Home Sweet Home

Philadelphia is an historical centerpiece. Here you will find Independence Hall where our forefathers drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. You will also learn that this was the first Capitol of the country, an oft-forgotten fact.

Benjamin Franklin is our favorite son, even though he wasn't born here. He started the first free library,the first fire department and so many more firsts.

We have lots of museums and the first zoo. The Art Museum is right next door to the Rodin Museum. If you visit, the Aquarium in Camden is a nice trip for a few hours and visiting Valley Forge is a must. The Schuylkill river has lots of races. You can watch them from Fairmount Park. Boathouse Row sits on the river, of course. At night, the boathouses are lit up with Christmas like lights. It is really pretty.

Fairmount Park covers ten percent of the land in Philadelphia. Almost every neighborhood has a piece of Fairmount Park near it. My favorite is Wissahickon Valley. The Wissahickon Creek runs through it. You can rent horses there or you can just feed the ducks or walk or bike along the trail Across the creek, you can climb some pretty high hills.

Of course, we have more recent history. You could visit the neighborhood the city burnt down in 1985, by accident. And see the houses they built there that are shifting already.

The sports teams all play in the same area. The southernmost stop of the subway drops you off at the stadium area. This is also where most popular artists perform.

There is a bar and a pizza place on almost every corner so there is no need to go to Pat's or Geno's for a cheesesteak. I've heard they are called steak and cheese sandwiches in other places. They are not quite the same as the ones you can get here.

Speaking of cheesesteaks, people here love to stir up controversy. The owner of Geno's steaks has asked that customers order in English. Fool doesn't realize he is a tourist industry. He is going to drive everybody across the street to Pat's!

Philly isn't one place, really. People in the Northeast say all the way down in South Philly. It's a fifteen minute drive. Not much at all. Every area is separated into a bunch of neighborhoods. And people are very protective of their neighborhoods.

Most of us are traditionalists. People over forty miss the days when you could see Billy Penn from anywhere in the city. His statue sits on top of City Hall. Now he is surrounded by high rise office buildings with no purpose. And we are stubborn. There is a park that was re-name thirty years ago. People are still knocking down that sign or crossing out the name and painting the old one up there!

The climate. In the winter, it snows a little. One good snowstorm a year maybe, a good snowstorm is at least eight inches of snow. In the summer, it's not the heat. It's the humidity. Fall and Spring are the best times to be here.

The best things in Philly are Tastykakes and Wawas.