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Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - We headed out from Kellie’s house early this morning bound for
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Philadelphia. We traveled through the Cheasepeake Tunnel and up the Eastern Shore. We stopped by and checked out Kellie and Phil’s second home in Onancock on the Eastern Shore. What an adorable little town. We arrived in Philadelphia around 2 pm and checked into our hotel – the Embassy Suites Center City. We set out on foot and headed downtown. We walked throught the Gallery Mall – stopping of course to have frozen yogurt. Our next stop was the Visitor Center on the corner of Market and 6th Streets, passing the Graff House where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. We watched a short video on the foundations of the United States and collected information on the various things we wanted to do on Thursday. Darby’s feet were killing her so we headed back to the hotel for some R&R. Afte the kids rested up and we had a quick dinner at Friday’s next to the hotel the kids were ready for more activity. We walked on Ben Franklin Parkway all the way past Logan Circle to the Philadelphia Art Museum. It is so beautiful and of course it the scene where Rocky trains for the big fight in one of the Rocky movies (showing my age now). We didn’t have the camera so unfortunately no pictures of that but the view back toward the city was beautiful! We reached our hotel just as the sun was setting and turned in early to be ready for a big day on Thursday.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
We got up extra early this morning because we had 9 am reservations to tour Independence Hall (www.nps.gov/inde). We picked up our tickets from the Independence Visitor Center and then headed through security. To get to Independence Hall, you must walk through the Liberty Bell building as the streets are all blocked off for security. The Liberty Bell moved to this new building just a few years ago and there is a great museum teaching all about our famous Bell. When William Penn created
Pennsylvania's government he allowed citizens to take part in making laws and gave them the right to choose the religion they wanted. The colonists were proud of the freedom that Penn gave them. The Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly ordered a new bell created for the State House in 1751. The Bible verse "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Leviticus 25:10) was placed on the bell. As the official bell of the Pennsylvania State House, it rang many times for public announcements, most memorably on July 8, 1776 when it rang to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Our tour of Independence Hall began promptly at 9 am and lasted about 45 minutes. I had been there several times as a child but it is still inspiring to think that both the Declaration of Independence and the Consistituion orignated in that very room. The Great Essentials Exhibit (www.nps.gov/inde/westwing.html) displays original surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States; along with the silver inkstand that, according to tradition, was used during the signing of the Declaration and
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Constitution. Independence Hall was constructed between 1732 and 1756 as the State House of the Province of Pennsylvania, and is considered a fine example of Georgian architecture. From 1775 to 1783 (except for the winter of 1777 - 1778 when Philadelphia was occupied by the British Army) this was the meeting place for the Second Continental Congress. It was in the Assembly Room of this building that George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. In the same room the design of the American flag was agreed upon in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and the U. S. Constitution was drafted in 1787. Both the inside and outside of this building has been restored to its original late-18th century appearance. Most of the furnishing are period pieces. The "rising sun" chair used by George Washington as he presided over the Constitutional Convention is original. From Independence Hall we headed to the Free Quakers Meeting House (www.nps.gov/inde/fqmh.html) up the street. During the Revolution when the call went out for able-bodied men to bear arms in the colonial militia, an unusual group of Quakers answered. These were "fighting" Quakers who could not reconcile themselves to the Quaker principle of pacifism when it came to defending their country. To join the war effort was a painful decision, for they knew they would be disowned from their meetings. In 1783, this separation forced the Free Quakers to build their own meeting, the Free Quaker Meeting House. Thirty to Fifty men and women, including Betsy Ross, regularly attended this meeting. After the war, differences among the Quakers diminished, and by 1834 services stopped and the building no longer served as a place of worship. Today the descendents of the original Free Quakers conduct their annual meeting in the building. We entered the meeting house and found a “Quaker” there answering questions. The kids enjoyed hearing stories told by our Quaker friend. We were able to pick up a flag and participate in a program offered in Philadelphia for kids called “Once Upon a Nation” (http://onceuponanation.org/html/01_00_00.php). The idea was to visit the thirteen benches around the historical section of the city and hear a story at each told by professional story tellers. At each location the kids were given a star on their flag and once they received all thirteen, they