jeff.kolthammer.org > adventures > 200511 Philly Trip
In November, I was stuck in Philadelphia for a week on business. Fortunately, the weather was nice and occupational demands prompted driving, rather than flying, the 450 or so miles from Cleveland. Since I would rent anyway (assuming the company wouldn't rather pay the 48c/mi current reimbursement), I found something big enough to fit my bicycle in the back, making for an easy commute from hotel to office and a splendid Sunday of touristing around the city.
I drove Wednesday night, arriving Thursday morning at the Hospital of the U of Pennsylvania, nearby which is a Philips office. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were filled with work, but Saturday afternoon I was able to cut out at around 4 and make it up to Valley Forge (National Historic Park) before sundown. The park was filled with touring roads and walking/biking trails, although it's basically just a big field with good lookout ridges and some restored cabins and canons from the continental army's winter encampment there in 1777 whilst the British occupied Philly. The park wasn't too occupied by unneccessary touristy garb, but did have a few goliaths.
The highlight of my trip was Sunday; I drove to and parked at the boathouses along the Schuylkill river (yes, I spell-checked that). There was a (rowing) regatta on the river, so I unloaded and wandered down to watch the races. Mostly college teams, it looked like, although the riverbank is populated by headquarters of rowing clubs of all kinds. I almost filled up my memory card shooting the cool geometries formed by trailered boats in the parking lots.
From there, I rode to the nearby art museum (go ahead, hum "gotta fly now") where I was suprised to find that photography is allowed. Colorful modern art makes for a great desktop backgrounds. I hit the Dutch and Flemish areas and the modern stuff, including Ross' "Mountain IV", the highest-resolution digital print (in 2004). It's huge, and was done by scanning the negative from a photograph taken with a WWII-era arial surveillance camera. The museum's great hall is impressive; I lost count of the number of right angles therein.
I exited the museum to the southeast, greeted by the view of the city down Franklin Parkway (80% of Philly is named Franklin, I think). From there, I rode through downtown, through city hall and various squares and past all sorts of nifty buildings that would have required a very wide angle to photograph. I hit the interesting section of South Street (I skipped the block-long line for the popular [cheese]steak joints in favor of a hole-in-the-wall burrito joint for lunch) and Penn's landing, then wandered back through town to see various historic things like the unimpressive liberty bell, shown here with Independence Hall behind. I hit Love Plaza as it got dark, noting a family of ghosts taking a portrait.
I found my way back to the museum, where I shot a self-portrait before riding back to boathouses, now in their nighttime regalia.
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