Washington D. C. – Hub of the Nation

Arriving hear the Capitol

We got off to an early start to drive to the Washington Koa our next destination. We were planning to get to a McDonalds and use their Wi-Fi to secure hotels for the next Koa in Cape Hatteras. We didn't want to take a chance of not getting a reservation there since we wanted to reserve an air-conditioned cabin for three days. Driving out on highway 10 we noticed very little commercial eateries so we continued onto highway one as we crossed into Maryland munching on Fig Newtons and drinking Slimfast. Finally we came onto Highway 95 and it was more to our liking as our stomachs were growling. We found the yellow arches and zoomed in and parked our car.

I booted up Sammy at a secluded table while John got in line for breakfast. It didn't take long as we dove into pancakes, eggs, orange juice and coffee. I was on the Koa website and located the Cape Hatteras Koa which looked like Disneyland. We quickly got a cabin for the three days, paid with our credit card and ad our reservations ready. That was a relief and now we could drive leisurely to a little town called Millersville approximately an hour away from Washington D.C. We let the Garmin Girl again lead us the right direction as we drove off Highway 75 into wooded streets to finally reach our Koa Campsite.

Like most Koas the check in desk at the Washington Koa was situated in the country store where you could buy supplies that you needed. In the back was a spacious laundry area with several washers and large dryers. Around the back of the building were the bathrooms and showers next to the large outside pool. It was pretty much a cookie cut set up to most of the other Koas we had been to. This one also had a microwave in the country store. This would make my job of cooking much easier since we did not plan to go off campus to find a place to eat. The freezer department had lots of ready to eat meals that would just require heating and they also sold wine and fresh salads. So we were set. After setting up the campsite and taking a swim we went in to the little store and heated some lasagna, bought a cold salad wind and bread. We had a little picnic by our tent, setting a place for the yellow jackets that buzzed in when they smelled the food. We were in the mood for Jazz so we put on Bob James and Earl Klugh album One on One. It was perfect to settle us in as we talked about what we wanted to see at the Washington Mall. We had reserved a seat on the Koa bus that would take us and pick us up at the capital.

We boarded the bus to Washington D.C. at about nine in the morning. Every seat was taken with many of the campers so we were glad that we had put in our reservation early. About half of the people were foreigners from some part of Europe: Spain, Netherlands, France, and Italy. All around us we were surrounded by foreign tongues all speaking at once. Once the engine of the little bus started, the speech was overdubbed by the noise of the engine.

We rode on the little country roads until we got on highway 50. The road offered the most bumpy ride of all the roads we had traveled on our trip. Add to this the bus had a very poor suspension system so it was a bumpy forty-five minutes of driving. In my mind I singing, "The people on the bus go bump, bump, bump…." If any road needed infrastructure repair, this one should be number one on the list.

We were dropped off in front of the Capital building and the driver said that he would pick us up at exactly four because he would have to leave right away in order to pick up another group after he dropped us off at the campground. So if we were late, we would have to take a taxi. So we all looked at our watches to make sure we were synchronized. We thanked the driver and went up to the Capitol steps to take pictures. It was then that I found out my batteries in my camera were dead. After asking a Smithsonian Police where we could get batteries, we were told that the nearest place to buy batteries was the Native American Museum and pointed to the unusual building to the left of the left on Independence Avenue. So we began our walk towards the circular layered building that housed all the interesting things about Native Americans.

John posing at the Sculpture Garden

On our way we walked by the U. S. Botanical Gardens. It is one of the oldest botanical gardens in North America. It informs the public about the importance of plants to the well-being of humankind and the earth's ecosystems. It highlights the diversity of plants from around the world as well as their aesthetics, cultural, economic, therapeutic, and ecological importance. The main building was inspired by the Palace of Versailles near Paris and the glasshouses were patterned from the Cristal Place in London. In the glass dome there were tropical plants like the ones you would see in Florida or Hawaii. Walking inside was like being transported into a tropical wonderland with beautiful, unusual plants. There was a huge garden of great varieties of orchids. You could also find other tropical plants like ferns, plumerias, bougainvilleas, etc. I could have spent more time in there if I could have taken pictures, but I had to get some batteries first. So we left and walk by the rose gardens and fountains to make our way to the Native American Exhibition Hall.

