WHERE: The “Rocky Steps” and other places in Center City (downtown) Philadelphia
START: 30 Street Station (Amtrak, SEPTA, NJ Transit; fully accessible)
FINISH: Jefferson Station (SEPTA Regional Rail; fully accessible)
DISTANCE: 4.1 miles (6.6 kilometers)
Photographs by Michael Cairl and a gentleman at the Museum Steps named Andrew. Map courtesy Google Maps.
Route of this walk, reading from left to right.
What might have been an offhand comment by my work colleague Don Brandt got me thinking about climbing the grand staircase at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous in the movie “Rocky.” As luck would have it, Amtrak had one of their occasional fare sales at the time. With a cut-price ticket in hand, off I went. I had not been in Philadelphia since before the stroke.
Upon arriving in Philadelphia, I crossed the short bridge over the Schuylkill (pronounced school-kill) River to the ramp and 35 stairs leading down to the Schuylkill Banks bike and foot path along the river. Although it was the day before the official start of Spring, it was a warm, pleasant day, and a lot of people were out on the path on two feet or two wheels.
Approaching the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I went up 24 steps to Spring Garden Street, then made my way to the base of the Museum steps. Running up these steps is a popular thing to do, recreating a scene from the movie “Rocky” where Sylvester Stallone runs up the steps to the top and raises his arms. Off to the side of the steps is a life-size statue of Stallone with his arms raised. Tourists lined up to be photographed there.
The challenge of the steps is not the number (72) as much as the absence of a handrail. Going up and going down, I got off to a slow start until I got the hang of the stairs and the use of my cane as my sole support. When I got to the top I felt I had really accomplished something. A fellow named Andrew offered to take pictures of me, which I accepted, and then I descended the stairs. The descent was more difficult than the ascent but I made it.
Boathouse Row. The outlines of the buildings are illuminated at night; this is a fine sight from Amtrak trains just north of 30 Street Station.
From there I walked toward Boathouse Row, past the Azalea Garden, and down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway toward City Hall, passing the Rodin Museum, the Barnes Foundation, and the Franklin Institute along the way. I ended my walk at the outstanding Reading Terminal Market and Jefferson Station for the short train ride to 30 Street Station and the train back to New York.
The forecourt of the Rodin Museum, the Shakespeare Memorial across from the Free Library, entrance to the Reading Terminal Market, historical marker across from City Hall.
This was a day very well spent. I’ll surely come back before too long to revisit several museums and discover new things in the City of Brotherly Love.
Stair recap: 96 up, 107 down, total 203.