Hank – We walked all over Philly today. First we went down to the Museum of Art, the steps of which were made famous in the first Rocky movie. Fun fact I learned today: Kathy saw the first Rocky movie 16 times. Obviously we had to take a photo of her with the Rocky statue. From there we went to the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians in Philadelphia. Within is a lot of history about the progress of medicine and tons of real human body parts showing how some of that progress came about. The museum doesn’t allow photography so you are saved from viewing quite morbid photos. But there were a couple exhibits outside the no photo zone that we were allowed to record so you’re not completely off the hook.

By the time we left we were hungry for lunch. We stopped in a diner and split a sandwich and salad between us. While we were eating I witnessed  something unusual. A man wearing a suit and in a wheel chair balancing on the back wheels and going down a set of stairs like a boss. Pretty impressive.

We checked out City Hall, the Masonic Temple, public art exhibits, Reading Terminal and its plethora of eating establishments, and finally got to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We stopped to have a drink and rest our feet in the Red Owl Tavern. From there we wandered back to our hotel taking in more sights along the way.

Kathy – Today was a day full of exploring the city of Philadelphia. I really enjoy these type of days. Having a few things on the agenda, but also just walking about and seeing what we find. We found a lot. There is so much history in this town that on every block or two you run into some sort of historical plaque, monument, or building. We took full advantage of our day as we walked from 9:00am until 4:00pm. We definitely got the miles in today.

The Rocky statute brought back lots of memories from my teenage years when the first (and the best) Rocky movie came out. OMG, I thought Sylvester Stallone was so darn cute back then. 😄

The Mutter Museum was so incredible. A few people told us to visit this place and I must say we were not disappointed. We were in that museum for at least 2 – 3 hours. It is truly fascinating. It not only gives a great history of medicine, but it also includes a magnitude of real bones, organs, and different specimens that show different disease processes. There were even a few bodies. Everything is preserved well and the exhibits are shown in a very respectful way. This was truly one of the best demonstrations I have ever seen related to the human body.

The Liberty Bell was really cool to see. It was really funny last night when we had a drink and Uvby said, “I don’t know why so many people go to see the Liberty Bell. It’s just a bell with a crack in it.” She is a local gal and apparently not that impressed with this beautiful bell. There were so many other places and monuments we saw thoughout the day. Everything was worth seeing. Except we chose not to pay $8.00 each to go into a cemetery to see Benjamin Franklin’s burial site. Overall, it was a great day in Philly seeing all the wonderful sites.