City Hall Philadelphia PA

This is a picture of Philadelphia's City Hall.It amazes me that such a magnificent building is still standing and is being used.

I just searched and found more information in regards to the building.It was constructed between 1871-1901.For my information regarding the building please click on the following links:

http://www.geocities.com/athens/delphi/2115/Mainframeset.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_City_Hall

One of the pictures is Independence Hall.I also took a picture of a cobblestone path that was on The Independence Hall grounds.Seeing the cobblestone path made me stop and wonder who might of walked on that path.The last picture is another view looking up at the church that I showed in my previous post.I had wanted to post it with the other picture.Sorry about the mix up.

I love the beauty of Independence Hall.I was thinking the other day how gratifying it was to be able to tour Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence came about and was signed.Having grown up in the Washington DC area I have visited so many monuments but to me it was more gratifying to walk in Independence Hall where so many great men came together.It is hard for me to wrap around the idea that I stood where Thomas Jefferson walked and stood many years ago.You can't beat that.As I grow older our nation's history interests me more and more.

On this trip we also visited Gettysburg and the battlefield on our way home.A lot of history took place there too.We want to go back to Gettysburg when we have more time to explore.It has been too long since we spent quality time there and explored in depth.My hubby is a civil war buff and truly enjoys exploring all of the battlefields.The national park rangers make history come alive.

Philadelphia Architecture

Thought I better get back to posting some more pictures from our visit to Philadelphia before I had forgotten about it.

I clicked on download before I was actually ready.There will only be one picture in this post.

This is a lovely church that we happened to walk by.I thought that the church was so elegant and regal looking.It is truly an inspiration to stop and take it in while walking by.My daughter and I stood there and took in all of the beauty of the church structure.

The View from The Top

I still have some pictures to show from Philadelphia but thought I would take a break and show some scenes from our area.

We took a ride up the mountain that overshadows our town.It's a 2.2 mile drive up the windy mountain road.According to our GPS the elevation here at our house is 2,700 feet.From research online I learned that the elevation at the top of East River Mountain is 3,500 feet.

Since this ride was a spur of the moment drive I didn't have my camera with me.I used the camera on my Blackberry.I am quite pleased with how well the pictures turned out.

I have a few more pictures that I will share tomorrow.My phone is charging.After it has a full charge I will send the pictures from my Blackberry to my computer.

We took a little hike while we were up there.Didn't go too far since I had sandals on instead of my tennis shoes.

Choo Choo Barn Train Layout Scenes

These are some of the layout scenes inside of The Choo Choo Barn.

Trains,Trains and More Trains

While on vacation in the Lancaster PA area we ventured to Strasburg to visit two model train places.We went to The Choo Choo Barn and to The Model Train Museum.

These two pictures were taken outside of The Choo Choo Barn.The bottom picture is grandson Jeremy standing behind granddaughter Mariah who is sitting on a Thomas Train.

The top picture is Ken and I standing with Jeremy and Mariah.As you can see Jeremy is great posing for pictures but Mariah doesn't care to have her picture taken.I am not usually in many pictures since I am the one taking them.I had our daughter take a picture of us with our two grandchildren.I need to be in a picture once in awhile.

There was a huge model train layout inside of The Choo Choo Barn.I will share pictures taken inside of the layout in the next post.The layout inside of the building is 1700 square feet.

The layout was amazing.We walked around and around looking for little things that we might have missed.Our grandchildren enjoyed looking at the layout which looked like a big town.We would recommend The Choo Choo Barn for children of all ages.

A side not to our travels from Lancaster to Strasburg.We had no idea that we were in Strasburg since there were no signs welcoming us to Strasburg.We knew we were in the town after seeing business signs with Strasburg being part of their names.Here in our area every town you go through has a sign at their town limits welcoming you.We were surprised that the signs did not exist in the Lancaster area.

Here is a link to The Choo Choo Barn if you care to read more about it:

http://www.choochoobarn.com/

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

We were in Philadelphia PA a week ago this past Thursday and Friday.We were fortunate to get tickets for the tour of Independence Hall.They can only accommodate 3,000 people each day so they give out free timed tickets for the tours.If you arrive without a ticket they send you over to the Independence Hall Visitor's Center a block away to check on the availability of tickets.

The bottom picture is Independence Hall.

In the middle picture the tour group is standing in the room where The Declaration of Independence was signed.Our tour guide is holding The Declaration of Independence.He is a volunteer tour guide who comes to Phildalphia from California to volunteer as an Independence Hall tour guide.

The top picture is taken of my 8 year old grandson Jeremy standing in front of The Liberty Bell.The crack in The Liberty Bell really amazed him.

We were so glad that we took the tour and I would recommend it to everyone.The Liberty Bell is located in a fairly new building close to Independence Hall.

Here is a link for the Independence Hall National Park:

http://www.nps.gov/inde/

What a Magnificent Macy's!

While walking along the sidewalk in downtown Philadelphia we saw a sign on the side of a regal looking building stating that it was Macy's.Sure didn't look like a department store to me.There wasn't one of those large signs outside stating that it was Macy's Department Store at least not on the street where we entered the store.

Were we ever surprised when we stepped inside the doors and saw such a regal looking place.I had never been inside such a regal looking store.We stood in awe of what we were seeing.

I looked up and took a picture of the different levels.My hubby then saw a statue of an eagle which I captured with my camera.Then ahead of us on an upper level was a grand organ.There was even a schedule posted of when to hear the organ being played.We weren't there at the right time to hear it played.

I am so glad we entered the doors to see what was in there.We were going to browse the merchandise not knowing how lovely the store was.That is one department store that we will never forget.We didn't buy anything in the store but sure did enjoy looking at the magnificent architecture.

Some Images of The Lancaster Area

These are various scenes around the Lancaster area that I captured.The bottom picture is the one that I meant to show yesterday.There is an Amish horse and buggy on the other side of the road from us.Wish I could have gotten a closer picture of it.

In the top picture you can barely see that the wash is hanging on the line and blowing in the wind.If you look towards the left before the house you might see the wash.It was Monday afternoon when I took the picture.I was wondering if Monday was wash day since I saw quite a few Amish homes where the wash was hanging on the line.

I loved the All American scene of our nation's flag blowing in the breezes depicted in the middle picture.I loved the charm of the buildings.