could return the paper flag for a real one. Darby and Grayson LOVED the stories and begged me to be sure we hit each bench. It took most of the day but we did it! We hiked back toward Independence Hall, and situated behind it we found our first bench. We heard a story about Commodore Barry, the captain of the navy, and his role in the Revolutionary War and earned our first story star. From there we headed over to the Washington Square and heard about the headless rider during the Revolution earning our second star. It was a true tale from that time period. We then headed over to explore the Second Bank (www.nps.gov/inde/second-bank.html), located on Chestnut Street to hear our next story. Inside, we viewed the People of Independence exhibit which includes 185 paintings of Colonial and Federal leaders, military officers, explorers and scientists, including many by Charles Willson Peale. Our fourth star was gained outside of Carpenters’ Hall (www.nps.gov/inde/carpenters-hall.html). After our story we went inside to explore and saw a blind woman playing the armonica, Ben Franklins’ musical invention. Carpenter’s Hall was built in 1770 by the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, a guild founded in 1724 to help its members develop architectural skills and to aid their families in times of need. The delegates to the First Continental Congress met here in September 1774 to air their grievances against King George III. In the spring of 1775, the Second Continental Congress transferred its sessions to Independence Hall, but Carpenters' Hall continued to be used by various political groups. During the Revolutionary War the Hall served as a hospital and an arsenal for American forces. From Carpenters’ Hall we headed over to the City Tavern (www.citytavern.com). This tavern, called the "most genteel" tavern in America by John Adams, was one of the social, political, and economic centers of late-18th century Philadelphia. It was originally built in 1773 by a group of Philadelphians who felt that their hometown deserved a fine tavern that reflected its status as the largest, most cosmopolitan city in British North America. The tavern gained fame as the gathering place for members of the Continental Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, and for officials of the Federal Government from 1790 - 1800. The current building has been reconstructed on the original site. We explored the tavern and heard stories outside of it and the Independnece Living History Museum which was nearby, earning our fifth and sixth stars – and it was only lunchtime!!! We headed up Third Street to Market where we found Ben Franklin’s Court (www.nps.gov/inde/Franklin_Court/Pages/index.html) and another Once Upon a Nation story. While there we visited the Ben Franklin Museum which holds many of Ben’s most famous inventions as well as the floor print for Ben’s house. The house is gone but pillars mark the outline of where it stood in the large courtyard. We also visited Ben Franklin’s Post Office and his Printing business where we saw how papers were originally printed on the same site. We meandered over to Second Street to see the famous Christ Church (www.nps.gov/inde/christ-church.html). We heard a story in the churchyard earning our eigth star. Inside the church, we sat in the pews previously occupied by Ben Franklin, George Washington, Betsy Ross, and Thomas Paine. It was very exciting. We also saw the prayer book in which the pastor of the Christ Church congregation crossed out the prayer for the King of England. This was an act of treason at the time and what the story teller out front had told us all about. Christ Church was built between 1727 and 1754 and it is considered one of the most beautiful 18th century structures in the United States, a monument to colonial craftsmanship. Seven signers of the Declaration of Independence, as well as four signers of the Constitution, are buried at Christ Church. Continuing over to Arch Street, we stopped at Betsy Ross’ House (www.betsyrosshouse.org). We have visited the house before so we lingered in the courtyard watching the players commonly found acting out colonial scenes all over Philadelphia. We also heard our most exciting story here about Lydia Darraugh, a Quaker woman who smuggled secrets to General Washington when the British occupied Philadelphia and the Patriot Army was stationed in Whitemarsh. The kids were intrigued. With only four stars left to go we stopped at the Arch Street Meeting House which was another meeting place for Quakers. It was growing late and the kids we adament about finishing all thirteen stories. I couldn’t argue as they were deceptively educational. We headed to hear the stories in front of the National Constitution Center, the Museum of American Jewish History, and the Independence Visitor Center to finish all thirteen locations. The kids received their well-deserved flag reward for completing the Once Upon a Nation program, and we headed toward the National Park Office. While touring all the historic sites and listening to stories, they simultaneously completed the National Park Service Junior Ranger Program. We had been on the go for a solid eight hours barely stopping for a drink and a hot pretzel for lunch, and I thought this day counted for about three jam-packed school days. We wandered down to Penn’s Landing for a little rest and then caught the purple Philly Phlash bus back up to the Embassy Suites. We were worn out but after a little rest and some delicious pizza at an authentic Philadelphia pizzaria near our hotel, we hiked back up to the art museum for a second time. I forgot the camera again!!! What a day!
