Ben Franklin Post Office
I started my day by mailing post cards from the B. Free Franklin Post Office. This is the post office that Ben Franklin first established and that was attached to his print shop. It was the first post office ever to be in operation in the United States and it is still a working post office today. It's not a full service post office. Mail is not delivered there and you can't mail anything larger than 13 ounces. It's perfect for post cards though because they have a special post mark that they use for any outgoing mail. I always mail post cards to my parents and grandparents when I travel. I try to get them on the first day of my trip and mail them the next day so that they beat me back, but that doesn't always work out. I didn't beat them back this time. I thought it was neat that my recipients would have a small piece of history through something as simply as a post card.
Reading Terminal Market
When I left the post office I walked to Reading Terminal Market. This is a farmer's market a few blocks from Independence Mall. It was beautiful! The produce was artistically displayed. The fish and meats were beautifully cut. The bakery items smelled fantastic and the handmade jewelry was creatively shown in glass cases. I spent an hour just walking the aisles and looking at everything. I love farmer's markets anyway, and this one certainly tops that list! It's right up there with the Pike Place Market in Seattle for me.
Franklin Square
Franklin Square is a park, again not far from Independence Mall. The high on Wednesday only got up to 78 so I had very comfortable weather for being outside. Some people sit and read at the beach, I sat and read in the park. I spent about an hour, just reading on a park bench. The park was full of teens playing football, nannies walking their charges, preschoolers playing on the playground and families out enjoying the day. Franklin Square includes a mini-golf course and a carousel. As Kayla has mentioned to me before, parks like this one are very central to the cities they are in because they are essentially the back yards of the citizens there. So many people in large northeastern cities live in apartments, that these parks become a common place to play and enjoy the outdoors the way many of us do in our backyards.
US Mint
When I left Franklin Square I went to the US Mint. It is free to tour and was very interesting! I learned a lot about the history of US coinage and got to see the factory where the coins are made. I saw belts with lots of pennies and what I think were nickels, although I was a long way away so it could have been dimes or quarters. There are six mints in the US, the ones offering tours are in Philadelphia and Denver. You can also do a virtual tour online.
Betsy Ross House
I also toured the Betsy Ross house on Wednesday. While she is best known for making the first American flag, there is actually no written document that confirms she did that. More likely she was part of a group of women that made the first flag. She is credited with creating a five point star for the flag as opposed to the six point star initially proposed by George Washington. It's so fascinating to me to see where and how people from other times lived. The very tiny home that she shared with the widow she rented from and her seven children while her husbands (she had three throughout her lifetime) were off to war was very simple. It was literally walking back in time.
Elfreth's Alley
Elfreth's Alley is the oldest residential street in the US. It is currently still home to private residents. The row houses are well preserved and the cobblestone pathway make you feel as though you've gone to another time. I just walked through the alley on the way back to my hotel, you can tour one of the houses owned by a historic society if you wish.
Phillies
My sister took a train over from NYC to go to a Philadelphia Phillies game with me on Wednesday night. One of my goals is to visit every major league baseball park, this game allowed me to add another one to the list of those visited. We had a dinner or hot dogs and fries...is there any more appropriate dinner for a major league game? We watched the game and visited, enjoying the night air. We had someone take our picture together because it's kind of become our thing. We have a picture of us at Fenway, CitiField, Rangers Ballpark and now Citizens Bank Park. I'm sure we'll continue to add more!
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I've mentioned before that I experienced several reactions to my willingness to travel alone. Most who have expressed concern about me traveling alone have expressed concern for my safety. I decided about a year and a half ago that I didn't want to live in fear. I allowed fear to stop me from doing things and I didn't want to do that anymore. If I waited around for someone who would travel, go to the movies, see a play and such, with me I would still be waiting. I'm still learning to overcome some of my social anxieties, but I'm much better than I used to be. Traveling alone is part of me embracing my independence. It's about me making things happen in life rather than waiting on life to happen to me. It can be risky to travel alone, that just means you have to be smart about it. Here are some of the things I do to be smart about my safety.
- I research my destination thoroughly before booking any flights or hotel accommodations. This includes studying maps, finding eating establishments and looking at ground transportation. I rarely rent a car, so I want to make sure I know what the public transportation options are.
- I book a hotel that is close to the sights I'll be visiting. This often means that I pay more, but hotel accommodations are not something to be cheap about.
- I send my flight itinerary and hotel reservation information to my parents before I leave.
- I carry a small cross body purse when I'm out around town, rather than a larger bag or a handbag that I have to carry. This is as much for convenience as for safety. I don't want to carry lots of stuff if I'm going to be walking around a lot.
- I don't walk around after dark. If I'm going to be too far away from my hotel after dark to get back on foot, I catch a cab.
I don't want to be fearful about life, but I do want to be smart about it. I would encourage others to do the same. Going to museums and exhibits alone is the easy part, most people don't notice you if you're alone. In several places I've done the audio tour to go along with my self tour which helps me blend in even more.
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