When we walked into the foyer we saw the beautiful, large balsa boat that I knew came from Lake Titicaca in the Andes. I quickly went over to inspect it and saw how tightly the reed bundles needed to be held together in a tight fashion to enable the boat to float. I couldn't imagine how Thor Heyerdahl made the Kon-Tiki to cross the Pacific Ocean to prove that the Incas migrated to the Polynesian Islands. This voyage took place in 1947 and left from Peru and landed in Tuamotu Islands after four months and 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean. The Kon-Tiki was built with balsa logs and had a mast and sail attached to it, but it was constructed out of the same reeds in bundles connected by a string of reeds to be held together just like the one on display. The Incas used this boat to cross Lake Titicaca, the largest, highest lake in the world which could resemble and angry sea with high waves if a storm winds swept over the lake. I was lost in thought until John reminded me of our purpose for being there and said that the gift shop was on the second floor.

We found the gift shop with an abundance of Native American Jewelry, pottery, woven clothing, and other artifacts that we had seen in many of the gift shops in the southwest. These, of course were much more expensive but were of exquisite quality. I found the batteries I needed and bought them even if they were twice as much as those you could buy at Wall-mart. I slipped them into my camera and we were ready to go.

As we walked out on the hall we were directed by one of the curators of the exhibition that had been opened only a few days before. It was called, "Conversations with the Earth: Indigenous Voices on Climate Change." It provided a Native perspective on global climate change. That looked pretty interesting so we entered the dimly lit room with risers in a circle like Kiva and a large granite stone in the center encased by a circular panoramic screen eight feet above the ground. By using audio, video, and photographs the exhibition explained the environmental impact of pollution and global warming on the planet. The Native peoples have always seen themselves as the stewards of the Earth's well-being. This exhibition shares the feelings of Native cultures from the Arctic to the tip of South America. The multi-visual program was fascinating as the water seemed to be flowing over the rock and birds seem to be flying in the canopy. Adding the surround sound made you feel like you were actually right there in the natural setting. At the end of the program everyone stood up and clapped in appreciation of this unique demonstration of folklore and state of Mother Earth today.


After viewing more displays in the hall, we ventured out to go to the Air and Space Museum next door. This was a popular place as it was filled with visitors. It wasn't long before John and I got separated. I somehow got swept into a group that was following a speaker who was pretty entertaining. He was talking about the Race to Space. He first addressed the group and asked if there were any astronauts , engineers, or pilots in the group. A few people raised their hands and he said, I always want to know who my audience is when I pose questions." Pose questions he did to keep everyone on their toes. His first question was, "When was the first flight! Someone in the crowd said, "The Wright Brothers!" No, said the speaker, "Earlier than that". When no one ventured with an answer he said, "A Balloon, in 1743!" He went on to explain that the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated the flight of their balloon in front of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the French court in Paris. He placed a sheep, a rooster, and a duck in to the basket and let the balloon go. It went two miles and settled down with the occupants safely in the basket. After he told us this story he asked us if we wanted to see the balloon. We all looked around and couldn't see any resemblance of one, so he took us to a corner of the hall and pointed up and there it was hovering about 25 feet above in a corner. It was beautifully decorated in shades of reds and gold netting that covered the whole balloon.

Balloon in Flight

The speaker had us in the palm of his hand as we followed him back to the center of the hall. One little girl with red hair by the name of Mollie was the first to gather at the new sight. She had paper tablet with her and was writing things down. From appearances she was about ten years of age but to us she was ten going on twenty-five. For whenever the speaker asked about the actual first flight in space, she was the first to answer, "SPUTNIK!" He pointed up to a model of Sputnik. The speaker then looked down at Molly and said, "Who is known as the father of human space flight." You could tell he was trying to trick her. Molly responded without hesitation, " Konstantin Tsiokovsky!" "You are right, gimmy a high five!" and they slapped palms. Well, from then on it was the Molly show as she was able to respond faster than anyone as to who was the first person to orbit the Earth? Yuri Gagarin.

Sputnik

The speaker then went on to tell us about President Kennedy's challenge to beat the Russians to the moon by 1970. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was founded in 1958 soon after the Russians launched Sputnik which hit us like a lightening bolt. He explained how the engineers had to scramble big time to meet the challenge. First they had to find a type of rocket that could take a capsule out of the Earth's atmosphere. He dug into his pocket and brought out his rocket model and showed us that his miniature "Mercury" rocket had to have three stages in order to escape the Earth's atmosphere. It first launched Alan Shepard into a sub orbital flight, then sent John Glenn into orbit three times around the earth. We walked over to Glenn's space craft Friendship 7. It was as small as a SMART CAR! Molly would probably fin in there just fine, but a full grown man like John Glenn stuck in this capsule in a full space suit and being launched by a rocket and going around the earth three times and coming back to tell about it. WoW Pretty amazing!

