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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
But I’d do it all again, no hesitation
There are always reasons to go somewhere, and god knows that in the past I have used some pretty sketchy reasons to justify travel. And Philadelphia is close enough from me that a two hour drive (or a three hour train ride with transfers in Secaucus and Trenton) is never in and of itself really an obstacle for another visit. I’ve always liked Philadelphia and it’s certainly easy enough to do a day trip there anytime, or even stay overnight (there are cheap hotel rates to be had there most weekends). This time though I needed to be in Philadelphia for a solid week- the city was hosting this year’s Greenbuild Conference, which we’ll talk about later. But until then, let’s catch up with the city and remember why we always liked it in the first place.
Every time I go to the Barnes Collection I like it more. And to see it under a late afternoon sun on a perfect November day certainly didn’t hurt either.
A note about the photos. For years now, I have given up carrying a point and shoot camera or DSLR and just used my iPhone, and this is the first slideshow that uses my new iPhone 16 Pro and its new camera. I have been an iPhone guy since 2007 and for years now I have participated in the iPhone Upgrade Program where I get a new phone every year (good) but also pay Apple for this new phone until I die (probably not as good). Getting a new phone with all of the upgrades every year is great, although year to year most upgrades start to feel incremental at best. This year though the camera felt noticeably better. One thing that was expected was the new 5x optical zoom camera- equivalent to a 120mm lens, it’s encouraging me to take close up detail shots that you’re sure to see later. But what I didn’t expect was how much better shooting into direct sunlight would be. I can now take pictures into absolutely blinding direct sunlight and I’ll get something better than what I saw with my actual eyes. And here in the Barnes, under that late afternoon sunlight, you can start to see a little of what the new camera is capable of.
Right next door to the Barnes Collection is the Rodin Museum, a place I must have walked in front of 20 times or more but had never actually bothered to walk in. I broke that streak and was both a bit disappointed (it’s just as small inside as I thought) and also a bit the opposite of disappointed (which the internet suggests as pleased or satisfied). The pleasing and satisfying part was the front courtyard- behind that arch I never walked through was a reflecting pool and a very nice open air courtyard, somewhere that also looked great under that same late afternoon sun and on that same perfect November Day.
Uphill from the Barnes is Eastern State Penitentiary, an easy walk that I always think is just a little shorter than it actually is. Eastern State is where those crazy Quakers invented our whole broken prison system, introducing the idea that the punishment for the crime is being locked away with only you and your own damning thoughts. They were serious about it, and criminals imprisoned there in the 1830s had no interaction with any human at all until they were released back in society with whatever bonus mental problems came with all that super intense isolation.
As for the building, it’s as haunted a building as you can ever visit, and the crumbling walls and partial ruins feel crushed by centuries of pain and anguish. Your visit comes with an audio tour which I’ve heard before, this time instead I just wandered the grounds and let the building talk to me. I mean that mostly as a metaphor, with mostly being a key word in that sentence.
If you were doing word association with Philadelphia one of the top words you would end up with is probably historic, or Independence Hall or something similar. If I’m being honest with myself, my top words would probably start with cheesesteaks, then go to Paddy’s Pub (not a real place) or Gritty (terrifyingly a real thing), or the Barnes or Eastern State or the Rocky steps at the museum or a lot of other things before I finally got to historic or Independence Hall.
I don’t know how many times I have visited Philadelphia, but I do know that I had only been to Independence Hall once before. It’s not like I hate American history, it’s just that there are always other reasons to go to Philadelphia that always seem to take precedence. This time though I made an actual effort to make a reservation for the building tour and planned to go back inside somewhere I hadn’t been since I was in grade school.
There’s a lot of history in this room and the short tour by the always impressive National Parks Service was pretty comprehensive. One thing I learned was that when the constitution was being written in the summer of 1787, the windows were all nailed shut so that people couldn’t hear what was going on, which probably was a lot of white guts in tricornered hats complaining about how they were all going mad from the heat, something which may actually explain why they thought the electoral college was a good idea.
The Museum of the American Revolution is a damn good museum and one that covers a subject you would think I would know more about. My American education kind of glossed over this war and summarized it as a win without all the actual details. It wasn’t until I was in a college history class that someone even dared to mention that the Revolutionary War wasn’t even an actual revolution since power did not shift between classes and stayed with the rich landowners. The details of why the war happened and how it did are pretty interesting and, to be objective, it seems like a lucky break that France stepped in and that the colonies won at all. Maybe that’s why my high school history class skipped over a lot of those actual details.
The picture I’m including from the museum is its star attraction, George Washington’s tent. The tent has an interesting history, and if you’ve been there before, you know that this is the one place where photos are absolutely banned. Except apparently at random times when they give “Tent Talks,” a deeper look into the tent when (non flash) tent selfies are not only allowed but encouraged.
This first page of this two page slideshow bounces around a lot, covers multiple days and ends at a great place in Philadelphia at Cira Green, a park on top of a parking garage just a few blocks south of 30th Street Station. The park has terrific views in all directions, and the sky was just spectacular on a night where up on that rooftop it started to feel more like winter than fall.
