Philly and the Forge

On the bus when we first left- Adam, Cameron, Me, Genevieve

My darling Moe accused me of neglecting my blog, and I will have none of that. I do not neglect my blog! I simply had to wait for someone to comment on my last post before writing a new one! I know that hasn't been my policy in the past, but I decided that it would be best to let everyone enjoy my blog, one post at a time. Here is a small list of things to look forward to: reports on Valley Forge and Philadelphia, orientation at the Smithsonian, my first days of work, and the Air Show. I have a lot to say, so get buckled in and ready for the next couple days of amazing posts.

First order of business: BEST WEEKEND EVER.

On Friday morning, I had to get up SUPER early and be ready by 7:30 to get on the bus with everyone and drive 3.5 hours to Valley Forge! (For all of you who don't know, Valley Forge is the place where George Washington stationed and trained his troops during the winter of 1777. It was a very cold, terrible winter, and the men were very miserable. There was a lot of disease, and many men died. The remarkable thing about the whole affair is that despite the horrors of serving in the continental army, George Washington, with his powerful leadership skills, was able to keep morale up, and even when many of the soldiers' enlistment time ended, they stayed and re-enlisted. Cool, right? Okay, I'm done being a history teacher for the moment). So, anyway, it was a long drive, but we watched a movie about the Constitution.

THEN, we got to Valley Forge!!!! We drove up to this place called the Freedom Foundation. They had three dormitory buildings and then like a center hall complete with classrooms, rec room, and banquet hall. I felt like we were a youth conference or some sort of jazzed up summer camp. Apparently the Freedom Foundation usually runs their program for middle schoolers, so it was kind of odd that we were all in college. We had a guided tour of the park and a Thomas Jefferson impersonator and everything. It was hilarious. And the cook made smiley face cupcakes. :)Part of the gang. This is a bridge in Valley Forge
Our dormitory. It was SO PRETTY there. So green. And lots of trees. Valley Forge was like the epitome of a peaceful place. I wanted to camp-out there for several days.

So, we toured that afternoon, and it was great. So cool to be there. The little history person in me jumped out. That night, after ice cream, we PLAYED NIGHT GAMES. This is one of my favorite pastimes. I love night games. I convinced everyone to play ghost in the graveyard-- the GREATEST night game ever. It was especially perfect to play because we were in Valley Forge, and a lot people actually died there. There were memorials and craps all over the place, so it actually was kind of like a graveyard, and kind of spooky. SO MUCH FUN. We played that, and sardines for several hours, then told ghost stories. Even though we are all over 20, and should act like adults, we figured that since we were at a camp for middle schoolers and were being treated as such, we may as well act the part! I loved being a kid again. :)

The next morning, we drove to Philadelphia. As we rode into the city, I played the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme song on my iPod and we all sang along. I'm pretty sure I sang that song 12 times throughout the day. It was quite often that we came upon a ghetto, run-down basketball court that could very well have been the one where Will was beat up and swung around on that one guy's head. We looked for the Fresh Prince and all the people from Boy Meets World all day. It was great. I might have seen Cory once, but I didn't get a picture.

Anyway, we went to the Liberty Bell first, and don't worry, I spackled that baby right up. No more crack (That's what Eric does on BMW). I loved seeing the Bell. I LOVE HISTORY! Next was the Consitution Center. We watched a movie about the Consitution, but I fell asleep. I have the habit of falling asleep EVERYWHERE now. I lead a difficult life. The Constitution Center was really cool. There was a place where you could pretend to be on the Supreme Court, and another room that had a statue for all the signers of the Constitution. I love statues. They are probably one of my favorite things to see. So powerful. I have lots of favorites. I'll post about that some time.

The Liberty Bell!!!

Napoleon?

Me and Sam Adams. I always wanted to meet that guy. He's my all-time fave.

Alexander Hamilton. My other favorite guy.

I don't even know who this is. We'll pretend that it's James Madison, because I love him too.
Me signing the Constitution.

Did you know I'm on the Supreme Court with Genevieve and Tyson?

And THEN, we went to INDEPENDENCE HALL. My favorite place of all. I was super excited about this. My history lover self was GOING CRAZY at this point. I was freaking out. Let me explain. Independence Hall is the place where everything happened. Among others, the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution were signed there, the 1st and 2nd Continental Congress, Consitutional Convention, and George Washington's inauguration ALL happened there. Coolest place ever. I stood in the actual room, and the only thing I could think about was that fact that all of the people who I idolize stood at the very same place that I was standing at some time or another. In Washington, DC, it's different. It's not as old as Philly, and the current buildings didn't house the early American government. I mean, DC was sacked in the War of 1812 and everything had to be rebuilt. But anyway, I loved it.

Independence Hall

The Room where it all took place... In case you didn't notice, this is my "really, really excited about life" face.

A summary of the other sites we saw in Philly: B. Franklin's grave, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of World War 1, the First U.S. Bank (Yeah, it's the one that Alexander Hamilton was in charge of and Andrew Jackson crushed!), Reading Railroad, Christ Church, Elfreth Alley (the oldest continual residential street in the country. It was adorable), the first Philly Cheese Steak drive-up restaurant (It was muy delisioso), City Hall, the Masonic Temple, and I'm sure there were other places that I can't remember.Elfreth Alley. It was ADORABLE!

Ashley, Kate, Me. Yes, Ashley and I are wearing practically the same outfit. That was an accident.

Items of Note:
1) I rode in a taxi for the first time ever!!! I was excited about the first-time ever thing, but it really wasn't that cool or fun.
2) There were some creepers. See the picture below. The guy sitting on the bench followed and circled around us for like 3 blocks. It was kind of scary but mostly hilarious. He had headphones on and was singing, "bad boys, whatcha gonna do when they come for you..." And at one point he pushed up his sleeves. I think it was so he could show us his tattoo. It was really weird, and quite disturbing when he just kept popping up places.3)Philadelphia (at least where we were) is a very dirty city. Like literally, very dirty. Dirty people, streets, everything. The historical sites were picked up and clean, but for the most part, it was just gross, which is really a shame. The founding fathers would not be happy about that. :)
4) The Philly Cheese Steaks were very, very yummy. They made me very happy. But, they were also very greasy. I mean, very, very, very greasy. Yes, that was a triple "very" on purpose. The moment the guy handed me my sandwich, I tilted the paper down, and grease poured onto my pants and shoes. So gross. But no worries. I didn't get any more grease on my clothes. It just went in my body.
5) We are very excited to see, "Up." We talk about it all the time.
6) Kate braided my hair and tied it around the seat on the bus. It was very comical.
I had an amazing weekend, and I have been SO busy doing fun stuff and working that I haven't had time to post, and I am now a week behind. ACK!!! I just want to remember everything because I love it so much, but it's SO HARD!!!!

But I love you all, and I hope you liked the pictures. I thought they were funny.