Years ago, in June of 2012 in fact, I started to blog in an effort to document my travels through life. But life, as you know, gets in the way of our best intentions and I shared just one post in 2023, and two in 2024. Now though, I am back and making a go of it. Years from now, when I can no longer journey, I want to be able to read about the places that I visited.
When elderly parent challenges had us canceling our long planned trip to Great Britain, we opted to take two long weekend trips instead. For one of those two weekends, we took the train from Roanoke VA to Philadelphia PA, and knowing that we only had 36 hours to explore, we got right to it!
Philadephia is flanked by two rivers: the Schuykill and the Delaware, and we calculated that we walked over 30 miles going from one to the other and everywhere in between. I particularly loved seeing the contrast of historic buildings set against new ones.
We started the day at Reading Terminal Market where we devoured our cajun breakfast.
We then walked the Benjamin Franklin Parkway past the JFK Love Park, the Barnes and Rodin Art Galleries, The Philadephia Free Library, through the Oval, and to the Philadephia Museum of Art.
We walked back down the other side of the Parkway, by the Dilworth Park Interactive Fountain, and strolled through the City Hall courtyard.
After a Philadelphia Cheese Steak lunch (what else?) we walked to the Old City. Visits to the National Constitution Center (oh how I wish more Americans would remember the Constitution) and Old City Hall reminded us of our country’s history.
As the day began to wind down, we walked to Penn’s Landing on the Delaware River.
After a stroll along the river, we took the pedestrian walkway on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware and halfway to New Jersey. The views of the city were remarkable, and the bridge itself was beautiful.
After an amazing day, we finally took an Uber back to the hotel.
We already know we will return … there are so many wonderful museums dedicated to art, history, and science, and we look forward to checking them out.
Life on the Bike and other Fab Things 
Beautiful images of one of my favorite cities Laurie. Years ago when Terry and I were there I took a photo of the Philadelphia city hall building. I didn’t think the photo was anything special but about a year after I took the photo a Philadelphia historical magazine contacted me through my blog and asked me if they could use the photo for the cover of their magazine. Of course I agreed 😊. I’ll send you a photo of the magazine that they send me after they used my photo. We hope to return to Philly one day because we really enjoyed our time there.
Joe, that’s an amazing story! Congratulations.
Thank you Laurie 😊
OOPS Thank you Alys 😊
Joe, I finally have a moment to respond: thanks for sharing the photos of the cover. What an incredibly, well deserved honor! That building is so large and the architecture so stunning, that I had no idea how to capture it. You did a great job!
Thank you Laurie 😊 I was pretty surprised when they contacted me.
Laurie, you’ve captured the beauty and history on your thirty mile trek. I’m amazed at what you were able to see over the long weekend. There is so much to see and appreciate in this country. May your travels, photos, and logs continue to enrich your world.
Thanks Alys! It was a really fun day in Philly, which is such a great city! XO
Hey, hi Laurie 💛 You are one hell of a force! It’d take a few days for most holidayers to see so many sites. Gorgeous photos of your visit to Philly. I especially like all the dignified paddle boats lined up at the pier and the photo of all the colourful locks too. So funny, I was recently looking for a Halloween photo for a paper thing I made and came across that spooky old building you took us too when we were in Radford. LOL, I had it filed under Halloween. Hugs, K💛
Hi Kelly! So good to hear from you! I loved those paddle boats, too ❤
I need to do better following you on Instagram. Is that the best place for me to keep up with you and Jim and your travels????
XOXO
Hey hon 💛 I’m actually taking a small break from Social Media just now, posting very little. I just can’t deal with news about your President and his band of idiots day after day. It wears me down. But I’m usually on InstaGram as far as crafty things go. We were in Europe in the spring and I posted some picks on IG. Still kicking around when the notion grabs me, LOL 💛💛
Oh I totally get the disaster out of DC. It is so hard to be “responsible” and keep up with the news vs save my sanity! UGHHHHHHH!!!! Love you, honey!
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