6-28-22 Benjamin Franklin"s grave, Betsy Ross House, Elfreth's Alley, Museum of Illusions

 We played pinochle last night and Dave won the first game.  We ran out of time to finish the second game so will continue tonight.

After breakfast we walked down to the historic district.  We found Benjamin Franklin's grave and as we were looking at it, I heard a voice behind me say, "I just had them put my name on the stone to fool the tourists.  As you can see I like to go out for a walk on a beautiful day like today."  Turning around, we saw a Ben Franklin re-enactor.  He stayed and chatted with us for a bit and then walked away around the corner.  Nathaniel did not want his picture taken with him. 

 From there we walked to the Betsy Ross house.  She was married three times (her first two husbands died young - one from war wound and one from yellow fever).  She became an upholsterer in her own right and that is how she was able to earn money for her family.  George Washington ordered some furniture upholstered when he was in town.  We took a tour through the house and marveled at the tiny rooms and the narrow staircases.  Nathaniel lifted the bucket used to fetch water and declared it heavy.  It weighed 25 pounds full and she had to fetch water 8 times a day.

Our next stop was Elfreth's Alley.  This is a narrow street with 32 houses along it.  The earliest houses were built in the 1730's and the newest in the 1830's.  Twenty-nine of the houses are privately owned now.  

We walked back toward the center and Dave walked home for lunch and a nap.  Nathaniel and I went to the Museum of Illusions.  What a fun time we had in there!  The museum was filled with optical illusions, puzzles, holograms, and other fun things to do.  The last photo in this set is a video of Nathaniel standing in front on a revolving optical illusion.

On the way back home, Nathaniel chose our lunch spot.  We ate at Frieda's cafe.  Lunch was delicious:  we each had the summer salad - arugula, watermelon, honeydew. radish, pesto and barrata with a citrus oil and vinegar dressing.  Nathaniel also added prosciutto.  We also each had a freshly baked piece of focaccia bread.  Nathaniel purchased an almond scone from their bakery for dessert after dinner tonight.  The walls of the cafe held pieces done by local artists and the hundreds of paper butterflies hung from the ceiling.

Now we are relaxing and will finish our game before we walk down the street for dinner.