Philly

We spent yesterday afternoon and today scurrying all over Philadelphia.
Before I tell you about that, though, I want to mention that you can associate anything with a book (or song):

Can you guess which books I'm thinking about? =)

As I said before, we went to The Constitution Center. It was very cool! It is a round museum with one or two side rooms (plus the theater). On the whole outer wall of the circle, was The Constitution in glass. Pictures were not allowed.
We saw an exhibit on how to become an American citizen and I was reminded of when my dad became an American (he was a Canadian citizen). Now I am wondering about dual citizenship for myself... I thought there you had to be _____ years old or younger to qualify for a dual citizenship, but I do not know. That will be something to look into.

My favorite part of the Constitution Museum was the Signing Room. It was filled with life-sized statues of all the signers of the Constitution (plus the three men who didn't sign). It was so cool! Luckily, pictures were allowed. I took a video:

The man (Elbridge Gerry) got his wish.
"'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you..... Abbey."

Tintin was having fun with the statues as well.....

George Washington doesn't look too happy. Ben Franklin is like, "Take him back! Please!"

More pictures:

(me in between James Madison and George Washington. Notice the height difference between the two presidents? Then there's short, little me....)

(Nathanial Gorham. Why is he so important? Go read The Freedom Factor, which I mentioned in the blog post before this one)

(Alexander Hamilton)

 

(George Washington)

(Ben Franklin among other men)

(the backs of the men).

Isn't that SOOOO cool??! I could have spent hours just staring at all the statues... They were so life like! They were all their "proper" height (at least, the closest the builders could get, since there aren't records for some of the men). The faces were based off of portraits of the men.

After the Constitution Center, we went back to our hotel because I was utterly exhausted from my migraine and from only eating a sandwhich all day.

I have this really annoying mosquito bite on my second toe....

It itches SO. BAD! And it's so red! I don't think I've ever seen such a red - not to mention large - bug bite... Especially on my toe! I haven't even been itching it. I hope it goes away.

Today we got up early so we could get in line for free tickets to see Independence Hall.
These guys were waiting in front of our hotel:

Baby Canadian geese with Mommy and Daddy watching over protectively.

We got on the earliest Independence Hall tour - 9:00 - and were able to beat the school kids!
It was incredible to be in the birthplace of America. Both the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution were signed in this hall. The Founding Fathers debated for weeks in this hall, during the summer months, with no air circulation. They didn't want any reporters around, so they sealed the windows shut. It must have been hot. And loud. When you get delegates from 13 very different areas together in one room, there are bound to be arguments, and there were.
Here are some pictures of the hall:

See the chair in the middle of the last picture? That's George Washington's chair (the real chair is actually being cleaned/repaired right now so this one is a replica. Washington's real chair will be put back in this room during the summer months. All the other furniture in the room is from the 1700's.)

Benjamin Franklin questioned whether the sun was rising or setting on our new nation. After the Constitution was finished, he concluded that it was a rising sun.

Here is the ink stand that held the quills that signed both the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution:

We wandered around for awhile through more historic buildings (including the old congress building) and then headed over to the Liberty Bell.
We found this awaiting us:

We FINALLY got to see the bell after 45 minutes of waiting:

The bell was ordered from England but when it was unpackaged, it was cracked. So it was melted down and re-shaped twice. It rang for 90 years in the steeple of Independence Hall and then it cracked for seemingly no reason at all. It has toured the 'States numerous times and yes, it was in the movie National Treasure!

We walked to Elfreth's Alley. It is a preserved street from the 1700's, virtually unchanged since then (although I'm sure the paint jobs are more recent!). People actually live in the apartments (they sell for about 500,000).

Grama said that these little mirrors were there so the women could sit upstairs and look out to see who was at the front door. Grama says they were called "busybodies."

After the Alley, we walked through Betsy Ross's house.
Look, there she is!

Here is the front of her house:

And of course you can't go to Philly without getting a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwhich! It was good.

Traffic going out of Philadelphia was horrid due to the fact that Mrs. Obama was in town! She was in the Constitution Center. We saw many well-dressed Obama supporters around, waiting to see the First Lady. We did not get a glimpse of her, however.
I can now say that I've been in the same state as both the president and first lady, though!

Now we are switching gears from Revolutionary War to Civil War. We're going to Gettysburg tomorrow. I can't wait! I find the Civil War time period fascinating and I can't wait to learn even more about it.
Enjoy your week. =)