Constructed from 1871-1901, Philadelphia's City Hall was designed to be the tallest structure in the world, but the Washington Monument and Eiffel Tower were completed in the meantime and rudely snatched away that title. The building is MASSIVE, containing 634 rooms and enclosing 14 ½ acres of floor space. Still in use today, Philly's City Hall remains the biggest masonry office building in the U.S., with its square footage exceeding that of the U.S. Capitol. The tower at the building's center is 547 feet, 11 ¾ inches tall, including the 37-foot-tall statue of William Penn at its apex.
Philadelphia City Hall
Adorned by William Penn
Besides our recent high-point hobby, we've long been fans of going up in tall things. So, of course, we signed up for Philly's City Hall Tower Tour, which would give us access to an observation deck 500 feet above the city streets. This tour is only offered a few times a day, five days a week, excluding holidays, with only four guests per tour. Reservations required.
After checking in at the City Hall Visitor Center, our guide led us on a maze-like route toward the building's center. There we boarded a small, antiquated elevator barely large enough for the five of us. The tower elevator is slow, claustrophobic, and even sways a bit. Through its glass sides, you can see the extensive scaffolding sometimes used to work on the tower's clock and also the original open staircase once used to ascend the tower before installation of the elevator.
Massive scaffold
We emerged from the stuffy elevator onto an observation platform with windows all around, many of them open, allowing a welcome breeze and amazing 360-degree views of the city skyline and down into Love Park, just below.
Skyline to the west
Looking east toward the Delaware River
Love Park lives up to its name
The money shot was looking straight down Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the famous Philadelphia Museum of Art. Looking straight up, you get a unique view of the statue of William Penn. We had 15 minutes at the top before we had to make way for the next small group.
Northwest to the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Looking up to William Penn
Jana and Tom high in Philadelphia
The rest of the day was spent walking the city, mainly along the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk and Trail alongside the Schuylkill River. The boardwalk was a great place to enjoy views of the city skyline.
Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk
City view from the boardwalk
Strolling along the Schuylkill River
At one point in our walk, we crossed the Schuylkill River to check out Cira Green, a grassy park on the top of an 11-story parking garage. Cool idea! We ate lunch at The Post at Cira Garage on the ground floor. The burgers were great, and the bartender was a lot of fun to talk to.
Cira Green Parking Garage and Park
Schuylkill River from Cira Green
Eventually, the trail led us to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where, of course, I posed with the Rocky statue, but I did not run up the stairs. Altogether, we walked about 7 ½ miles today. I was not about to add any stair work.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Jana and Rocky
Philly from the museum
Dinner: Love City Brewing, a cool neighborhood bar and brewery near our airbnb. Their full-time food truck serves the city's famous cheesesteaks. They were the bomb! For a while, we teamed up with another couple playing music trivia, but we were not big winners.
In Philly, they just call it a cheesesteak