Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Damon got off a long weekend so we decided to drive up to Philadelphia.  We were able to meet up with Kory that was a lot of fun to see her since she has moved up to the house just a short distance from Philly. It was fairly chilly so we spent one day in the city hopping around for me to get my National Park passport stamps.  The last time I had been to Philly was 10 years ago as per my NPS passport book stamp dates.  

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the fifth most populous in the U.S. Upon researching what a commonwealth is versus a state there is little clear definition.  I think that they just want to feel special and refer to themselves differently than the states. There are only four commonwealths which are Massachusetts, Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The connection with Philly and early American history is significant as it was the location for several continental congresses and where the Declaration of Independence was signed.  It served as the nation's capital (among a few other cities) during the Revolutionary War and also as a temporary capital while Washington DC was under construction. Apparently, Philadelphia is the birthplace of the United States Marine Corps, the first library (1731), first hospital (1751) and medical school (1765), first Capital (1777), first stock exchange (1790), first zoo (1874), and first business school (1881). Also, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States.

We were also able to visit the new Philadelphia temple which was very beautiful.  I did not plan it, but our hotel was across the street from the temple. Without a doubt, Owen's favorite part was going to the Benjamin Franklin Institute that is a very kid-friendly museum.  There was an exhibit on the nervous system that had a jungle gym type of thing that Owen could craw up and all around which he loved.  We had to bait him back down with some diet coke and chocolate for him to get out. The train exhibit was also really fascinating because it had a real train locomotive to go inside and see all the levers and knobs to turn. A very fun weekend trip.