We got to Philadelphia and stayed at Motto by Hilton in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. We booked the hotel because it was inexpensive and it looked like a decent neighborhood in downtown. We drove down 19th street and could not miss the orange building. Figuring out where to park was another thing. We went around the block and pulled in to the parking garage next door to the hotel. We walked to the hotel and checked in. The lobby looked clean, new, and upscale modern. The desk clerk informed us that we could park across the street from the hotel for $10 more than where we were parked and get valet service. We stayed where we were and pulled our suitcases down the sidewalk to the hotel. I hope it was trash day because there were two piles of trash bags in front of the hotel.
We went up to our rooms. They were really nice and very clean. The rooms were small but not cramped with an upscale modern decor. Interestingly the ceilings were concrete. We tried the hotel restaurant and enjoyed a fancier than we are used to Mexican dinner before we retired to our rooms.
The following morning I started to get dressed and could not find my socks and underwear. I didn’t find my toothbrush either. I remembered dumping my socks and underwear on the bed in Ocean City and switching my socks and underwear bag to a dirty clothes bag.
Tammy gave me a new travel tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush and I made do on socks and underwear. Then we pulled our suitcases past the bags of trash to the car and walked to Rittenhouse Square. Philadelphia was laid out with five squares. Four green spaces on the corners and City Hall in the center. Rittenhouse Square was the wealthiest of the four neighborhoods. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Federal Donuts for a cup of coffee and a donut.
We checked out, retrieved the car, and went to the Bourse for breakfast. The Bourse was the site of the first commodities market in America. It is currently a food court with offices on the upper levels.
After a short walk we were at the Liberty Bell.
From the Liberty Bell we walked past Independance Hall and the Curtis Publishing Company Building on our way to Washington Square, where over 20,000 persons were buried, including deceased prisoners from the War of Independence. We stopped at the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary Soldier before we continued on.
We made a quick stop at Old City Hall where The US Supreme Court met from 1791 to 1800, swung by Library Hall and then headed for Norwalk Connecticut.
