Gregory J. Leeson
The Life Chronicler
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
July 16, 2022
July 20, 2022
As my Eastern Journey nears an end, I am increasingly in tourist mode. As a history buff, Philadelphia was an excellent place for that. The highlight was to see the Liberty Bell and to read about its history before making it to the bell display. I did talk to a minister at probably the most iconic church in the city, Christ Church. But I had other things on my mind.
First, I drove to Philadelphia from NYC to park my car and catch a direct flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, the next day. The golf tournament with many high school buddies and one gal was next in Bridgewater. Upon my return, I spent three nights and took in a few sights, but I was looking forward to my one-night return to NYC to stay with my Airbnb hosts from earlier.
On Tuesday, July 19, I experienced my first nighttime visit to New York and saw my first Broadway Play, “Come From Away.” That musical is about the 9/11 grounding of 38 planes and 6700 people in Gander, Newfoundland, a town with a population of about 9,000. Growing up in Nova Scotia, I was familiar with Newfoundland's uniqueness and incredible humanity. That is why the story made Broadway only to become the Schoenfeld Theatre’s longest-running show in its 105-year history and one of the longest ever on Broadway. It blew me away!
One more city, Cleveland.