John Glenn

John Glenn's Capsul

The Soviets were sending three people in their Voskhod 1, but they couldn't wear space suits because it would be too bulky. When Alexei Leonov went out on a space-walk, he had to find a way to put on the suit in the tiny space and then once he got out, he couldn't get back in. It reminded me of my tent in its little bag, once it was out, it was very hard to get it back in compactly. In space there are a lot more concerns. He eventually got into the airlock. This was scary enough but he and his buddy had problems on their landing and were lost in dangerous woods before they were rescued.

NASA went on with the Gemini Program passing up the Russians as the Geminis were docking with each other in orbit. Meanwhile, the Russians were sending unmanned flights to the moon to see if they could land anything. The intensity of the completion caught up to both countries when they suffered fatalities. In preparing for a three man mission, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed by suffocation when their cabin caught fire while training for their flight the next month. The Soviets lost Vladmir Komarov when his parachute got tangled on landing. The speaker was telling us these gruesome stories as we walked to the site of the Moon Landing.

Molly walked next to our speaker almost running to keep up with him. She looked at him and said, "I know who the first American woman astronaut is." He looked down and asked, "Who?" She answered, "Sally Ride!" Well, he asked, "Who was the first woman astronaut?" And she answered without hesitation, "Valentina Tereshkova and there are 55 other women astronauts. Do you want me to tell you who they are?" "Not right now but give me a Low Five" and he lowered his hand and she gave him a pat as we gathered around the large replica of the Eagle landing site.

Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin

The Eagle

With the landing of Apollo 11 on the Moon, the U.S. succeeded in landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon fulfilling Kennedy's challenge by 1969. In Kennedy's words: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving this goal: before this decade is out, landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." The speaker showed us how the lunar module, The
Eagle, settled in the Sea of Tranquility. He showed how the astronauts climbed down the ladder which was not easy in the big, heavy weighted boots and limited visibility in large helmets. As Neil Armstrong stepped off the bottom rung he said, "That's one small step for Man, one giant leap for Mankind." The astronauts spent twenty-one hours on the moon. During that time they put up the American Flag as if claiming the moon for America the way the early explorers did dividing the world into their own colonies. They also tested their movement in the zero atmosphere of the moon's surface by walking slowly at first sensing their body mass and then hopping around like bunnies and singing hippy- ti hop songs once they got used to their movement. Finally, they collected rock and dust samples to bring back to earth. The speaker then explained how the module would propel itself back up to the orbiting command module piloted by Michael Collins. When the astronauts returned to Earth they brought some moon rocks. The speaker pointed to a tiny sample that we could touch. I followed Molly who got on her tip toes to reach her index finger and lovingly petted the flat sample. I too wanted to touch it. It felt like a smooth and polished stone after so many fingers had caressed it. As I turned holding my finger up, I saw John coming towards me. He had been all through the whole museum and now he was ready to venture out and go to the Smithsonian Castle. I followed him still admiring the finger that had touched an extraterrestrial object.

The Smithsonian Institution was created for the infusion and diffusion of knowledge. About ten million dollars was given to the United States by the British Scientist James Smithson in 1835 for this purpose. Nice guy especially since he never stepped foot on our soil. The institution has been a magnet for natural scientist as well as scientist in various other disciplines who work in the museums that have become research centers. It is the largest museum complex in the world with most of its nineteen museums, its zoo, and other research centers located in Washington D.C. Other museum sites are in New York, Virginia, and Panama. It is funded by the government of the United States through its endowment, contributions, and retail sales. The buildings in the complex have become historical and architectural landmarks.

As we neared the Smithsonian Castle, the first building built for its purpose as a museum, I kept thinking of the film, Night at the Museum: The Battle of the Smithsonian, in which everything comes to life
and a battle ensues. The Gothic Revival architecture stood out among the modern buildings all around which is why it is so widely recognized. It was built in 1855 and it housed all of the institutions operations galleries, lecture halls, laboratories and living quarters for the Secretary Joseph Henry and his family. In time with the great influx of collections, it out grew its size so that now the Castle is the main Welcome center to the Institute housing only a sample of the collections one can find at other sites.

