Good morning, Brigade! Welcome to Philadelphia! Where it all began, almost 250 years ago, with the First Continental Congress back in 1774.

You know, I was running behind the other morning because I got stuck in traffic between a bus, an SUV, a National Park Ranger truck and a horse-drawn carriage. There I was with my bike on a lumpy cobblestone street, trapped behind this beautiful cacophony of vehicles. I couldn’t get mad, though — being stuck right where where our democracy was founded never gets old.

Just a couple blocks away from that hot mess is a beautiful hand-carved wooden counter inside an old brick building: America’s first post office. It’s still operating today. It’s right at 4th and Market, about a mile east of here. Go check it out, mail a letter. They’ll stamp it by hand. It’s very charming.

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