Dumb Things Said By Philadelphia Tourists: Part Two

More to add to the growing collection:

“Is that the real Liberty Bell?”

Guides at Fort Mifflin, where a major Revolutionary War battle occurred, are frequently
asked, “Why did they build the fort so close to the airport?”

The City Hall tour office once got a question on William Penn’s statue. “Does it rotate?”
The tourist seemed sure the Penn statue seemed to move from day-to-day.

Dumb Things Said By Philadelphia Tour Guides Part Two: Fake History!

Pointing to the Powel House on 3rd Street near Walnut where George Washington was a frequent guest, one guide claimed that “George Washington and Abraham Lincoln ate dinner together inside.”

Several guides proudly proclaimed that John F. Kennedy had lived on 3rd street a few doors down from the Powel House. Another said Jacqueline Kennedy had spend most of her childhood in one house.
Yes, three houses on the block were built by Jacqueline Kennedy’s great-great grandfather Michel Bouvier in the1840s, so it’s just a simple leap of logic to make 3rd Street JFK’s or Jackie’s childhood home.

“Benjamin Franklin fathered 69 illegitimate children,” declared one ghost tour guide. Well, Ben did have one illegitimate son, William Franklin. So what’s wrong with a bit of exaggeration?

Yes, when Walt Whitman lived in Camden, he did visit friends in Philadelphia, as a young tour bus guide explained. No, he did not get to Philly by crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge, which opened 34 years after the poet was dead and buried.

Dumb Things Said By Philadelphia Tour Guides Part One: Greek Madness

A carriage driver, stopped in front of the Second National Bank on Chestnut Street near 4th, was overheard saying the building was an example of “reefer Bible architecture.”

The passengers – not believing their ears – asked the young woman to repeat her statement. Again she said “reefer Bible architecture.” 

Perhaps, the guide meant “Greek revival architecture,” suggested a passenger.

Dumb Things Said By Philadelphia Tourists Part One: Chinese Colonists in Germantown?

“I didn’t know there were Chinese people here in colonial times,” commented an out-of- state tourist following a lecture on the Battle of Germantown.

The historian explained that major fighting happened at the Chew House -
not the Chu House.