my travels in pixels

Philadelphia, PA Benjamin Franklin Bridge The Benjamin (Ben) Franklin Bridge is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. It carries 100,000 vehicles a day, a car costs $5 (trucks are more) westbound into PA. It cost $37m to build and based on the car tolls alone, they make in excess of $91m a year. When we were photographing it down on the waterfront on the New Jersey side, Lindsay asked a policeman if it was safe around here. No, he said, do what you have to do and get out of here. Mmmm, okay, now I’m worried. Ben Franklin Bridge Philadelphia skyline from Camden in New Jersey Going across the bridge 30th Street Station, Philadelphia Boathouses These signs are all over America, with information on historic events The Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell is a symbol of American independence. It was originally made for the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall. ...

Buggies instead of cars for transport There aren’t many people who would willingly give up what most consider creature comforts. The Amish roots can be traced back to the 1500’s but they came in early the 1700’s from Switzerland, Germany and Alsace-Loraine in France to Pennsylvania. Not your common road sign Not everyone in the Lancaster area are Amish. At first you might wonder if there are any here at all. To see them you need to drive through the back roads. A big job for one so young The most recognizable feature is the way they dress, then the fact that they ride in horse drawn buggies and often plough their fields with mules instead of tractors. Then you start to recognize the clothes on their clotheslines as most American’s don’t dry their clothes on clotheslines, so it's not a common sight. Lots of trees and greenery Some people call them the plain people because they all dress in a similar fashion, with nothing that can single them out such as butt...

Gettysburg, PA There are monuments dotted all around the countryside Gettysburg is only a few hours from the Capital. The campground I had booked couldn't have been in a better location, being only half a mile to the National Park visitor centre and half a mile to the town. Many of the houses in town are very old and sit very close to the road, they may not have always been that close of course, the roads may have been widened since they were built, but everything feels really squashed. The battlefield covers the area all around the town and there is a self drive auto route that you can do if you don't want to do a bus tour. When we checked into our campground they gave us tickets to a Diorama in town which is a model representing the battlefield. They turn off the lights so they could light up the area they were talking about and explain in detail how the battle went down. I really didn't need to know in that great a detail but I got the gist of the story. Lindsay ...