Revisit to Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Park in New Jersey- September 3, 2013

On our way to visit the Sabatini's for lunch at Tom's River, we ran up to the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway NRA to try to get three stamps I was missing-  I managed to get one of them, the other two were lost in Hurricane Sandy. 

Last stamp for Crossroads of the American Revolution NHA -Maybe.

Ran up to the Washington's Crossing State Park in New Jersey to snag the last (fourth) of the current series for this NHA.  Found out today though, there may be stamps in several new locations- have to check it out in the future. 

GPS took me to an incorrect intersection, had to hunt around to find the Visitor's Center/Museum. 

The stamp will count towards my totals this year, but be "ignored" for total count, since it is a duplicate wording.   Not to worry, I now have completed yet another historical area, well sort of. 

Quick revisit to Ben Franklin National Memorial in Philadelphia Sept 1 2013

Managed to snag some on-street parking right across from the front door at Ben Franklin Memorial, and dashed in and grabbed the new site stamp for this location, then right back out. 

Got to stop in at Gloria Dei Church, which is an affiliate and doesn't count towards the 401 units, but does count for stamps.  I can cross this site off the list. 

Revisit to Edgar Allan Poe NHS in Philadelphia

I was able to get to the Edgar Allan Poe NHS house on North 7th Street in Philly yesterday-  I had stopped by once before, but it was closed, only open on Wed/Sun. 

As a matter of fact, the house had been closed for the last 8 months, due to exterior renovations/restoration, and was just reopened this weekend. 

There were 3 stamps there, and I'm 100% done for here.  I got a pin for this location also- Didn't have a hiking medallion. 

This was a bit of a disappointment as a visit-  Did the house tour and watched the video, but the house was essentially void of any displays-  No furniture, very few artifacts, maybe it was too close to the reopening. 

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial- Park #273 Philadelphia, Pa Sept 1, 2013

On my third try, I made it to the Thaddeus Kosciuszko N Mem  House at 301 Pine Street in downtown Philadelphia.  I made it there on the way back from Hopewell Furnace and Valley Forge.  Had to park illegally in the street for a minute, got in, looked around for a bit,  got the one stamp,  and they didn't have a pin or anything else, actually.  Probably the sparsest gift shop I've ever seen.   I can now at least count this now as a visit. 

Multiple site visits in Metro Philadelphia today Sept 1, 2013

I totally had one of my better days stamping and getting around today. I started off by arriving at the Independence NHP Visitor Center parking lot at 0820, before the center opened at 0830. 

They had like 10 stamps out here, plus a couple of more I asked about.  Then, I sat down and checked my data base sheets, and realized I was missing a couple- went back and asked about them, and they were produced!  The nice young ranger also gave me 31 different trading cards!

Then, I headed down to the new Benjamin Franklin Museum, which just opened last Week. 

Then, a block or so over to the Pemberton House, to pick up a couple of new stamps there-

Then, I drove over to the Edgar Allen Poe House, which had just reopened after an 8 month reconstruction-  pretty cool. 

Then, I decided to consolidate my plans for tomorrow and went ahead and headed out to Hopewell Furnace, which is a new site for me- #272.  Got two stamps that were out, then two that were underneath, thanks to another Ranger. 

That was about 45 miles out of town-  then, next I ran back down the turnpike to Valley Forge to get a missing stamp there-  which I got. 

Then, I swung into the city and got two more stops, Thaddeus Kosciuszko NM and Gloria Dei Church.  The Thad was a new stop for me, #273, and Gloria Dei is an affiliate, so it "doesn't count." 

Oops, I forgot that I also stopped in at the Ben Franklin Memorial to get a new stamp also.