Day Ten - Annville, PA

We slept in past the alarm this morning, and then spent the rest of the morning uploading pictures from last night and getting things straightened out. Kates and her roommates were all in class so we had the room to ourselves to slack off a bit. :)

We left shortly after 11:00 for Philadelphia, which is about two hours away. It was raining, and it didn't stop until we finished our trip. It felt like we were right back home in Washington State.

Driving (riding) around Philadelphia was a bit of an eye-opener. The lanes were narrow, buses swerved in and out of them, and pedestrians had no qualms about stepping out in the middle of the street. We finally found a parking garage, and decided to just hoof it around the city from there. We eventually found the visitor center and were directed to pick up our free tickets for the tour of Independence Hall, pointed in the direction of the Liberty Bell and given a recommendation for lunch.

Our tour wasn't set to start for another hour, so we spent some time wandering around the exhibits in the visitor center that centered on anti-slavery and the Underground Railroad. Eventually we braved the rain and headed down the street the first building we found housed the Liberty Bell, along with an exhibit focusing on how the Bell has been used to represent freedom, from the rights of former slaves to equality for women.

Then it was back into the rain to wait for our tour to start. Our tour guide was informative and interesting, and it's always fun to hear new accents. Independence Hall is where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed by the Founding Fathers.

We hadn't eaten yet today, so we followed the advice of a local from the visitors' center and made our way to the National Mechanic for a (very) late lunch. The building was a former church and a former bank, and he described it as "the only place you could save money and save your soul while getting a little tipsy. We loved the National Mechanic! It had a dimly lit pub atmosphere (with very promising nighttime activities :) ), great service and pretty decent food. We tried the popcorn chicken, not realizing that it was Cajun flavored. It was still great, and Jess enjoyed having the tomato soup to mellow it out.

It was getting to be late afternoon, so we rushed to the US Mint just in time for them to close. They let us into the gift shop, so we tried to dry off there for a few minutes before starting the long, wet trek back to the car. We passed the off-site cemetery for Christ Church, and saw Benjamin Franklin's grave, dotted with pennies visitors had left in tribute.

Getting out of Philadelphia was an absolute mess, not helped at all by the fact that we left shortly after 5:00. We eventually made it out of the city and met Kates' sister for dinner in Hershey. Then it was back to Kates' and the school for what should have been an early night. :) Tomorrow we are sleeping in and heading to Hershey Park in the afternoon.

Oh, and completely un-trip-related, but I finally got a hold of one of the housing coordinators at Pendleton and got a house reserved for Bryce and I. :) I will even be able to move in on November 1st,