Cell phone tours allow access to city at all hours

By Michelle Talisesky
Collegian Staff
October 11, 2006

La Salle students are always encouraged to use Philadelphia as a second classroom to become more cultured and aware of the nation’s history. Philadelphia is home to many major historical happenings and places, including the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, the Liberty Bell, Congress Hall, Independence Hall and the First Bank of the United States. Historical figures native to Philadelphia include the famous Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross and, of course, the more recent Rocky.

While Philadelphia is known as the birthplace of the nation, it is also trying to become more modern, and with new things comes technology. Recently, I was able to take a tour of famous places in Old City the modern way, on my cell phone.

Now I knew that you can talk, type, e-mail, text and search the web on your cell phone, but taking a walking tour of a city was definitely a surprise.

I found the information on the Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia’s Web site (www.theconstitutional.com) about how to take the cell phone tour, and it’s very convenient, and can be taken any time of the day or night. Interested patrons buy the tour online for a nominal price of $9.95, copy down an activation PIN and phone number and have access to the tour for a week.

The tour itself is not a bad deal. It consists of 40 minutes of cell phone time, 35 minutes of walking time and about a two-mile walk. It’s not a bad workout! I mad sure to check my cell phone minutes before I went though, so as not to go over my minute allotment. There were about 20 stops in the tour, each averaging about a two-minute spiel by our virtual “tour guide” at each historical stop.

So, on a bright and sunny Tuesday afternoon, I begged my roommate to come on this Old City tour, with the incentive of eating a good meal afterwards.

We took the subway to the tour’s starting point at Sixth and Market Streets and the Independence Visitor Center. With an open mind and no expectations, I dialed the given phone number when we were ready to begin the tour. The Internet receipt gave directions saying to select option three when prompted, and then enter my PIN. I selected option three when prompted, and ended up almost purchasing another tour. Apparently, the Internet directions were wrong! Strike one. After I redialed the number and actually listened to my options, I realized that option four was the correct one. After entering my PIN, our tour guide started his introduction.

I didn’t want my roommate to miss out on all of the fun and excitement, I put my phone on speakerphone so she could hear the tour, too. Only then did I realize how embarrassing this tour was actually going to be. We were two girls walking through the busy city looking like the biggest tourist losers. We might as well have stamped “tourist” in big red letters across our foreheads, and have worn Hawaiian shirts and big bulky cameras around our necks.

We continued walking around the city with a loud, obnoxious cell phone blaring out touristy information for everyone to hear while enduring stares from passersby. The Web site gave us a map with all of the stops, so we followed its directions. The one thing that we did not realize was how much street traffic we were going to endure. Crossing the streets and encountering honking motorists was quite a nuisance and made hearing the tour difficult, but of the parts we did hear, many were very informative.

Did you know that Ben Franklin invented flippers? According to the tour, he invented them at Liberty Boards snowboard and skateboard shop. The tour did try to incorporate historical facts with modern Philadelphia, which was rather neat. After stop five, though, we were disconnected. Strike two.

Thinking this was now just a waste of money, I called the company’s number and started complaining to the answering machine because I thought I wouldn’t be able to get the tour started again. I called the tour number again, and with a little luck, got the tour back. My fearless roommate and I continued on. Later, I found out that I had a voicemail from a representative of the walking tour company wanting to help me out almost immediately after my request, but I had already figured it out by then.

The rest of the tour was uneventful, so fortunately, the cell phone tour did not strike out, but I most likely would not take the tour again. It was one of those things you only try once. It was not a bad experience, but you can only learn about historic Philadelphia so many times. So, for the visitor who cannot take a tour with an actual tour guide, this is the way to go, but otherwise, have a real person give it to you. If you choose the Constitutional Walking Tour, however, remember to wear comfortable, walking shoes and bring water, because it’s a long walk.

taliseskym1@lasalle.edu