New England Day 4: Philadelphia

Happy Independence Day! We were so excited to spend Independence Day in the city where it all started - Philadelphia! We had a fabulous week of American history celebration - all the national sites in Washington, DC, followed by Baltimore and now Philadelphia. After this we also visited New York City and saw the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and the 9/11 Memorial followed by a few days in Boston seeing all the Revolutionary Era sites there. This was by far the most meaningful Independence Day week I'd ever had, and I recommend doing it. It deepened my appreciation for the country we live in and especially for those who have fought so intensely over the years to establish and maintain the freedoms we enjoy.

We stayed with my friend Cory Heal and his wife Emily in Philadelphia. I know Cory from our time working together at Wells Fargo in Utah and he and Emily, along with their two little boys, now live in Philadelphia where Cory's attending medical school. It was fun to see them again. 

Philly has a great public transportation system, and they offer an all-day all-transportation pass which saved us a lot of money and a lot of foot pain. We started the day taking the commuter train into the city. When we got to the station we realized we had to pay with cash, of which we had none, but Cory was nice enough to drive down and bring us some.

When we got there, we transferred to the subway and came up to witness the tail end of the Independence Day parade. Too bad I can't upload videos here, because it was something to see. There were drumlines and dancers that were really feeling it. We loved it. We had lunch at a deli, where we tried a meatball sub and an Italian sub. Both delicious.

From there we started walking down to Independence Mall and passed by Benjamin Frankin's home, so we went inside. We caught a storyteller guy in the middle of explaining Frankin's idea of united colonies. Jaime got to participate and be his model.

When we got to the Mall, we hit up the visitors center where they were giving away free cupcakes in honor of the 4th of July.

We then hopped into line to see the Liberty Bell, which took about an hour to get through. I'm not sure it was totally worth the wait, but I don't regret it. It's fun to see such iconic things!

Next stop was Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was approved exactly 238 years before. It was especially meaningful to stand where the Founding Fathers stood during such important events. I wonder sometimes if they even understood how far-reaching the effects of their actions would be.

The first room we visited was the Supreme Court room, which held the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the 1700s.

There's a jury box

And a witness stand.

Then we moved into the Assembly Room where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. It's incredible to imagine George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, John Adams, and many other great and notable men gathered in that same room.

We then visited Congress Hall next door, which is where Congress met from 1790-1800. In that building Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee were admitted as states, the Bill of Rights was ratified, and George Washington and John Adams were inaugurated as president.

Because it was the 4th of July, Philly was putting on quite a party so we headed towards the art museum to check it out. There's the LOVE sculpture on the way.

And some street performers who aren't shy about asking for money.

And the American flag hoisted up by a fire engine ladder.

When we got down there, we realized it was pretty much just food trucks and a big concert, which we couldn't get anywhere close to. We got some free shades from Chevrolet and found a seat on the grass. We were there about three hours before the fireworks, though, and amazingly, it was getting a little bit chilly. I don't know what happened between DC and the rest of the world, but the weather was cool to comfortable everywhere else we went on the trip. Thank goodness. Anyway, we hadn't dressed for cool weather and had nothing to do for three hours, so we decided to get out of town a little bit to get some food then catch the fireworks from somewhere else.

After walking through some questionable neighborhoods to get to the bus stop (the buses were all diverted because of the party), we rode the bus up to a Philly cheesesteak place near Cory's house that he and Emily had told us about. We picked up a couple then took them over to their house to eat with them. It was...not what I'd expected. The meat was cut much finer than I'd ever had so it felt a little bit like I was eating a ground beef sandwich. It was good, but not something I'd seek specifically. When in Philly, though...

After eating, we headed out to a bridge to see the fireworks. Traffic was crazy and I was constantly afriad we were going to get hit or ticketed for parking on the side of the road. We waited it out, though, and...never saw fireworks. Apparently, we'd gone to the wrong bridge so our view of the fireworks was obstructed by trees. We were in the city with one of the biggest 4th of July fireworks displays in the country and we couldn't even see them. Pretty disappointing. We did have a good laugh, though, at some teenage girls who refused to walk out onto the bridge because they were sure it was going to collapse under their weight. Nevermind the 50 or so cars that were already parked or driving across the bridge. Nope. Their 150 pounds was going to tip it over the edge. 

