visit the second most famous bird in philadelphia. grip the raven is dead, stuffed and on display at the free library of philadelphia. 1901 vine street, within walking distance of the philadelphia museum of art (and the rocky statue!) he was owned by charles dickens, but made famous by edgar allen poe as he was the inspiration for poe's 'the raven'. also known as grip the wicked, grip the clever, and grip the knowing...grip was apparently not a very nice bird, having the habit of biting people, according to reports. and was 'very unpleasant towards children' (can you blame him??) forced to live in the carraige house because of his 'habits' he died in 1841 after ingesting lead paint. karma? maybe. he is located on the third floor which is the rare books department. take the elevator up where it dumps you off facing a large glass window. press the buzzer and wait for someone to come let you in. they do offer tours of the rare books department, but i opted out since i was only there to visit grip. but, be sure to peek in some of the glass cases, there are some incredibly old (ancient even) books and they are worth a view if you are there. be quiet! no laughing. or snorting. you get frowned at for that. but seriously, 'dick, the best of birds' was difficult not to snort at, so if you must snort, do it as quietly as possible. check out my facebook page www.facebook.com/roamingzombiegnome for more fun photos of my trip to philadelphia. on to my next adventure...