We talked with the hostess and made our way around the Castle taking pictures of various interesting displays.

Memorabilia in the Castle:  Christy Yamaguchi's skates...

There was still so much to see and so little time! We decided to go across the street to the National Museum of American History. There we spent most of our time at the Star Spangle Banner Exhibition. The background for the war of 1812 against Brittan was caused by the British interference with American shipping. Having defeated Napoleon now the British decided to retake little defenseless, pesty America. They boldly sent British troupes from Bermuda. After overrunning the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg they took over abandoned Washington D.C and burned the Capitol and the White House taking all the booty back to their ships. President Madison high tailed it to the woods. They were like the big bully picking on the little guy and taking away his ice cream cone.

Then they sent warships to Baltimore to strike a final blow and because the British suspected many privateers that had been raiding British ships were hiding there. They unceasingly sent cannon balls and rockets for about twenty-hours at well fortified Ft. Henry under the command of Admiral George Armistead. The soldiers at the fort felt like sitting ducks but they managed to fire on a landing party and keep the British from taking the harbor. Meanwhile, the land invasion lead by Major General Robert Ross landed in North Point and was going to take Baltimore from the north. Unfortunately for the British, the Americans learned how to play dirty and found a way to get sharp-shooters to kill Ross leaving the command to a lesser colonel. The Americans set up 100 cannons and made ready for the advancing British army. Together with 10,000 troupes and cannon fire they, stopped the British advance and sent them fleeing to their ships. By dawn Admiral Armistead replaced the storm flag that had been flying during battle with huge 30 by 40 foot Stars and Stripes to show victory over the British. It was seen from across the harbor by Francis Scott Key a lawyer who was assigned to ask for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prisoner of the British. Key was on a truce ship when he saw the flag and was inspired to write a poem that was put to a popular song of the day. It was sung at patriotic events and became more and more popular but it wasn't until 1931 that Star Spangled Banner was adopted as the National Anthem.

We walked into the exhibit following a steady crowd of people interested in finding out about the famous flag. After seeing pictures of the Battle of 1812 we were led to an area where we could see the remains of the actual flag displayed on a table. The flag was now 30 by 34 feet having been snipped as keepsakes through the years and natural deterioration of the fabric. The Navy needed a large flag and a smaller storm flag. In 1813 it commissioned Mary Peckersgill a 37 year-old-widow who made ship's colors and signal flags for the Navy and merchant ships . She and her 13 year old daughter, her two nieces 13 and 15 and an African American slave also 13 years of age set upon to work on the project. It took them almost two months to make the two flags. They assembled blue canton and the red and white stripes for the flag by putting together strips of loosely woven English wool buntings that were about 18 inches wide. The Stars were appliqued to one side and then the material was cut to reveal the star on the other side.

The flag remained in the Armistead family for ninety years until the Key's Anthem became popular and the public developed a sense of national heritage transforming the flag into a national treasure. When it was given to the conservatory to restore the flag, it first had to be carefully spread out and carefully hand vacuumed. A conservation team lying on a movable bridge worked on the surface above the flag. The lab maintained a constant temperature and humidity as this would affect the fragile wool. A linen support applied in 1914 had become weakened and soiled and had to be removed. After it had been cleaned the conservators sewed the flag to Stabiltex , a lightweight polyester to give it support and keep fragile parts in place. The display table was tilted ten degrees for better viewing by the audience. The display showed all the restorations that had taken place. In some cases the conservators had to clean out the dirt with cosmetic sponges so as not to harm the fragile wool. In other places people had resewed pieces that had been cut as keepsakes. The science of the restoration project was just as interesting as seeing the actual flag. As we left the hall, we felt we had a better understanding of American History by learning about the flag and the anthem. Little pieces of history seemed to be fitting together like a large puzzle made of time and space.

The Rotunda of the Museum of Natural History

We walked out into brilliant light and roasting heat and made our way quickly next door to the National Museum of Natural History. We lost our sense of time and even hunger did not stop us from feasting our curiosity in this place. The minute we walked into the marbled Rotunda and saw the huge elephant we were smitten. We walked into the dinosaur fossil room and marveled at the many skeletons that had been recovered and were on display. John had taken another path into the ancient seas and excitedly dragged me away from the fossil beds to see the ancient sea creatures. This was called the Cenozoic Era when life exist ed only in the seas.

