Philadelphia

Well! We didn't quite get on the road as fast as we thought we would... I wasn't counting on the kids resisting (they wanted to stay at Gally) and the warm relaxing sun coaxing me into a nap right in the middle of the blue water. But we did eventually load up.. thanks to Greg, who did all the work and then ended up with a migraine as a result. So we made it to..... Baltimore! It was a "quick, find a hotel before I puke" kind of manuever... but we all enjoyed the rest and Greg never did throw up. (Whew) So Sunday we got rolling and found out about a HuH? afternoon baseball game in Philadelphia??!! Game on!!

Luckily they had tickets and we were even on time... so we got to take in the Phillies/Angels game. And you know what? People out here are really friendly. They saw our Mariners shirts and we got minimal flack. They were generally happy to share their team!! Though not everybody knew where Seattle was. That was kinda funny. "Woshington huh? Somewhere round the nothwest conah?"
Daddy had to buy a hat... he has visions of a sports room someday and decorating the walls with hats from every stadium in America. Plus, it was actually pretty hot. Here's how the rest of us handled the heat....
The first of many icecreams! Here's the Phillies mascot, the "Phanatic". We thought the Moose was random but....
Not so bad!!! After the game, we ventured off to the Philadelphia historic disctrict, with only one "temporary delay" winding up across a bridge into Jersey... which by the way, "temporary delays" are extra dangerous up here because you have to pay tolls on turnpikes and bridges... we were lucky we had the $3.00 to get back over the bridge! Anyway, we made it and learned all about the liberty bell and Independence Hall.

We found out the liberty bell is cracked because the last time they rung it, they did it for two hours straight on George Washington's birthday. Apparently they rung the bell a lot back in the day... for summoning the Continental Congress, announcing the signing of the Declaration of Independence, for war efforts, civil right, women's rights.... The bell is embraced as the symbol of freedom even made its own cross country trek in a wagon back in the early 20th century to inspire people across the land. It was called the State House bell until it was adopted in the civil rights movement, where it got its current name, Liberty Bell.
Did you know Philadelphia was the nations first capital? (I didn't, until today.) It housed the congress for ten years- 1790-1800, and saw the first democratic changing of power from Washington to our second president, John Adams. I learned that this was significant because before this time, power had only changed hands by death (etiher bloodlines, war or tyranny) and this was the first time a ruler of a nation gave over his power willingy. it represented "we are a country of laws, not leaders" This is Independence Hall, where all of that took place!
We also walked over to the Park of the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" where thousands of soldiers were buried who died from sickness, injury, or in prisoner camps during the revolutionary war.
Overall, it was a well balanced fun and enlightening day... we are staying tonight in Edison (near New Brunswick), New Jersey. Tomorrow we hope to find us more chick-fil-a's and meet up with the Mariners at Shea stadium. See you then!!!