I don’t know what to say about today. It should have been an interesting and exciting day. I rode through Philadelphia today, but didn’t do any real sightseeing. The headwind I have been fighting on most days since Albany was really strong today, with gusts up to 30 miles per hour. It really took it out of me. In the afternoon, the wind shifted directions slightly and keeping balance against the gusts hitting me sideways was tricky sometimes. Riding through Philadelphia was stop and go, with a stoplight at most intersections. Between all of that, by the time I got to downtown Philadelphia, I didn’t really have the patience to deal with tourists.

I was close to Camden, NJ, which is where Walt Whitman is buried. I wanted to go pay homage. Whitman is probably the greatest poet in the English language. “Song of Myself” is definitely my favorite poem. Toward the end of the poem, he writes:

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

I looked forward searching for him in the grass around his grave, but I could not find a way across the river. There is a bridge with a walkway, but it has steps and I can’t carry my loaded bike up steps. There is a ferry, but when I searched for the ferry site, I ran into a large crowd at a festival and couldn’t find a way through. After spending two hours in downtown, I gave up and continued on. It is a big disappointment. I may try again early in the morning by mass transit.

I didn’t get too much past downtown Philadelphia, but hopefully it is far enough that there won’t be stoplights every intersection when I leave tomorrow.