Spontaneity is not in my comfort zone. I like plans!
However, last week, I stepped outside of that zone and it turned out pretty well.
My son’s employer, Linode, was showing off the refurbished bank building in Philly that is now its headquarters.
I dreaded the thought of getting caught in rush hour, navigating through narrow streets, finding parking, so I left very early, figuring I would kill some time by walking around or sitting on a bench people watching. That was the extent of my plan.
I found parking across from the Arden Theater, a place I had heard of, but never knew where it was. Now I do!
The area was clearly marked with signs pointing toward various historical attractions. Good job Philadelphia!
I walked about a half-block to Elfreth’s Alley and took a stroll down the “nation’s oldest residential street.”
Next was the Fireman’s Hall Museum, a little farther down 2nd St. It is housed in a firehouse built in 1902. I was the only visitor in the building. The tributes to fallen firefighters and a 9/11 display made it an almost holy place. I was surprised that so many African-Americans were firemen in the early 20th Century. The fire department must have been one of the earliest integrated institutions.
It was startling to learn that only about 40 more Philadelphia firefighters have died over the course of two-plus centuries than died at the World Trade Center in 2001.
Next was the Betsy Ross House. Serendipitously, there was no admission charge because it was Flag Day. I always pictured Betsy as some middle-aged woman sewing a flag contently from a rocking chair. So wrong. She was some kind of patriot! Betsy sewed the flag in secret, lost a husband to the revolution, apprenticed as an upholsterer, and did whatever she could for the Revolution. She didn’t own the house that now bears her name, but walking through it was educational and humbling.
Then it was on to Ben Franklin’s modest park next to Engine 8/Ladder 2 and then on to Franklin’s burial site. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a penny to add to the collection on the grave.
Time for the open house. I backtracked to the old bank, which was next to the Betsy Ross House.
Not bad for a day without a plan.
The Q-View 