Janie and Chris with good ol' Ben in the background
Philly! We packed up early for a 1.5 hour ride to our second city. When we got off the bus, we walked straight into the Ben Franklin Museum, a small building located adjacent to his former home. Benjamin Franklin: printer, scientist, author, politician, and inventor. Walking by a giant timeline of his life painted on the wall, we learned that, besides coining many phrases still in use today—“A penny saved is a penny earned”—and coming up with the idea of a fire station, Mr. Franklin was the inventor of swimming flippers!
The Choir of the Plastic Straw Oboes
Across the courtyard was a small printing studio, complete with a functioning replication of the old style printing presses. There was a man in the studio who had just pressed a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and we watched as he reached up and draped it over a long yardstick-shaped strip of wood fastened a few inches below the ceiling. We also discovered the etymology of the archaic terms “upper case” and “lower case.” Printers would have whole cabinets—or cases—of cubby holes that they used to organize the letters they used to set the type. The smaller, “lower case” letters could be found in the lower case, and the larger, “upper case” letters could be found in the upper case.
Mr. Otis Conducts four-person bottle and straw orchestra
It turns out that we have some burgeoning inventors among our band kids. During lunch (most people tried Philly cheese-steak sandwiches), the adults at the chaperone table started to hear some very large mosquitoes buzzing at the next table over. The girls had collected straws, and they had flattened the tips so they would buzz like little plastic oboes. Then came the glass bottles which they carefully tuned into a lovely chord. Band kids. Gotta love ‘em. They continued to harmonize after lunch while we waited on the sidewalk for the bus, and Mr. Otis couldn’t resist the opportunity to come conduct them.
We hopped in the bus to visit the Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum. Our bus driver, Jack, landed us a few blocks away because he couldn’t maneuver the bus through that particular neighborhood. I noticed trash littering the sidewalk and street along the whole route, and it dawned on me just how clean New York City was, despite the huge numbers of residents and tourists constantly surging through the streets.
Civil War Bullets and Gunbarrels
Our guide must have spotted us out the window, because he hurried down the street to meet us. He directed us into an old house and began to speak immediately. He was a jolly fellow who was positively bursting with information about the civil war. Glass showcases were crowded with artifacts like old artillery shells and small portrait photos discovered in the pockets of the slain. On the wall above a doorway hung a formidable display of pikes (they look like spears). After a few minutes our guide apologized for the lack of air conditioning on such a warm day: the artifacts can’t endure large swings in temperature.
He then enticed us upstairs with the promise of air conditioning, and we trooped up to a room filled with rows of chairs on the floor and portraits of civil war generals on the walls. He regaled us with details about the battle of Gettysburg, and invited Erin up to the front to hold a musket. He also passed around a few real bullets used in the battle. Holding a bullet in your palm is an odd experience. These particular bullets were unexpectedly heavy for their size, and, more than any words he could say, made us feel the weight of those soldiers’ experiences.
Then we bussed back and set up our performance chairs in front of Independence Hall. Regular but gentle gusts of wind made everyone thankful to have clothes pins, and I only had to chase after a stack of trumpet music once.
The Ninja Game
After the performance, which got going a little later than intended, we booked it over to the security checkpoint at Independence Hall, and made our tour appointment in time. We were there with a group of Miss Deaf America pageant winners, but while we waited for the tour to begin, our kids naturally made up in decibels for the other group’s silent communication (and then some). Kids naturally divide themselves into teams, and teams have to be loud to display their team colors. And rule #1 is that you have to name your team. The name can be simple or in code form. So far we have Team Awesome—you’ll know they are coming by the loud shouts of “NICE!”—and we have Team Wicked SOUP—you can spot them because they’ll either be sitting in a circle playing the card game Mow, or standing in a circle playing some kind of ninja game. Don’t ask me to explain it. As I recall, the “SOUP” part stands for Society of Unbelievable People.
Back to the tour. Our guide gave us an introductory talk about the fragility of the wooden stairs and the importance of refraining from gum chewing while on the tour, and then we went in. There were two rooms downstairs and a modest banquet hall above. Among other things, we saw the Rising Sun Armchair, which George Washington sat in during the Federal Conventions.
It turns out that mid-way through the trip we can all experience a bit of a lull in energy. I have to admit that I was so fascinated by watching the deaf interpreters that I didn’t hear a whole lot of what the guide said. From all accounts, however, he was a real grouch. Maybe I was subconsciously tuning him out for that reason… We proceeded onto a different building where we watched a short film about the Revolutionary War. This time I paid rapt attention, but later found out that a bunch of people (including several chaperones) couldn’t keep their eyes open during the film. You know how it goes: your head is bobbing around like a balloon in the wind. It happens.
We walked down the hall to the Liberty Bell, which is now on display inside a modern building. Not too long ago, you could still walk right up and touch it, but now you are forced to stay back at about a three or four foot radius due to a railing.
We finished the day at the Hardrock Café. If you’ve never been, it’s a spectacle. The walls are plastered with photographs, old concert posters, and framed clothing and instruments that famous people wore and played. There are screens all over the restaurant showing music videos that match the songs being piped out through the ceiling speakers. We had a fun time, and a few people walked out the door with new t-shirts.
