The Philadelphia Marine Center where we stayed was fine. The staff could not have been more friendly or helpful. Overall the marina facilities were more than adequate and the location was convenient to the historical and downtown areas. The welcome bag filled with Philly maps, restaurant information and other goodies was most helpful and the tote bag itself has already become an onboard knitting bag.
After thinking about it for a while, I have come to the conclusion that Philadelphia today is not the City of Brotherly Love that I think Ben Franklin originally had in mind. The residents were certainly helpful outwardly when we asked for directions or touristy recommendations. However I did not see evidence of the civic pride that I thought was worthy of THE city where our nation was literally created. So many formative and truly historical events took place in this city that are today either commercialized or minimized that I felt a sense of sadness rather than awe when I visited them. I know the city is old and old in my opinion is a good thing, but the city is filthy dirty everywhere and I don’t think that old should equate to dirty. Boston is old, Savannah and Charleston are old but these cities are not dirty. By dirty I mean weeds growing in the sidewalk cracks of major downtown streets and litter/trash everywhere.
Gang graffiti was ever present marring even the most reverent of historical locations. There seemed to be no effort to remove or be concerned about the gang symbols. The number of abandoned and/or boarded up buildings further adds to the dingy feeling. A sad depressed city resigned to accept industrial failure was all I could see as I walked amid the stone streets. I could not help but think that our Founding Fathers would also be disappointed to see how their independent sprit is reflected in Philadelphia today.
No comments:
Post a Comment