The Mighty Grisly and John

Back out to the Rotunda we made our way to the mammal section and we were so delighted to see animals as if they were actually alive going about their lives hunting, relaxing, drinking, sleeping and some intent on watching us as their eyes followed us around the room. They seemed so real that they could almost spring out of their glass cages. Finally, we stumbled on to the Evolution of Man exhibit. 

John shakes hands with the missing link!

The Obelisk

The White House

Going to the bus near the Capitol

Although some people do not believe in evolution it is pretty hard not to see how convincing the display made it seem probable. We were fascinated in some of the interactive activities that made it fun participate in the program. One display had you stare at a camera and it would show your face and change it to see how it would look in the Neanderthal Era. It was pretty funny how the faces changed. We went about enjoying the displays and we could have spent a few more hours there, but we realized we needed to get back to the Capitol to catch our bus.

                                                                  

We did manage to see the White House but I so much wanted to walk all the way down to see the Lincoln Memorial. That would mean we might miss our bus and John would not think of it. So we walked quickly back as fast as we could go without running back to the Capitol where we saw our bus waiting. We still had about fifteen minutes and John had to find a bathroom so he ducked into the botanical gardens to find a restroom. I went into the National Gallery of Art and took some pictures of famous art. Soon we were back waiting in the bus. We were waiting for a family with two little kids and wondered if the bus driver was going to drive off at exactly 5 o'clock without them. We all checked out watches to see. Finally, the mother came running from around a corner, and said that the rest of her family was on its way. Soon Dad came carrying a sleeping child in his arms and pushing the stroller with the other child. They scrambled into the bus and as soon as they were seated the bus driver started the engine and we were off.

We got back to camp famished not having had lunch. Nibbling on fig newtons didn't seem to satisfy the grumbling I was hearing in my stomach. So upon arrival, we went right into the little store to see what we could buy for dinner and take back to our camp. We found a can of raviolis, pork and beans, and salad and a couple of apples. I thought I would use the microwave and heat up our meal before we left. So I gathered the cooking stuff in the corner and went to work.

While I was getting things ready, John was having a conversation with the young clerk. She was around a blond about 35 years of age who had lived in the area all her life, and was helping out the owner whom she knew from childhood. John was explaining about all the places we had been, and since we had finished our tour with the exhibition about evolution he was explaining what we saw there. She broke in and said she did not believe in evolution. She believed in the creation theory of the Bible. John then asked her if she would vote for Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman. Her answer to this was no because in the Bible it says that only a man must rule the home and the wife must be subservient to the man. I almost dropped a plate of hot raviolis when I head this.

John pressed her and asked her if she would vote for President Obama in the next election. She gave an emphatic NO! She added that Obama was against the Christian churches and what they stood for. John asked for evidence of that and she said her pastor could explain it. John then asked her if she believed in the separation of church and state. She said our country was based on Christian principles and therefore there was no separation between church and state. John asked her if she had read the Constitution lately. She said it didn't matter because the Federal Government was too big and spending too much money.

I was concentrating on the numbers declining on the Microwave in hopes that they would hurry up and heat up our pork and beans before John got us thrown out of the place. It was obvious that he was enjoying the conversation after drinking a glass of wine on an empty stomach. He finally asked her if she was a member of the Tea Party.

"Absolutely," she said. And added, "And we are going to make some real changes, like get Obama out of office, reduce spending, and bring Christianity back where it belongs- in the White House!"

Just then the microwave sounded a PING! I quickly put our warm food on a tray and announced that everything was done and we were ready to leave. It was getting mighty hot in that little room and we needed fresh air fast! We said good-bye to the Tea Party girl who was still flushed and red in the face. We walked back to our camp thinking there are a lot of people with these unbending thoughts in their heads from the size of the Tea Party, and it was sure scary to say the least. That was our first one to one encounter with a member of the Tea Party. It left us with something to talk about over dinner!







    

Philadelphia - Where Freedom Rings!

Our time in Philadelphia

                                

I was deep in my dreams thinking of caissons and cannons being rolled on rough gravel.  It was a part of the dream where cannons and rifles fired and men lay dead all over the fields with buzzing insects all round. I slowly woke up and looked out the mesh window of our tend to see the buzzing, flying insects and large RV's slowly rolling on the pebbled road near our campsite.  Deep in the woods near Gettysburg, the sun had not made its way through the trees yet, so it was still early morning.  John was still snoring deep in his dreams, and  I didn't want to wake him.  I got up as quietly as I could and headed for the bathroom to shower up and get dressed.  When I returned, John was up, the tent was down, and he already started to put things in the car.

