Trolley Tour

This weekend was PhD Weekend - which meant it was all hands on deck in the Admissions department, from arrival to departure. Some of that time I was legitimately helpful - I handed out at least a dozen name tags! - and some of that time I was basically getting to take part in the events of the prospective PhD students, and/or do homework.

And on Sunday, that put me on a trolley for a tour of the city.

Pictured with fellow GSE student bloggers Rebecca and Andrea 

Now, I've lived in the city for almost five years, but there's always something new to be learned. Especially when your tour guide is both seasoned and eccentric. Here are some of the most notable things I learned during the tour:

1. Bassett's Ice Cream - oldest in the U.S. - originally served only the flavor "Yellow Tomato."
2. Pennsylvania is NOT named for William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia, but for his father, who acquired the state as payment for debts owed by King Charles II.
3. Driving on the cobblestone roads in Old City is known (among tour bus drivers) as "The Philadelphia Massage."
4. Independence Mall: "Smaller than the Grand Canyon, but mighty by human deed."
5. The top floors of the the Comcast Center - the part that undeniably looks like a USB flash drive - house a giant water tank that keeps the building from swaying too much (300,000 gallons!).
6. "Camden, New Jersey, the Home of Campbell's Soup."
7. The Society Hill Towers - which I've always just thought of as "those tall cement towers in Old City" - were designed by I.M. Pei.
8. Thomas Jefferson had a friend once who lived somewhere on South Street.
9. "The Wyndham Hotel: Ben Franklin never slept there."
10. Okay, those were the silly things I wrote down because they amused or surprised me, but in all seriousness, it's amazing how much history is in this city. Pick a random subway stop ("built on the site of Ben Franklin's first print shop"), building ("part of the Underground Railroad"), or notable landmark ("America's oldest hospital/music hall/farmer's market/theatre"), and you can find out some pretty amazing things. I think that's pretty great.