Day 70 of Mentor on Road, USA

“That man has reached immortality that is disturbed by nothing material.”
Swami Vivekananda

Day 70 of Mentor on Road USA is a travel day from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. On our way to Philadelphia, we decided to take a touristic detour and visited one of the most beautiful residences built on falling waters with the theme of organic architecture, surrounded by the lap of nature.

Fallingwater or the Kaufmann Residence is a house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, 43 miles (69 km) southeast of Pittsburgh.

The home was built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill Run section of Stewart Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains. The house was designed as a weekend home for the family of Liliane Kaufmann and her husband, Edgar J. Kaufmann, owner of Kaufmann's department store.

The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. After its completion, Time called it Wright's "most beautiful job", and it is listed among Smithsonian's "Life List of 28 places to visit before you die". In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named Fallingwater the "best all-time work of American architecture" and in 2007, it was ranked 29th on the list of America's Favorite Architecture according to the AIA.
                                   

After this, Mentor on Road left for its next destination, Philadelphia. 

We started driving on 4 June, 2017 from Boston and passed through states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Illinois and Michigan.  Driven 14,633 kilometres / 9,092 miles till now and will drive 15,450 kilometres / 9602 miles in total. 

                                               

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Common wealth of Pennsylvania and the sixth-most populous city in the United States, with an estimated population of 1,567,872 as of 2016.

Philadelphia is the economic and cultural anchor of the Delaware Valley—a region located in the Northeastern United State sat the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers with 7.2 million people residing in the eighth-largest combined statistical area in the United States. 

In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia played an instrumental role in the American Revolution as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787. 

Several other key Philadelphia events during the Revolution include the First and Second Continental Congress, the preservation of the Liberty Bell, the Battle of Germantown, the Siege of Fort Mifflin, and the Philadelphia Convention.

Philadelphia is the center of economic activity in Pennsylvania with the headquarters of seven Fortune 1000 companies located within city limits.

Philadelphia's economic sectors include information technology, manufacturing, oil refining, food processing, health care, biotechnology, tourism, and financial services. Financial activities account for the largest sector of the metropolitan area's economy, and it is one of the largest health education and research centers in the United States.

The city is home to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and some of the area's largest companies including:

• Cable television and internet provider Comcast 
• Insurance companies Colonial Penn, CIGNA, Independence Blue Cross 
• Energy company Sunoco 
• Food services company Aramark and Crown 
• Chemical makers Rohm and Haas and FMC 
• Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, Boeing Rotorcraft Systems
• Automotive parts retailer Pep Boys

While about 31.9% of the city's population is not in the labor force, the city's largest employers are the federal and city governments, respectively. Philadelphia's largest private employer is the University of Pennsylvania followed by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is home to many national historical sites that relate to the founding of the United States. Independence National Historical Park is the center of these historical landmarks being one of the country's 22 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the Liberty Bell are the city's most famous attractions. 

Other historic sites include homes for Edgar Allan Poe, Betsy Ross, and Thaddeus Kosciuszko, early government buildings like the First and Second Banks of the United States, Fort Mifflin, and the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church. Philadelphia alone has 67 National Historic Landmarks, the third most of any city in the country.

The city contains many art museums, such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Rodin Museum, which holds the largest collection of work by Auguste Rodin outside France. The city's major art museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is one of the largest art museums in the United States.

Looking forward to meeting Philadelphia companies tomorrow.

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)