We left Gettysburg and headed east on highway 30 to Philadelphia.  The ride would be approximately a hundred miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains, so it would be slow going.  John used his low gears going down the steep hills, and often we saw runaway truck ramps where trucks could exit the road if they got out of control.  I can imagine what it must be like in the winter months when the road is icy.  Those runaway trails must be used a lot. 

Our next campsite was in a town called Coatsville near Downingtown west of Philadelphia. Again we had to consult the Garmin Girl to give us directions.  She lead us in and out of roads through the woods until finally she led us to a large, beautiful campground.  This campground was one of the best rated by the KOA review board, and it was huge.  The pool was large enough to warrant a life guard and there was also a state of the art activity room with a large dance floor only used on weekends.

We registered and were lead down to the lower level on a steep road to the tenting area by the Brandenwine River.  The campsite did not suit us because it did not have electricity, so we moved to the one away from the river where the electric boxes stood and settled in there.  The area was full of trees and on hot days this would be a perfect location.  Several campers were already fishing and some were kayaking on the river.  This was Thursday, and we were told that by the weekend, the place would be packed.

It was mid afternoon when we hit the pool for our swim workout.  There were some young teen-age girls that John befriended while I was finishing my swim.   Three were here with their grandparents who had brought them to Philadelphia to learn about American History.  They enjoyed throwing the football around, and we included the life guard in the game. She was the grand daughter of the owners.  They were all going to college in the fall and were looking forward to leaving home for the first time.  We asked the life guard where there might be a place to get some groceries as we needed to get some food to cook for the evening.  She referred us to her grandmother who was checking people in at the front desk.  After our swim we went in to talk to her, and she said the Deli-Mart was about few miles away on the way to a lake where we might be able to go windsurfing!  We were really excited then, since we had not gone windsurfing until we left Hood River.

We got Moby Dick ready and went to find the lake.  We consulted the map she give us and followed as best we could,  but we got lost.  So we went to the Deli-Mart to buy our groceries.  We decided to get Hogie sandwiches and soup.  While we were there, we asked a few patrons about the mysterious lake.  Yes, they knew of it but it was more than twenty-miles away and probably not suited for windsurfing unless there was a hurricane passing through.  Now, we felt we were led in a wild goose chase, so we decided to let the Garmin Girl bring us back to camp.

We returned to our camp and set out our table for our supper.  While we were getting things ready there was a lot of activity a few campsites away down by the river.  One fellow, an older man, started measuring the distance between the trees and mapping out the campsite.  The mapping out continued into four more campsites and he then proceeded to rope off with a very long rope all four campsites by wrapping the rope around the trees.  Soon there were two more groups that started setting down their tents while "Dad" made a big campfire with flames dancing about three feet.  We were now sitting down to eat and had our Reggae music going thinking this was going to be a nice mellow night. We were mistaken and we should have thought better when we saw that "Dad" hanging a large University of Wisconsin flag between two trees.

The group had grown larger as more cars came down the hill. They all got busy setting up their tents and they reminded me seemed me of  Hobbits.  Most were under 5'8" and spoke in high decibels as if they were yelling though they were talking right next to each other.  There was a problem with setting up one of the tents, and they yelled at each other and nothing got done.  Finally, "Dad" stepped in and showed them how the tent came together and they all saw at once and finished the set up without a peep. I wondered if this was the way the Hobbits acted in Wisconsin?



The next morning we could have had our revenge and blown our horn on the sleeping compound, but we didn't.  We just drove slowly up the hill took our showers and headed for the train station.  When we arrived there, the lot was full of early commuter cars and there were only a few spots clear at the end of the lot.  A young mother parked next to us with her two young sons.  We all got out and went to pay for our spots.  We walked up to the paying board which was a metal board with ring slots the size of a quarter below each number. It cost two dollars which was eight quarters.  We were lucky we had gotten a five dollar role of quarters for laundry.  Unfortunately, Janet, the mother with the two sons, did not have enough.  John gave her three more quarters and we were set.

