A Week in Philadelphia

 I've just spent a week in the land of Brotherly Love immersed in learning about the Constitution and the Revolutionary War.  We flew into Philadelphia on a Red Eye (which was miserable) and headed straight to Valley Forge. 

 This picture is wrapped around part of the visitor's center.

Washington chose Valley Forge partly because it was on high ground and his troops could keep an eye out for the British camped in Philadelphia.  

 

 I imagined a small area, but Valley Forge covered several miles.  In different areas groups of cabins have been rebuilt to show what the men lived in.  Eighteen men lived in each of these cabins.  Only six were usually in a cabin at a time--others were out foraging for food or on guard duty.

These are replicas of the cabins the men quickly built to have shelter from the winter weather.

 This is an officer's cabin, so it is deluxe.

They are so small!  I'm nearly as tall as the door.

 Bunks were three men deep.  Not much room to sit up in bed.

 Much of the food was cooked in this earthen oven.

 

 These logs show the outline of the incredibly small cabins.

 This man made his uniform.  The woman taught us a lot about the muskets.

 This was a beautiful archway honoring George Washington who was quoted at the top:

Naked and starving as they are

We cannot enough admire

The indomitable patience and fidelity

Of the soldiers.

 George Washington rented this home from a wealthy farmer and used it for his headquarters.

 Washington's aides wrote letters here.  The picture below shows how Washington's office. It was so exciting to see where he worked and lived.  The picture also shows how I look when I've been awake all night and the temperature is 95 degrees and the humidity is 99.  It was Hot!

Slaves and indentured servants worked in this kitchen which was attached to the house through a breezeway.  Hundreds and hundreds of loaves of bread were made here daily.

George and me.

Tuesday we headed to a wonderful Constitution Center that has been built in the last five or six years.  The pictures below show "Signers Hall" with a statue for each signer of the Constitution.  The sculptor made each signer the correct height and grouped the men around the hall conversing with each other.  

When I walked in and read the first groups of names, I started to cry.  These were men I'd read about all my life!  Each woman in my group said she had the same response.  There was a very reverent feeling in this room (until a group of school children entered and then everything became very lively).

Abraham Baldwin is holding the pen, James Madison is in the middle and Washington (partially shown) is on the right. Below: I'm signing the Constitution with Washington looking on.

Wise Benjamin Franklin is sitting, with Gouveneur Morris standing behind.  Morris did most of the final wording of the Constitution.  He was taller than Washington, but the artist wanted Washington to be the tallest in the room, so he has Morris leaning over Franklin.

Earlene, Kara, Meisje and I teach at the same school and came on the trip together.  

We are visiting with some of the signers.

 

 Alexander Hamilton was alone in the middle of the room.  It looked like he was striding hurriedly to the front.  Below: I'm with my good friend James Madison.  We are the same height.

We enjoyed some interactive displays.  Here I am being sworn in as President of the United States.

 We enjoyed lunch at the Comcast building.  This is the entrance.  It is all a big screen that continually has changing moving pictures on it.  We were mesmerized and probably watched it for 15 minutes.

 Once the gears rolled onto the screen, they all started to move together.

This is another sequence beginning.

It doesn't take much to excite me!  More later. . .