We started out on foot back toward the Independance Hall Visitor's Center for a map of downtown and the sights to see. Our first stop was the Constitution Center, for an interesting one man show and some museum like displays of the constitution and its history. After the center we stopped at the Bourse for lunch (the first commodity exchange in the US). After lunch we found a great walking tour that we decided to follow for the most part. Stop number one was the Second Bank of the United States, now a portrait gallery. The building was pretty interesting (minus the pink walls). We stopped at Library Hall which we were not allowed to tour as it is still used as a research library. We continued our tour past some pretty awesome buildings (don't know for sure what they really were) and stopped at the Merchant Exchange building. Quite the architecture, and is restored on the exterior but not yet on the interior, so we were not allowed to enter. Next we walked past the old City Tavern, where Franklin and other high soceity men would go to discuss politics and other topics. From the tavern we went to the First National Bank of the United States. Once again, not open for viewing but the exterior work was quite amazing.
Next on our tour of Philly's Historic places was the Christ Church. This is the oldest chuch in Philadelphia. The steeple was the tallest point in Colonial America and was for over 100 years. Many of the Colonial leaders attended service here on a regular basis, including the Washington Family, Penn Family, Benjamin Franklin and his Wife, as well as many noteable others. The guide was able to tell us which pew many of these notable people sat, pretty cool. The church aisles were also a bit different, as many of the early burials were actually inside, six feet under our feet (you had to be careful not to step on dead people). The other pretty amazing part of this church was the pipe organ it houses. The organ has 6000+ pipes that tower 3 stories in the back of the church and also in the front of the church. It was very impressive. The church still carries out services twice on Sunday and noon service on Wednesday, and hasn't missed a service in 300 years.
After a little break, we continued on to Elfreth Alley, the believed to be oldest residental street in the US. While being very close quarters, the homes were very interesting to look at. At this point our feet are getting a bit tired so we decided to head back toward the car, swing past china town, drop the cameras in the car and grab some dinner before heading back to NJ. We wandered all over downtown trying to find somewhere to eat, and evidently kept skirting the food. We finally found an Brick Oven Pizza place and called it good. It was a long walk back to the car, but we made it safe and sound.
