After driving 3 hours from Hagerstown to Philadelphia we were within sight of the Philadelphia Museum of Art when we hit the roadblock. What is it about us trying to get to art museums in cities on Sunday afternoons? (see: New Orleans entry for Sunday, February 24). A less than nice Philadelphia policeman blew whistle and gestured for us to turn right when we really wanted to go left. We tried to ask him how to get to the Museum and he just blew his whistle and pointed to the right.
So with the aid of the GPS map we drove several miles out of our way trying to get around the roadblocks. After a half hour we got close enough to realize that the roadblocks were for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Could someone explain to me why Philadelphia had its Parade one week in advance of St. Patrick’s Day?
So we continued to try to get to our destination and were again with sight of the Museum when it became evident that the area around the Museum was where the parade ended. At this point we were ready to give up and just drive out of town a bit to get a hotel. So we pulled the car over and looked up to see the Best Western Center City Hotel right in front of us. We pulled into their parking lot, checked into the hotel and walked to the Museum. This hotel is an excellent place to stay if you are interested in visiting the variety of museums on Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway Museum District. The attractions that are within walking distance of the Best Western Center City Hotel are: