After our short travel through the C&D Canal we took the Delaware River north to Philadelphia. Neither Captain Mark nor I have ever been to Philly and it is one of the places that we really wanted to visit. Most boaters making the Loop trip do not journey out of the mainstream waterway to get to Philly. Therefore, reaching the city by water makes the experience even more fun as we try to imagine the journey as it was made during the formative years of our country. 
The first thing we notice is how wide the Delaware River is…it’s a good thing that this is not the area where General Washington crossed the Delaware as I am not sure he would had made it across on a winter’s day in a storm. Large manufacturing, mostly pharmaceutical plants, line both shorelines. In the past the area was heavily industrialized. Everywhere we look we see huge warehouses and abandoned commercial piers that leave evidence of the manufacturing jobs that have left the area. While many cities have capitalized on reinventing these huge open buildings, it is sadly evident that this has not occurred on either side of the Delaware in Pennsylvania or New Jersey.
The next thing that totally amazes us is the amount of debris floating in the water. This area has received a great deal of rain within the last couple of weeks and the foreign items in the water are the worst that we have ever seen.
It is our plan to stay in Philadelphia for about three weeks. We will be staying at the Philadelphia Marine Center located on the Delaware River immediately beneath the Ben Franklin Bridge. As we take our location under the bridge, we will await Billy Goat Gruff and his two brothers to pass our way as they travel from Philadelphia to Camden, New Jersey. Hours on the water: 6.5
Nautical miles traveled: 49.2
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Uncertain at this time
What we are listening to: Stone Cold by David Baldacci
Lesson for the day: I should NOT do lace knitting while drinking wine...
Obligatory knitting report: Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda
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