The Delaware Riverfront at or near the foot of Chestnut Street has been developed to offer much to the tourist. There are several vessels to visit, museums and restaurants.

Recommended is a visit to the Independence Seaport Museum along the Delaware River at Penn's Landing. This is a really well done museum covering the extensive history of shipbuilding and nautical travel tied to Philadelphia. In addition to historical documentation, the museum has many examples, models and/or full-sized, of working and pleasure boats. There is a boatbuilding shop in the museum where visitors can see boats under restoration. Classes are offered there in building models and full-sized wooden boats.

In addition, the museum has Admiral Dewey's flagship, the Olympia, a battle cruiser launched in 1892 and commissioned in 1895. The ship figured in a famous victory over Spanish forces in the Philippines in 1898. It is the oldest steel warship still afloat. Six coal-fired boilers powered two triple-expansion steam engines. Each engine has cylinders of 42, 59, and 92 inches in diameter, all with a 42 inch stroke - yes, that's a big piece of hardware! At a full speed of about 22 knots the boilers consumed over 600 pounds of (hand-fired) coal per minute. There are three turrets with eight inch guns, and ten five inch guns fired through ports along the sides.

Next to the Olympia, we find the Becuna, a submarine of WWII vintage, built in 1944. One can see incredible amounts of wiring and piping and equipment packed into a small space. Some of the 80-person crew shared bunk space with twenty foot long, 3140 pound torpedoes stored in racks. Four sizable V16 diesels supplied surface propulsion and recharging of batteries for underwater running.