Friday, July 15, 2005 - Today we were up and packed early. We needed to plan to leave Philly by 11:30 am and we wanted to get a little time at the Franklin Institute (www.fi.edu) this morning. It is a
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hands-on science center and was situated just a block from our hotel. We were there when it opened at 9:30 am. We started out in the Human Body area and I enjoyed showing the kids the enormous, walk-through heart that has been there since I was a child visiting the Institute on field trips. The kids can actually walk through all four chambers of the heart and see how it works. We also enjoyed taking our blood pressure, learning about the nutritional content of vatious foods, cholesterol, etc. Since we were there when they opened, we practically had the place to ourselves. We also explored the electricity exhibit that contained lots of hands on experiments. From there, we checked out the Dinosaur exhibit and the kids put together a giant puzzle that was like a fossil - it purpose was to show them what it would be like for an archeologist to place discovered pieces together. The Sport and Fitness exhibit was really neat and very crowded so we patiently waited our turn to first try out a balancing exhibit using a surfboard. It let the kids simulate surfing with their feet close together and then further apart to experience which is tougher. We also tried a simulation of a wheelchair race - one person using a racing wheelchair and the other using a standard type. Grayson loved the pitching cages and experimenting with throwing balls of all sizes and weights. Before we knew it, it was 11:30 am and time to head for Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We retrievced the car at the hotel, grabbed an authentic Philly hot pretzel, and hit the road. The drive was just under 1.5 hours to Manheim where we had planned to stay the night. We met my parents and friends of theirs, the Georges, at Kreiders Restaurant next to the hotel for a bite of lunch. Our main purpose for a trip to Lancaster was to visit the Sight and Sound Theater (www.sight-sound.com/WebSiteSS/getlanguages.do) and see the live production of Ruth from the Bible. The show was at 4:15 pm so we had plenty of time to rest up before heading over there. The theater is incredible with amazing actors and sets and a powerful message. We have seen "Noah" and "Daniel" there in the past and we were excited to experience the "Ruth" production. The show ran about 3 hours including intermision, and it was excellent, well worth the trip! We spent tonight in Manheim, near Lancaster, and plan to head to Valley Forge in the morning.
Saturday, July 16, 2005 - This morning we spent a little bit of time in the Amish country of Lancaster in the small town of Lititz before heading east again 45 minutes toward Valley Forge
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(www.nps.gov/vafo/home.htm). Valley Forge was a great day trip. We spent about 4 hours touring the park. The kids worked on their Junior Ranger program earning a badge at the end of the visit. Valley Forge served as the winter quarters for General Washington and his army during the American Revolution. After landing at Head of Elk, Md., the British army under Sir William Howe marched north to capture Philadelphia. Washington tried to block Howe at the Brandywine but failed. The British occupied the patriot capital of Philadelphia while the Americans established winter quarters at Valley Forge. We saw Muhlenberg Brigade which is were the soliers huts stood, Washington’s headquarters while camped there, and the Artillary Park filled with cannons. On the way out we stopped to see the statue of General von Stuben, who supervised the training of the Continental Army. We were absolutely exhausted from the heat and walking and headed southbound. We drove to Virginia and spent that night and the next couple of nights in Lexington, Virginia with my parents visiting and digesting all the histroy we learned on this trip.
Philadelphia • Williamsburg • Jamestown • New York City • Washington DC
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