Philly and fun with friends and more

one of the original buildings - it was an inn-tavern
The boat Washington used to cross the Delaware.

The photo as it would have looked with Washington crossing the Delaware.

This tree was only 27 yrs old when Washington would have been here.

the tower we climbed up to view the surrounding areas

a couple of views from the top of the tower.
the Tower was used to see long distances to see who was coming and to protect the area

While in Philly we had to do some to the tourist type things.

this was a mural on the outside wall of the center

While in the visitor center we saw many things and Bil had a hand at making his own money-- I don't think it will pass.
this man dressed in the era and was playing and instrument from then.
You could try your hand at writing with a quill pen.


Independence Hall with some building in the background
inside Independence hall. This was a court room and the ranger is standing where the guilty person would have to stand during the trial.
some of the old muskets housed in the hall
the Liberty Bell is always a must see.
close up of the crack in the bell


We took a duck ride around Philly and these are some of the sights. Statues of the Blues Brothers, Elvis and others in front of a cafe.
This was a Memorial to the Irish Immigrants
The Betsy Ross house and cafe area
a tall ship and Destroyer seen from the water portion of the duck ride.

some very colorful buildings in the older section
one of the ways to see the city is by horse and buggy
A wonderful evening re-establishing a connection with some friends made on the Alaskan cruise. Burt is a train enthusiast as seen by part of the display in his back yard. This is also enjoyed by the neighbor children.



the train runs around the pool and has trestles as well as into a building and under the patio deck.

Ground Zero and things Pertinent to it plus the Statue & Ellis Island

miss Liberty -unfortunately it was very hazy the first day we were in NYC. they no longer let you go up to the top due to 9/11-you can only go in the base of her statue.
Ellis Island a great place to visit was also hazy. We had been there in our earlier trip here and did not go this time, but it is a great place to visit.
a view across the Hudson River.
The grave site of Alexander Hamilton in the courtyard of the church shown below with the roots statue.
This was a street performer. The young man in red is landing after he ran and made a flying roll across the eight people bent over.

a different type statue for our soldiers stands in Battery park. -Please keep them in your prayers.
below are things from the 9/11 disaster and what is being done to memorialize the area.

this shows the original Sycamore tree roots preserved by the artist in the courtyard where it stood for nearly a century -- until uprooted on 9/11the roots are truly amazing to look at and realize the force that caused them to be here.
as shown in the sign, this sphere stood in the plaza of the towers to symbolize world peace.
it continues here as a symbol and icon of hope of the indestructible spirit of this country.

we took the train into NYC and passed right through the twin towers construction site.
the before and after photos of where the twin towers were.
gated and guarded to protect the construction site
massive amounts of work are being done to turn this area into something to be proud of and remember what happened here. seen by the following photos
a look from above into the construction that is ongoing where the twin towers were.
ongoing construction in the shadow of the other high towers in the area.

the following are some photos from the museum

double click on the photo and see ow much ash this lady has on her .
the list of names of all those known or thought to be in the towers and on the planes.
one of the many items taken out of the towers - the way some of the metal was left after the disaster
Tiles sent to the museum from children around the world.
The sign and below the quilt made by young children, each of the squares depicted the feelings of the child.

some of the photos of the people missing in the buildings.
photos of where the footprints of the twin towers were after restoration of the other parts of the area.

map showing what is to be done with the area for the memorial.
uses of the metal from the destruction. They may have meant it for evil but we turned it into something useful.