Lianne decided to go to the RID (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf) National Conference this year in Philadelphia. The conference was the first week of August, and we decided to make a family trip of it. Our photo album from the trip is here. Philly Photo Album
To summarize, the trip was a blast! The hotel was right in the heart of downtown Philly and we got to experience city life walking around in the underground mall, checking out the market at The Gallery, seeing the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and attending the longest continuously running Sunday church service in the country.
I was really digging the whole big city vibe at first. Being able to walk everywhere was a plus. There was so much to do. By about the third day I was ready for some tall trees and green grass, actually some clean air would’ve been nice. One afternoon the kids and I walked over to city hall and did some exploring around the fountains near there. We found an entrance to the subway that led to some large, open walkways under the fountains. It was pretty neat until Jaron pointed up at something on the ceiling and asked me what it was. We walked over toward what looked like little, 4 inch, light brown stalactites hanging from a crack in the cement. As we watched it, water dripped slowly off of one of the tips of a stalactite. I then explained to the kids the definition of the word ‘sludge’. It was gross. We found a bunch of them all over the place and decided to retreat back to the surface. My conclusion? Cities are dirty.
The fact is, there were just too many people crammed into too small a space. All the cars and bodies everywhere is nasty. The more people there are, the more problems there are. That being said, despite Philadelphia’s supposed lack of charm, most of the people we actually interacted with were decent folk. I wouldn’t want to live there though. We did a ton of other stuff, most of which is documented in the via photo in the album, and we’d gladly visit again if the opportunity arises.