Janet was going to Philadelphia with another mother and her three year old daughter.  They were planning on shopping and on to Freedom Park.  Just as we finished inserting our quarters, Janet's friend got dropped off by her husband, and they had a little reunion while we made our way up the green stair case to the other side of the platform.  Soon the train came and we got on the second from the last car.  We settled in and took our our apples and muffins, and water to eat for breakfast. Just as we were enjoying our crunching the back doors open and into our car comes Janet behind her two rambunctious boys and her friend with a baby girl and a stroller.  We looked up surprised to see them and they said, "Imagine that. We were too noisy for the "Quiet Car" so we have come here to make some noise!"

The train started moving and as it picked up speed.  The sound of the train covered all the other sounds so it was a good time to put on our IPODs and mellow out for the trip ahead. The train made many stops as it picked up more people on their way to Philadelphia.  A young man sat in front of us and he said he was on his way to work as a maintenance helper at a store in a Mall close to Philadelphia.  At another stop a lady came and sat in the chair opposite our isle.  John struck a conversation with her. She said she was  teaching a class in Business Administration at Drexel College.  She liked taking the train as it was only a ten minute walk from the Galleria where the train ended in the city.  John told her that we were in Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and other historical sights.  She recommended to first go to the visitor center and get a map and plan the day accordingly. We thanked her as the train stopped, and we all exited into a large Mall called the Galleria.

We walked around the huge mall which was on a lower level than the street. We asked for directions and found Sixth Street where we would find the Independence Visitor Center.  It was situated in Independence National Historical Park and is run by the National Parks System. We entered the Visitor Center and noted that we were too late for the film presented by the center.  So we headed to the snack restaurant where we bought lunch.  While we were there, we called Lynda and told her that we had mailed the birthday presents for Berkeley and Jake back in Cleveland.  We mailed them to her brother Terry who would give the kids their presents when they came for the family reunion in a few weeks.

We then checked the map to make our plans.  We noticed that we had to have a ticket to tour the Independence Hall.  So we went and stood in line to get our tickets.  Then we left the Visitor's Center and went to see the Liberty Bell.  The line went all the way down past the park.  So I opened up my umbrella and we stood in line in the shade under the hot sun.  Eventually, we made it to the door and passed security and stood for a few minutes breathing deeply under the air conditioned room. We walked in and began reading all the exhibits.

I found out that William Penn was a pretty cool dude.  As the leader of the colony he told his people that they had to help him make the rules for the colony to live by,  and they could worship in what ever way they wanted.  The colonist felt that was great, and in time got the Assembly to obtain a Bell from England and write this inscription: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" from the Leviticus 25:10 in the Bible. The bell weighed 2,000 lb. and was made of 70% copper, 25% tin with small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver. It was put in the State House and rang many times for public announcements even after it was repaired the crack made shortly after it arrived from London. Oddly, it cracked again in after 1846 and has never rung to this day.

The symbol of the Liberty Bell has been heralded by many groups to show the importance of freedom. In 1830 the abolitionist called it the "Liberty Bell"and it became the symbol for outlawing slavery.  In the late 1800s the Bell traveled around the country to expositions and fairs to heal divisions of the Civil War and to remind the people when they all fought for independence. In 1915 it made its trip back to Philadelphia where it has stayed.  It was proclaimed as a symbol after World War I in forming the League of Nations.  Again during the suffragette movement it was a symbol for the rights of women to vote.  During the 1960 it again made its mark during the peace walks of the civil rights movements. Finally, it is important to mention that the Liberty Bell was a symbol of South Africa's abolition of the Apartheid policies.

By now we got ready to take a closer look at the actual Bell. Everyone was taking turns getting in front of the Bell to have their picture taken so we did the same.  We took pictures of a family and they took one of us!

The Liberty Bell

                                                                

We walked out to the park in front of Independence Hall.  Our tickets said 1:15 and we had about half an hour to wait.  The park was lovely with trees all around and lots of benches to sit and wait.  Everyone
sat patiently waiting until the Park Ranger asked for the 1:15 group to line up.  She counted all of us in line and then led us into the lecture hall.  There half of us sat on one side and half on the other. I counted how many men and women there were and who would be the first to fall asleep.  The speaker traversed across the center telling the story of why the American Colonist were upset with King George III.

