Philly Trip

The Philly trip got me a little of track as far as my personal schedule goes. Had to do laundry tonight and apparently, so did everybody else. Pretty much had to camp out downstairs waiting for washers and dryers to become available. Got it done, though.

Did my one-on-one interview in Col. Vance's class today and I seemed to do a lot better in this one than I did in the first interview. Also got my midterm grade for my Legal class. I did pretty well on it and I'm going to have to do just as well, if not better, if I want to get an "A" for the term. Since this is a short week for us, that was it for Legal this week.

Also had my promotion interview this afternoon. It was done over the telephone. This was a lot tougher than I thought it would be and I just really don't know how I did. I didn't really know what to expect as far as questions and there was a couple of times where I thought I answered the question and then the Chief says, "that's fine but that's not what I asked you". Oops! I'm glad to be done with it, though. If I get the promotion, great! If I don't, I'm not going to cry about it. Either way, I should know by the end of the week.

The Philly trip was great! We left out of the Academy at 7:00 on Saturday morning and for awhile, it looked like we weren't going to get out of DC. The traffic was horrible and we got an hour behind right away. But once we got outside the beltway, we did good. When we got to the Philly City Limits, we picked up our escort, courtesy of Lt. John Hearn and the Philadelphia Police "Highway Patrol" Unit.
John is one of the Philly cops in our class and he is in charge of the Highway Unit. Everywhere we went was lights and siren. Talk about being treated like dignitaries. First stop was at Police Headquarters for a meet and greet with the Deputy Police Commissioner. Headquarters is a building straight out of 1960's architecture; early 1970's at the latest.

They treated us like we were kings. The Commissioner himself was not there but we got to go through his office like it was our own.

After the trip to Headquarters, it was time to go to the Philadelphia FOP Lodge for lunch. Again, they treated us like royalty. Good food and plenty of adult beverages...as much as we wanted.

After lunch, it was out to the Police Academy for a Bomb Squad, K-9, and SWAT demonstration.








After the Academy, it was time to check into the hotels. I was booked at the Le Meridien. Nice doesn't describe this place. This section of Philly was really beautiful and clean. The Philadelphia City Hall was just across the plaza from the hotel. Of course, the "occupy" protesters were there, camped out on the steps of City Hall. This building is huge. It takes up an entire city block. I know that people have a right to protest but, this was ridiculous. And from talking to a couple of Philly cops, they're pretty much powerless to do anything about it.









At 7:00, it was back on the buses for a trip to the Irish Pub for dinner and of course, an open bar.
Needless to say, a GREAT time was had by all.


Back at it early Sunday morning...WAY TOO EARLY. First stop was the Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall, and the US National Constitution Center. Talk about American History...its all here.








After the museums, it was a trip to South Philly and Geno's for real Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches. South Philly is old and full of walk-up row houses and narrow one-way streets. It looks like the neighborhood where Rocky lived in the first Rocky movie. People were lined-up around the block just to get a sandwich. Of course, us being the royalty that we are, didn't have to wait. They took us in the back door. This place was so clean that you could literally eat off of the floors. The food was great! Speaking of Rocky, the next stop was the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the famous steps. Yes, we all ran up the steps. The Rocky statue is no longer at the top of the steps. Several years ago they removed it and then brought it back. It now sits at the bottom and off to the side away from the steps.

Back on the buses for a trip to Citizens Bank Park for a tour of the Phillies Baseball Stadium and then to Criniti's Italian Restaurant for dinner. To say that they fed us well would be an understatement. Those of you that know me know what a big baseball fan I am so the trip to the ballpark was a big highlight for me.

After dinner, it was time to start back to DC.

This was a GREAT trip. Something I probably never would have done on my own. Its amazing the amount of history there is in this part of the country and its all within just a few hours drive of each other.

Special thanks to Lt. John Hearn and Lt. Stephen Clark of the Philadelphia PD for putting this trip together for us. And special thanks to the Philly Highway Cops that escorted us all over the City.