.

Another farewell (our final one) to the Foulds’ who we are hoping will visit us in New Zealand sometime soon!!!