I'm back...

My trip started out with an unusual number of things going wrong that made me wonder if someone was trying to keep me from making the trip in the first place. As I was loading my suitcase into the car, I noticed a tear in the zipper. Not a big enough tear to worry about if you were making a car trip but a big enough one to be worried about if your bag is going to be thrown about by baggage handlers (insert visual of the old Samsonite commercial with the Chimpanzee jumping around on the luggage). I decided it would be best to swap out suitcases.

I get to the airport on time, light traffic, light security line, perfect. I sit down at the gate and wait for the boarding announcement. At about the time I should ahve been boarding they announce that the flight had been cancelled and everyone had been rebooked on the next flight which was 2 hours later. Bummer. I trudge over to the next concourse get my new boarding pass, decide to eat lunch and wait. This time I did get to board! Since I was re-booked, I was put in one of the only available seats. You guessed it - MIDDLE! I have nothing against the middle, I am the middle of three girls, but on a plane it can be uncomfortable. Luckily my two seat mates were unusally small so there were no foreign body parts pressed against mine the whole way there. (I still have nightmares about my red-eye home from Las Vegas where an unusually large woman occupied her seat, half of mine and then sat on my leg the whole way home to Atlanta - ugh. That trip got me 15,000 sky miles for my trouble). So, anyhooo... we all get seated and the captain announces that we can't push back for one hour due to weather in Philadelphia and they opted to leave us on the plane instead of go back to the gate. sigh....

I got into Philadelphia around 4:00. I made a mad dash for the rental car and then headed to the historical district. I managed to get into a tour of Independence Hall and then walked around to see the rest on my own. Most of the museums and displays closed at 5:00 so I only got to see the Liberty Bell through the glass from the sidewalk but got to see plenty of other cool buildings. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE historical things so this was all really cool to me.

Tomb of the unknown Revolutionary War soldier


A view of Independence Hall from the back


One of the side buildings of the Independence Hall Park area


Meeting Room in Independence Hall (the chair in the back is the original chair that George Washington sat in. It is called the Rising Sun chair. The individual tables in the foreground were for the representatives from each of the colonies). When you step inside it is so exciting to realize that all the people you have studied about all these years were actually in that building at one time. Really cool.


Another View inside Independence Hall (this was the room where people would stand trial)


More of the Independence Hall area




I wanted to walk through Christchurch Cemetary but got there after the gates had closed. This is the cemetary where Benjamin Franklin is buried. I was able to see his tomb as he is buried right next to the gate.

A view through the gate of the cemetary


Benjamin Franklin's Grave Marker


Some historical businesses that have since been renovated




Betsy Ross' House


Quaker Meeting House (they still hold services there several times a week)


I was actually in the area for training which I attended on Wednesday and Thursday in Wilmington, DE. I stayed in Chadds Ford, PA - that area and where I was in Delaware was really lovely. The weather was Fall-like although the leaves had not turned yet. Where I was did not seem particularly overdeveloped. There were lots of trees, land, rolling hills. Of course, I loved all the older homes and historical sites. I flew home on September 11th. The airport itself seemed pretty light although the plane was completely full. There was some sort of ceremony at the airport to commemorate the date while I was there.

As far as the workout schedule goes, I am still on the "boot" plan. Until today, I had not done any type of workout at all for the past 2 weeks. My foot is feeling better, the rest obviously helped it. I can still occasionally tell there is an issue but nothing like a week ago. I was feeling like a couch potato so I went to LFT today for a swim. It was kind of a now or never thing. I very rarely go on Saturday so I must have been desperate for a workout to go today. I ended up swimming 3,000 meters which is more than I have been when I go in the mornings. You know you are feeling good when you double the core workout "just cuz". I kept it simple: 600 warmup, 1000 pull, 200 free, 1000 kick, 200 IM. The long distances are risky because I get bored just counting off laps but today it felt good. Normally I have to go with short sets just to keep my interest. I guess today it didn't matter because it had been so long since I swam I was just happy to be in the pool!

Tomorrow: I am off to watch my team play our first match of the Fall season! hopefully in 2 weeks I can play too!