Goodbye Philadelphia in the Rain

It was a good day to spend in the car, and that filled most of the day. David waves us off from his doorstep.

We did begin with something very nice. Rachel had to go to work, but David and Marie...

... and Carmen and I went out to breakfast. Carmen is a long-time friend of Dave and Rachel, and I've known her for probably 10 years, but I guess she hasn't made it on the blog before.

Just a few more images of Philadelphia from yesterday. Philly has hundreds of murals. (Nope, I just looked it up- they have 4000-5000 and it is known as the mural capital of the world.) Here's one. A lot of them are really amazing, but I can't catch photos from the moving car. Maybe some trip I'll try to do a better job with pictures of murals.

And if this doesn't say Philadelphia to you, I can't make it any better. This is a straight-on view of City Hall with the statue of William Penn on the top.

And an attempt to catch a side view on a different street.

It rained ALL day, turning to slush as we got back to Marie's. But tomorrow is another day!

See Rooted

Schuylkill Banks - a New Direction

Today I learned that the riverwalk along the Schuylkill River in Philly is actually called Schuylkill Banks. A new section opened in the last year.

This section took so long to complete because it needed a bridge. They built one of those suspension bridges where the cables are all connected to one post.

Got a nicer picture of the skyline.

You might notice the older railroad bridge in the foreground. It's still in use!

Marie, Dave and I took this nice walk, but Rachel had to work. The afternoon was more relaxing with a few household tasks and some visiting. I even crocheted a bit. In the evening we watched a Miss Marple movie.

I traded the white puppy of a couple days ago for Casper the white cat. With only four of us in the house instead of six or more, Casper is much more calm. He's never disliked me, but he's been more than happy to be my friend on this visit.

Miles walked in 2026: 60.2

Schuylkill Banks riverwalk, David's house via South St to Wharton Ave and back. 4.1 miles.

See Philadelphia Riverwalk

Onward to Philly!

Marie and I packed up the car this morning and went to take a hike on a newly-paved rail trail near her. It was an Ontario and Western connector line. Nicely plowed and the sun had melted it clear. No snow pants needed! We wore jackets and gloves, but no extra layers on the legs. It was a welcome hint of a warmer season.

At one point we could see this other railroad bridge over Esopus Creek. I think it used to be New York Central, but I wasn't able to verify that just now.

Then we continued on our way. Most of my Philadelphia skyline pictures aren't good because they were taken from moving vehicles on the expressway. This one is no exception, but it proves we made it.

And here we are! Rachel, David, Marie and me. A smaller than usual gathering at flower show time, but that's OK!

We are doing the show on Monday so there will actually be a couple of calm days here. I'm ready for that.

We did manage to get in a decent walk. 3.7 miles.

Miles walked in 2026: 56.1
Kingston, NY, Ontario and Western Connector Trail, Washington St to Rt. 209 and back. 3.7 miles

See 1.4 Miles, 2 Counties

Real Life Window Boxes

 Many of the row houses in Philadelphia take the idea of window boxes and/or planters seriously. It's the only way to have any kind of front garden that anyone except the family can see. Most row houses have some kind of small backyard. A very few have an open deck or railed roof patio toward the front. Of course, the row houses vary from seriously in need of help to the one I showed you on March 1 that is selling for $4 million.

As you will see, there is often some combination of real plant material and plastic/silk. I think this is to be forgiven in the northern climate. People want nice winter decorations that will hold up longer than a few weeks.

This one is a combo, with the red berries and purple eucalyptus leaves being fake. All the greens are real, but cut.

This one seems to be all real except the blue berries.

This is a definite mixture, but I think it's really attractive, and has probably looked good for several months- a nice winter display.

Here's a mixed sidewalk planter that is nice.

The last two are all natural materials. However this first one has cut evergreens that didn't hold up so well. But the living ornamental kale is fantastic!

And this one gets the highest points from me because it is all natural and living material that will tolerate winter. I see boxwood, juniper, some dwarf hemlock or balsam (I think), a sedge, and ornamental kale. Not sure about the red berries.

Urban living is much nicer when there is plant material around. I appreciate that these homeowners took the trouble to add some beauty to their streets.

Today was rainy and nasty here, but I sure can't complain because we didn't get the ice that everyone north of us did. I worked some and fooled around a lot.

See PFS- Window Box and Lamppost

More Riverwalk

 Don't worry, you'll get to see plenty of Flower Show pictures. But the days where something else inteesting happens will also get coverage.

Today, Pam & Larry, Marie & I did a piece of the Riverwalk that was farther north than we went the other day. Marie and I did this in 2020, so I didn't see a new piece this trip. It goes all the way to Valley Forge.

This piece goes through Fairmount Park and so is much less urban.