New England Day 3: DC and Baltimore

Before heading out of DC, we went back to the monuments to see the ones we'd missed the day before. We decided to drive them this time and blasted the AC in between. Best decision ever. We were extremely blessed to find parking spots close to each of the memorials (except the Jefferson Memorial, which has no parking nearby) and I was loving my remote start that allowed me to get the car running before we got there.

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial was much bigger than I would have expected, but it has tons of his killer quotes, which I loved. 

"They who seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order."

"We have faith that future generations will know that here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war."

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith." This reminds me a lot of a quote by President Thomas S. Monson, our prophet today, "The future is as bright as your faith." I completely believe that both of these statements were inspired by God.

The three memorials that we visited that morning - Jefferson, FDR, and MLK - are all situated around a tidal basin, so they each have a great view of the others, as well as the Washington Monument and the White House.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial also has some of his best work on the walls.

 "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." Love, love this one and I know that it's true. I tried so hard to help my middle schoolers understand that last year - you can't return negative with negative and expect a different result.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial was much bigger. A beautiful memorial to a great man. I really don't understand how people can argue that our country was not founded upon Christian principles. The words of our founding fathers and so many of their successors ooze faith in God.

While at the Jefferson Memorial, we had a unique privilege to see a marine commissioning ceremony. This marine had just finished Officer Candidates School and was taking an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. It was obviously a very special moment for him and his family, and it was cool to be able to witness it in such a special place.

 On our way out of DC we stopped by the Washington, DC temple. The quickest way there was to drive through the city and I couldn't believe how wooded it was. There we were in the middle of Washington DC and I felt like we were in the woods. It was gorgeous!

Speaking of gorgeous, have you seen the DC temple? All temples are beautiful, but the words that come to mind when I see this temple are grandeur, majesty, and splendor. It is absolutely stunning.

In the (air-conditioned) visitors center they have some models of what ancient temples looked like, including Solomon's temple and the portable tabernacle of the Israelites.

Our final destination that night was Philadelphia, but we stopped in Baltimore, Maryland on the way. We visited Fort McHenry, which was the fort over which the American flag was flying which inspired The Star-Spangled Banner during the War of 1812. It was cool to see the actual flag the day before then to see its original home.

 

The heat had subsided a bit as a result of some clouds and wind that were coming in. Luckily, I thought to grab the umbrellas as we were going in, which turned out to be a good idea. A tropical storm had hit south of us so the storms that were traveling up the East Coast were pretty strong. 

Our tiny umbrellas didn't do much to protect against the crazy winds, but Jaime was determined to get a picture with the cannon.

The inner courtyard of the fort, where the Star-Spangled Banner was definitely waving. Whipping is probably a more accurate description.

We visited Fell's Point - a historic waterfront neighborhood in Baltimore Harbor. There are lots of shops and restaurants in the area now.

We had dinner at a place called Bertha's Mussels. Jaime and I are all about trying local foods, and these mussels were apparently famous, so we had to try them. Neither of us had had mussels before. We started with a crabcake, also famous in this region, then finished with the mussels and some other dish I forget now. The mussels were quite possibly one of the most disgusting things I'd ever put in my mouth. The sliminess and the sucking straight from the shell and the grittiness...goo.

We headed up to Philadelphia that night and were hit with the highest tolls I'd ever heard of. The only tolls I'd ever passed through before were in Chicago or in Florida, both of which were a buck or two, I think. Over the next few days, we paid tolls as high as eight dollars. Nuts. We had not prepared for such high tolls, so fortunately we were able to scrounge together some dollars and change to get by. It made me grateful to live in Indiana where we just let people use whatever roads they want. Good ol' midwestern hospitality.