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. 

Revisit to Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York City August 30, 2013

This site, obviously on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, is a Museum/Monument to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were crowded into tenement buildings during the late 1850's to the 1930's in this part of town.  There were various influxes of Italians, Jews, Chinese, and later Dominicans and Puerto Ricans into this general area, all of them stuffed into small cramped apartments that were later targeted by reformers to improve living conditions. 

Over 7000 families lived in this building during its time as an apartment building! 

While here, I did get the missing bonus stamp I needed for this location- 

Park # 272/401 St Paul's Church NHS Mt Vernon NY August 30, 2013

This was the last stop of our tour today, and by this time we were all dragging a bit! 

We had taken a cab from the Hamilton Grange Site over to the subway at 145th and St Nicholas Ave, and rode up to Yankee Stadium, then took a downtown 4 train one stop to get to an uptown 5 train, then rode it to the last stop on the line-   We then found a gypsy cab to take us the mile or so on up to the site.  7.00. 

This is the site of one of the older churches in the area, dating back to the early 1700's. 

The interior very much reminds me of the Old North Church in Boston, with the high pews and
"plainness" of the interior.  You were here for church, and that was it- although this one did have a nice organ dating back to 1830, that had been installed later. 

This is a view of the church as how it looks today-  It sat on a 5 acre plot, which originally included a "village green", sort of a town hall meeting place without the structures. 

 Here is a postcard from 1907-  not much has changed!

 

We watched a movie about the site, and then did a quick tour, led by a very sharp young docent, who was a rising senior in high school-  She really knew her stuff!  During the tour, NP Trekker made a joke about playing a concert for us on the organ, and the church organist did come and play us a brief few bars of Beethoven's Ode to Joy!  Quite a treat since the organ dated since the 1830's. 

 

Got one of the two stamps that were listed for this location- 

 

 

This was a significant stop for me, I have now completed all the National Park sites for the North Atlantic Region!

Finally, after 4 tries, George Peabody House- Essex NHA Peabody Mass August 14, 2013

On the forth try, I finally got the two stamps today at the George Peabody House and Museum portion of the Essex NHA today in Peabody Mass.  It was another drive of about 50 miles down, but I got it.  I now have completed the current 20 locations for this NHA!  Yay me.