Day Two in Philly
To begin our second day in Philadelphia, we toured several historic locations with Ed Mauger, a former Associate Dean at Rutgers and founder of Philadelphia By Foot tours. We began with the Arch Street Meeting House where we learned a bit about the Society of Friends and William Penn's "Holy Experiment" of a political utopia of freedom of religion and trial by jury.
We also learned that the original maker of Quaker Oats was not a Quaker.
Next we visited Elfrey's Alley, a narrow street of historic buildings dating back to the early 18th century. It is now a beautifully restored exclusive residential street that originally had shops on the first floor and working class living quarters above.
This is common brick work.
We then visited the home of Betsy Ross, or a home much like Betsy would have lived in.
Our next stop was at Christ Church. Founded in 1695, Christ Church was the first Anglican Church established in Pennsylvainia. It became the founding church for the American Episcopal Church. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams attended services at Christ Church.
Now it was time for lunch so we stopped at City Tavern where many of our Founding Fathers ate and drank. The menu reflects the cuisine of the 17th and 18th centuries. We especially enjoyed the bread basket that included sweet potato rolls.
In the afternoon we visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
It was here that the Declaration of Independance, the Confederation of States, and the Constitution of the United States were hashed out and written. Rhode Island was the only state that did not send a representative to the Constitutional Convention. Oh, well....
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Curtis Publishing Building, home of Ladies Home Journal. In the lobby we viewed a gorgeous glass mosaic, 15 ft. by 49 ft. titled Dream Garden. Designed by Maxfield Parrish in 1916 and crafted by Tiffany Studios, the work consists of over 100,000 pieces of glass.
Philadelphia has great architecture. In addition to well perserved colonial buildings, it has a wealth of 19th century revival and Victorian structures as well as 20th century modern and postmodern sky scrapers. Here are pictures of some of the buildings I saw.
Here are pictures of architectural details.
After dinner we were entertained by Christian Johnson playing the role of portrait painter, Charles Wilson Peale. Peale showed us his paintings of a great many famous men and women and talked about their lives and personalities.
The painting on the left is a self-portrait titled, Artist in his Gallery. On the right is Peale's portrait of George Washington which sold for $26,000,000 in 2006.
Peale had lots of children, several became acomplished painters themselves. Perhaps it was because he named them Rembrandt Peale, Rubens Peale, Raphael Peale, and Titian Peale!
For more about C. W. Peale, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Willson_Peale
We also learned that the original maker of Quaker Oats was not a Quaker.Next we visited Elfrey's Alley, a narrow street of historic buildings dating back to the early 18th century. It is now a beautifully restored exclusive residential street that originally had shops on the first floor and working class living quarters above.
This is common brick work.
We then visited the home of Betsy Ross, or a home much like Betsy would have lived in.
Our next stop was at Christ Church. Founded in 1695, Christ Church was the first Anglican Church established in Pennsylvainia. It became the founding church for the American Episcopal Church. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams attended services at Christ Church.
Now it was time for lunch so we stopped at City Tavern where many of our Founding Fathers ate and drank. The menu reflects the cuisine of the 17th and 18th centuries. We especially enjoyed the bread basket that included sweet potato rolls.
In the afternoon we visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
It was here that the Declaration of Independance, the Confederation of States, and the Constitution of the United States were hashed out and written. Rhode Island was the only state that did not send a representative to the Constitutional Convention. Oh, well....
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Curtis Publishing Building, home of Ladies Home Journal. In the lobby we viewed a gorgeous glass mosaic, 15 ft. by 49 ft. titled Dream Garden. Designed by Maxfield Parrish in 1916 and crafted by Tiffany Studios, the work consists of over 100,000 pieces of glass.
Philadelphia has great architecture. In addition to well perserved colonial buildings, it has a wealth of 19th century revival and Victorian structures as well as 20th century modern and postmodern sky scrapers. Here are pictures of some of the buildings I saw.
Here are pictures of architectural details.
After dinner we were entertained by Christian Johnson playing the role of portrait painter, Charles Wilson Peale. Peale showed us his paintings of a great many famous men and women and talked about their lives and personalities.
The painting on the left is a self-portrait titled, Artist in his Gallery. On the right is Peale's portrait of George Washington which sold for $26,000,000 in 2006.
Peale had lots of children, several became acomplished painters themselves. Perhaps it was because he named them Rembrandt Peale, Rubens Peale, Raphael Peale, and Titian Peale!
For more about C. W. Peale, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Willson_Peale
It is amazing what you can see in the rain!! xo
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