England's biggest concern was France.  They were in battles all over the world including the America. The colonies helped England fight the French and Indians and were beginning to be more empowered in defending themselves.  By defeating France, England got all of Canada. But as a result of this war England was running out of money and since it was spending extra money keeping a military force in the new world to defend the colonies against Indians, it felt that the colonies should have to pay for this service.  It proposed a bunch of taxes on the colonies to fill their coffers.  Also since the military was defending them from Indians, the colonies could house and feed them.  This would also save England a lot of money.  This infuriated the colonies even more.  The officers were not so bad, but the infantry were an uncouth bunch seeking out prostitutes and rum.  The Puritan society was totally against having them in their homes. The soldiers were supposed to protect the colonist from Indians in exchange for room and board. But the troupes were stationed in Boston and New York not in the frontier where the Indians posed most concern.

 England saw the colonies as a pain in the ass.  They felt that the colonist were there to support Mother England not to run off and do their own thing.  They proposed an act that the colonies only buy goods from England and sell to English mercantile ships.  They sent British officials to search homes for smuggled goods.  Royal custom collectors, inspectors and Naval patrols were sent to keep the colonies in line.  So the colonies retaliated by boycotting goods from England. The English merchants had a fit because they were losing lots of money, and put pressure on Parliament to rescind the laws and they did. But they put in place the Townshend Act to put a tax on paper, glass, paint, and tea. The colonist retaliated by dumping the tea in Boston Harbor. The British were outraged and wanted to shove the colonies into submission.  They closed Boston Harbor and took over the Massachusetts government.  At this point the colonies were not yet united.  It seemed it was mostly New England's problem. Then the British demanded Quartering soldiers anywhere in the colonies which affected all the colonies. Furthermore, they passes the Quebec Act that expanded the Quebec territory all the way down the western part of the colonies thus closing western expansion into the Appalachian Mountains.  Add to this the only settlers in this territory were to be Catholics!  This really upset the Protestant Puritans in New England. It was also learned that King George was using German mercenaries to fight against the colonies.  Implementing these acts and using mercenaries was the last in a long string of errors made by the British.  The colonist had their back to the wall and had no choice but to seek their independence from Mother England.  The Revolutionary War had already began at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 and now the colonist were ready to state their position to Parliament.

Assembly Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed

                                                        

The lecture was over and we all got up and marched to the Assembly Room in Independence Hall to see where the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence.  I couldn't help but hear myself humming the theme of the play 1776.  It all came back when the speaker was retelling the tale of that hot May day when feisty John Adams was bringing up the resolution of Independence from England.  Not all people were convinced that they wanted to part with England and some hoped for a reconciliation.  They did not want to be seen as traitors.  Some said they hadn't seen anything written on the resolution.  So John Adams brought up who was going to write it. After several people flatly refused he put pressure on Thomas Jefferson who was a well educated scholar and said he would do it.  Jefferson graduated with honors from William and Mary College and had studied and was influenced by the readings of John Lock, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. He wrote the initial draft of Declaration of Independence, then it was edited by congress.  The phrase to free all slaves was a point of great discussion since it would drastically change the economics of the colonies in the South with large plantations. The last to hold off however were the middle colonies, but as soon as Pennsylvania lent its support, the resolution passed unanimously.

The lecturer read parts of the Declaration especially the part that has inspired people's from all over the world who planned their independence since 1775:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Then he went and read the part with all the grievances the colonies had against the crown.  The whole lecture might have been boring to many of the kids who were in our group, but the speaker was so good and so animated that he drew everyone into the happenings.  He even stopped from time to time and asked questions of some of the adults which made us all stand up straighter in hopes that we would know the answer and not show that we were complete dumb-dumbs.  So it was a great honor to  actually be in the place where all these important events happened.

We then filed out and found ourselves in the park where we encountered a group of actors dressed in colonial clothes.  We decided to have our pictures taken with them.

Colonist is period costumes

                                              

We then checked our map and went to some of the remaining sights we wanted to see;  The Portrait Gallery, Franklin Court, The Supreme Court Chamber in Old City Hall, and the first Bank of the United State.  By that the time we were done, we walked all the way to Penn's Landing where we wanted to eat a light dinner before catching the train back to the campground.  It was very hot and we were happy to find the Hyatt Hotel right by the pier.  We were seated at a table overlooking the water and relaxed in the luxury of air conditioning.  After a relaxing dinner we caught a bus. The golly bus driver drove us to the Galleria and said "Seniors go for Free!"  Wow, did we look that old?  It had been a long day!  We where we were just in time to catch the five o'clock train back to our stop near the camp ground.  The clicking of the tracks sent us to our nap as we dreamed of being in the old colonies making candles and churning butter!

Irish Arrive in America -
Near Penn's Landing