|
 I
awoke to find Dad had already left. Today would be a day for me and
Mom to drive downtown and see what we could see. We parked the car in
an underground parking place at Liberty Park. We went up the elevator
and wandered (or waddled) over to the Liberty Bell building. Once
inside we learned about the Bell's cracks during different
celebrations from a perky tour guide. Just then, two busloads of
children stampeded our direction. We took a few snapshots, touched
the bell, and zoomed out the door just as the junior-high school
students shuffled through the entrance doors on the other end of the
hall. These students would be either directly in front or behind us
for the rest of the day. We headed across the street to Independence
Hall where the Declaration of Independance was adopted and where the
Constitution was drafted.
After Independence Hall we headed to the Carpenter house where the
first continental congress was held in a room smaller than my dining
room. Imagine fitting over 50 people in a room the size of 4 cars.
and they were sitting too! We continued on to a visitor center where
we watched a what-if movie. Imagine with me. The ghosts of old and
decayed famous patriots come back as bad actors that looked nothing
like them and have a horrible script. And then imagine that it was
long. And finally imagine Gene Siskel coming back as a bad actor with
a poor script and burning every single copy of the film on the planet.
How fun!
We proceeded to walk to the Franklin Homestead which had been
turned into an underground museum. Of course, the kids were there
reading signs that said this is where Ben Franklin's front door was
or, here stood Franklin's icebox. A few station were scattered around
where you could read up on the, uh, fascinating placements of
Franklin's blender and piano. The kids were throwing things down the
stations, which had a bottom of stone a story beneath the ground. The
stations themselves looked rather like large pipes that look like an
upside-down L. We headed into the front door and walked down a
curving ramp. Four floors later we were at the front desk where the
Historic Site people told us to head on in. The first room was a
hallway containing personal possessions of Franklin on one side, and
portraits of people who weren't Benjamin on the other. We got to see
such amazing artifacts like Franklin's grill and Franklin's
composition desk! Amazing! The next hallway was made of mirrors, and
had two neon signs that flashed words like scientist, inventor,
patriot, and all around good guy. We scurried through the hall and
took a right. Here, about 20 phone's were set up on what looked like
drive-in stereo holders. I picked up the phone and browsed the two
signs up on the wall full of people's names. One side said
"Americans" and the other "Europeans". I dialed
up the Marquis De Lafayette and prepared my self to hit his answering
machine. To my surprise, he picked up on the forth ring. He said
something about " américan chien" followed by how
great Washington (I thought this was for Franklin) was and how he had
to go because he had his wife on the other line. It's amazing what
you can do with technology these days. I eagerly picked up another
phone when I saw Woodrow Wilson on the list (See dad's
prez story). As it rang, I began to wonder what the rate for
calling the dead was. It would probably be killing me. Wilson picked
up and this is about how the conversation worked out:
{Him:} Hi, I'm Woodrow Wilson
{Me:} Uh. Hi
{Him:} These Patriots were fine men
{Me:} Yup
{Him:} We must be thankful that we had them
{Me:} Yea, but--
The phone was already
dead. Woodrow Wilson hung up on me! Why was one of the later
presidents on that list anyway? Why is he so special? My question was
not destined to be answered for at that moment, the school group
rushed in and started whacking the phones around. Mom and I sprinted
toward the theater, but to our horror, it would be 17 minutes before
the next showing. We dragged ourselves up the four flights of stairs
with Mom whining all the way. We exited the site and headed toward
the car.
Once we reached the parking garage entrance, Mom couldn't help
wandering across the street to take pictures of Franklin's grave. I'm
not sure, but I think it was on wheels. We headed back to the car and
headed back to the hotel. Once back we went for a swim and Mom
complained about how it was to warm. Is she ever satisfied?
Copyright, 2000, All rights reserved
Written entirely by: Jesse |
