we arrived in the City of Brotherly Love around lunchtime. we were kind of on a tight schedule, because our tour of Independence Hall was timed, and we could only stay in Philly for a few hours. so all we did was Independence National Historic Park. but it was awesome. we began our trip in the visitors center. we saw a guy playing an instrument that looked like a harpsichord, and I was curious and asked what it was. he said it was called a dulcimer, and it was popular in the late 1700s. I was very impressed, and he asked if I had any song requests. I said, "play the Star-Spangled Banner!" Before he did, he explained the history of the song. we all credit Francis Scott Key to writing the song, but he actually didn't. he wrote the poem, and his brother in law suggested that it be put to music. so, they took the tune of a popular drinking song from London, and set the words of the poem to that tune. The guy who played the dulcimer played The Star-Spangled Banner but sang the words to the drinking song. I had no idea that our national anthem's tune was originally a British drinking song, so that was really interesting. but I love the words of The Star-Spangled Banner, and it is a pretty powerful poem itself. but because I connect really well with music, it is even more powerful as a song. so, Francis Scott Key: thanks for writing such beautiful words. and to his brother in law, thanks for finding the perfect tune, even though it was originally a drinking song.
the first thing on our agenda was the Liberty Bell. the line was like 500 miles long, so we had Mom hold our place while Dad took the boys and me to get Philly Cheese Steaks. there were literally 3 stands right next to each other, so they weren't hard to find. I have eaten a few cheap fake imitation cheese steaks, but as I found out, it's not nearly close enough to the real thing.
PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS ARE THE BEST SANDWICHES I HAVE EVER EATEN.
real Philly Cheese Steaks, that is.
in Philadelphia.
I cannot describe how good it tasted. but man, it was delicious. I felt like I died and went to cheese steak heaven. I probably was in cheese steak heaven. after we finished our food, we got out of the hot, hot sun and went inside to see the Liberty Bell.
brotherly love in the city of Brotherly Love. I'm not part of the family.
our next stop was the Benjamin Franklin museum. in 5th grade at Rock Canyon (the beloved elementary school that Justin and I attended since Kindergarten, and Wes attended through 3rd grade), the big project is the Wax Museum. You pick a historical figure (or an influential celebrity), do a report on them, and dress up like them. the whole school takes turns going down to the gym and looking at all the "statues" of these famous (and mostly dead) people. Justin was actually the only kid out of the 3 of us to end up doing it. I read every book about JK Rowling on the face of the Earth, made sure I knew every detail of her life, threw together an A+ quality power point, even got props and everything, and BAM, I wake up that morning, puking my guts out. Wes was at the gifted school from 4th-6th grade, so he missed out. Justin chose Benjamin Franklin because they had the same birthday. he had a wig and glasses and everything. so, of course, the only place he cares about is the Benjamin Franklin museum. but we were all good with that, because in London, I freaked out over everything because I had just learned about it in AP World History. so this time, it was Justin's turn. this place had every fact known about Benjamin Franklin. it was pretty cool, and we learned a lot. Benjamin Franklin reminds me a lot of Wesley, in that they are both very curious about how things work, and they have their own ideas. they also don't like being told what to do. we didn't take any pictures, but Justin enjoyed it the most. we learned that they do not share the same birthday after all. Ben Franklin was actually born on January 6th, but because the British changed the calendar, it says that he was born on January 17th. but it was close enough.
the next stop was...... Independence Hall!
the governor's council chamber
the very room where both documents were signed
Wesley is still in his goofy 13 year old boy phase, where he doesn't cooperate with...anything. someday, that kid will have a girlfriend and she will look at all these pictures and think," this is the kid that I am dating?" if he ever does get a girlfriend. also, nice shirt choice from 4th grade baseball.
then, she asked what the 15th state was, and Wesley yells out "Tennessee!" again. and he was incorrect. again. the answer was Kentucky. Justin probably kicked Wes and told him not to answer any more questions. but at some point, our tour guide was talking about the Bill of Rights, and Wes said something about the "right to remain silent." that's not even in the Bill of Rights, kiddo. but 2 points for trying.
the senate chamber
unfortunately, that was all we had time for. as much as we wanted to tour all of Independence National Historical Park, we simply couldn't. but it was great to learn some American history and see important sites! we drove to Lumberville, Pennsylvania, to stay with the Borzilleri's, some friends that my parents knew in San Diego. I guess Bob Borzilleri, Chris Boyce, and my dad all went to grad school together in San Diego, and their jobs have taken them different places: Chris works for a pharmaceutical company in New Jersey (I think, I am probably getting this completely wrong), Bob does research to find drugs to kill cancer (also in New Jersey, but he lives in Pennsylvania), and Dad is an Organic Chemistry professor at BYU in addition to doing research. The Borzilleri's left San Diego before I was born, so Bob has only met us once when he came to Provo years ago, and we hadn't met the rest of the family yet. they have 2 kids: 13 year old Sophia (who is actually Wesley's age but quickly became friends with me), and Mark, who is almost 11. they live in a really nice house in the Pennsylvanian countryside, right off the Delaware river. the backyard is a full on forest, complete with a zipline. there was so much room to run around and play. my brothers immediately became friends with Mark and Ky the dog, said, "see ya", and made a beeline for the forest. they had the time of their lives playing in the river, riding the zipline, and playing with the dog. when I was younger, I was terrified of dogs, and I still don't like them, so we have never had a dog. the boys, however, love dogs. (Wesley kind of hates me because apparently it's my fault we don't have a dog.)
J got in the river, so his shirt is pretty wet.
Wesley, Mark, and Justin all slept together with the dog. wait. I don't think any sleeping took place!
we spent the night there, ate a delicious breakfast of waffles and real maple syrup, and the time came for us to say goodbye to the Borzilleri family. they were excellent hosts and it was definitely the best place we stayed the whole week. but it was time for us to drive to our next part of our vacation, which was.....
BACK TO NEW YORK!
(see? I am following the England pattern with these posts! part 1 starts out in the big city, part 2 is still in the same state/whatever England is but not in the big city, part 3 is in a completely different state/whatever Scotland is, and part 4 is return to the big city!)
stay tuned for part 4.
I'm actually getting through these posts a lot faster than I thought I would.
Sounds like you had an AWESOME time!!!
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