Interestingly, in 2020 we walked only two days later, on March 5, but the grass was already green.

The rock with trees on top is called Promontory Rock. You can see there is an opening in the rock. That's actually a tunnel the road passes through.

We walked as far as Columbia Bridge, which is a railroad bridge.

On the way back there was another nice view of the skyline.

This is the section of the river where all the crew teams practice because the water is smooth above the dam that supplies the waterworks.

After that we visited a few places, including Mia's dorm at Penn. She's on the 12th floor. I think this is looking south across the city. It looks like city forever. I just have a hard time processing that much urban space. (Let alone that the whole center part of Philadelphia is north of here.)

We walked 4 miles from the Waterworks to Columbia Bridge and back.

Miles hiked in 2025: 29.3

See Longer Rivewalk

Rittenhouse Square

 Today we all walked to Rittenhouse Square. The Square is a city park- one of the original ones planned by William Penn. This is one entrance.

On the way there, we toured a lot of the typical Philadelphia streets. More on that another day. However, I will show you Delancey Place because it is one of the fanciest of the sections planned by Penn.

The townhouse with the rounded front (kind of behind the tree) is for sale at $4.25 million. We are standing in front of another that was having an open house, so we went in to look around. Its price is only $3 million. These all have four floors and a finished basement with a garage off the alley which is actually wide enough to drive. (The alley behind Dave's house is only wide enough to walk.) The house we toured was built in 1800. No matter how fancy they are, you've got five floors to navigate with stairs.

I actually learned a lot from the realtor. The reason the fancy streets have very narrow streets with small townhouses flanking them was part of the design. Tradespeople like blacksmiths and seamstresses lived and worked in the small houses. This created a neighborhood of services for the upper-class homes.

I didn't do a very good job of getting pictures that really show you the park. There is a lot of green space, and today was in the 60s. Despite a little breeze there were a LOT of people picnicking, walking, and enjoying themselves. There were several street musicians.

There was a vendor event going on around the edges. Mostly farmer's market kinds of booths with fresh vegetables, cider, honey, donuts, apples, etc.

This statue of two children and a sunflower...

...is only labeled as a tribute to Evelyn Taylor Price. But the sunflower is a sundial.

This statue is also very interesting. It is dated 1832, but I don't know if it's supposed to be symbolic of something, with the lion crushing the snake.

I think we walked about 3 miles because there was some wandering around in addition to just a straight walk there and back. We ate quantities of food, played more games, and tomorrow will be the Flower Show!

Miles hiked in 2025: 25.3

See Philadelphia Riverwalk Again

Philadelphia Riverwalk Again

 This morning, Marie, Pam, Larry and I hiked down to the Schuylkill River and did part of the Riverwalk. It was in the 50s, but there with a brisk little breeze. There were a lot of people walking and jogging despite the fact that it's a workday. (Marie and I hiked a good piece of it in 2020)

This is where the sidewalk climbs up to cross multiple railroad tracks before you descend to the river edge. I like that it's like a plaza with seating places as well as the walkway. You can climb the stairs on the left, or the accessible ramp switchbacks its way back and forth across it.

Once you get across the tracks, there is a more ordinary stair/ramp going down to the river. This view lets you see how the Riverwalk is right beside the water.

We did not go the direction this is facing, but turned right and headed basically north along the river.

There is art along the way. This sculpture is called "Air" by Walter Hancock. It makes me wonder if there are Fire, Earth, and Water somewhere else.

This mural is called "Convergence" by Rebecca Rutstein. It is supposed to be a meditation on the river.

We did not walk quite as far as Marie and I did in 2020 (link below), but we did a total of 3.5 miles, my longest hike since being sick. Also, Marie and I walked a few blocks to get bagels earlier in the morning.

Other than that, we fixed food and played games. There was also a nap.

Miles hiked in 2025: 22.3

See Philadelphia Riverwalk

Philly Arrival

 Today was fairly nuts. Marie and I packed her car full this morning because she was bringing most of the food for this whole weekend. Then we headed for Philadelphia.

Anja flew home for the weekend from Boston where she is working, having graduated from college in December. Pam and Larry flew in from Florida. Mia is in college here in Philly so she just needed a ride across town. There are 8 of us in a fairly small townhouse. I managed to not take pictures of us actually doing things like eating a huge dinner, but we are good at hanging around.

Lots of kitchen help, but putting even three people in the room is a test.

We did play a game after cleanup, which I actually won! I'm usually dead last when this group plays this game. But I didn't even manage to get a picture with the cards out of the box.

I'll do better on pictures tomorrow, but we are going to add person number nine! Got a short walk in with David and Larry because of course, we needed just a couple more things from the grocery store. I'm always amazed at real grocery stores in urban areas.

I'm beat, but so is everyone else.

See From the Train