Stacey and I left Friday morning for King of Prussia, which is about 30-60 minutes away depending on traffic and the route you take. We took the scenic route on the pretense that I wanted Stacey to see some smaller towns and more of Pennsylvania's "natural beauty" along the back roads. The real reason was that I was petrified to drive the rental car we are using while my car is getting its boo-boos fixed, and most certainly did not want to try it out on the freeway.
She totally called my bluff ;)
Boy were we glad we took those back roads. It was a GORGEOUS fall day, complete with trees releasing their colorful leaves on the car as we drove along. I'm kicking myself for not getting pictures.
When we reached King of Prussia mall, we were met with a whole different kind of beauty. A mall so large it couldn't be contained to one building. Yes, there were TWO giant malls ripe for the shopping. And shop we did!
After a few hours of shopping (and a quick cheesesteak break), we hit up some other stores in the area and then headed home. Joe was getting out of class at 5, and planned to take the night off to join us for dinner and then a ghost tour of Old City.
The original dinner plan was to go to City Tavern (which is HAUNTED and would have been a perfect start to our spooky night). Unfortunately, shopping took longer than expected and even though I DROVE HOME ON THE FREEWAY (cue the fanfare), it would have been too tight to try to make our reservation.
Instead, we hit up Distrito: an awesome tapas restaurant owned by Iron Chef Jose Garces (and very close to our apartment). For the second time that day, I was a moron and didn't take pictures. I blame it on the two margaritas...
With full bellies, we made our way to Old City via the subway (my first time using it in Philly) and met up with our tour guide just in time for her to point me in the direction of an open bathroom (once again, I blame it on the margaritas). The tour was by a company Stacey found called Free Tours By Foot. True to its name, you don't pay anything for the tour upfront. Instead, at the end you just tip your guide based on how much you enjoyed yourself. A pretty sweet concept.
The tour was awesome, and we heard a lot of spooky stories. For the first time that day, I FINALLY remembered to use my camera. Though I still don't know how to use the darn thing, I am so happy to have a DSLR because even on auto-mode (and AT NIGHT) it takes some mighty fine pics.
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| One of our first stops was Washington Square where we walked over the bodies of an estimated 3,000-8,000 people. The park was first used as a potters' field, next for bodies of American Revolutionary soldiers who died in a British controlled prison across the street, and, lastly, as extra burial space for victims of the 1793 Yellow Fever outbreak (they ran out of room in the regular cemeteries because the outbreak killed 10% of the population). |
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| Another interesting stop was the Pennsylvania Hospital: the first hospital in the U.S. That statue (which is hard to see in my second pic) is of William Penn and there is an interesting story about him. Every so often, the statue "wanders off." Yup. People always thought it was pranksters moving the statue, but the area has been on camera since the 1980's and the statue has still moved. In 1982 the camera went to snow for just TWO minutes and he was gone! All 1,000 pounds of him! He was found lying next to a patient's bed in the psych ward. Try explaining THAT one! |
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| And I thought Chucky was a freaky doll. |
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| Interesting that Mr. "I hate horror stuff" was paying such close attention ;) I swear I am rubbing off on this guy. |
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| Wouldn't be a ghost tour without a shot of a cemetery. This one is supposedly haunted by Hessian soldiers who all died of Yellow Fever and were buried here. They had used the tombstones as target practice, and the thought is that they are doomed to protect the sacred ground they once defiled. |
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| St. Peter's Church. In the cemetery of this church, seven Indian chiefs who died of smallpox on a visit to Philadelphia in 1793 are buried. According to legend, they haunt the churchyard because they were not buried according to tribal customs. |
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| The Customs House. Not creepy, but it can be seen briefly in Ghostbusters. |
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Yes, you think you may be rubbing off on Joe but look at the death grip he has on that fence. He looks like he's either preparing to rip it off the fence and use it as a defensive weapon or he's getting ready to hop the fence and make a mad dash to safety.
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