Back into Philly

 

Being car-less I decided to head back into Philly to check out some points of interest that I ran out of time to visit on my previous visit. And so I found myself riding SEPTA regional rail into Center City again. By the way SEPTA, what ever happened to off-peak fares? Anyhow, when I arrived at Market East I headed out onto the streets and up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the Rodin Museum. I had passed by this little gem of a museum many times when I lived in the Philly area, but today was my first visit. The museum contained a nice collection of Rodin sculptures put together by Philadelphia movie-house mogul Jules Mastbaum.

My next stop was the interesting Fairmount Waterworks Interpretive Center. I'd been to the waterworks before, but it was really interesting to learn about the history of America's first municipal water system and how it was developed. Also interesting was an exhibit about the fish ladder that allows shad and other fish upstream access from the dam built across the Schuylkill River. There is a camera there that records the animals that swim through and among the more interesting ones that have been caught on video are a river otter and northern water snake.

From the waterworks, I decided to head up along the Schuylkill on Kelly Drive and check Fairmount Park and some of the many interesting sculptures that line the river. I also wanted to get a feel for the Philly Rock N Roll Half-Marathon course, since the race followed Kelly Drive across the Falls Bridge and then up West River Drive. The sculptures were very impressive. It's really amazing how when you live someplace, you really take what you have for granted. This is certainly the case with me and Philadelphia. Among the sculptures I perused were Fredrick Remington's Cowboy and Stone Age in America by John J. Boyle.

Cowboy

Stone Age in America

Thorfinn Karlsefni

Finally, I returned to Market East and Center City via Philadelphia's newest trail, the wonderful Schuylkill Banks Trail.