Then and Now

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On Monday morning I woke and was on my way pretty early because a park ranger at Valley Forge had recommended I go on the tour of Independence Hall in Philadelphia first thing in the morning, to avoid the crowds. I was delayed a little because my room safe had been left locked, but with the door open. The problem was easily fixed by the hotel staff.

I headed into Philadelphia, surprised a little to see that there were cops parked on quite a few corners. At first I thought they were just doing it near the Benjamin Franklin Bridge for anti-terrorism, but I saw them inside the historic area of Philadelphia as well. Anyway, my first task was to find somewhere to eat breakfast. I found a food hall / mall called The Bourse and had a breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon and cheese. It was very good.

So then I headed down to Independence Hall. I managed to walk right past the entrance and found myself in the park at the rear. From there I could see security guys and a lot of signs that said you can’t enter here. I asked one of them where the entrance was and he sent me round the front. At the entrance there was heavy security as they checked my bags and made me do a pirouette (well, just turn around). Then I asked about the tour and they said I had to go back up to the Independence visitor centre to get my ticket, and I would have to go through security again.

The visitor centre was 2 blocks away but easy to find. The tickets are free, so it was a little annoying that they weren’t available at the entrance, but I figured the crowds must get pretty hectic at times and the system worked best for them. Anyway, I had a ticket for the 10:30 tour and so I headed back to Independence Hall and through security. I spent a few minutes taking photos from outside before switching to a lens that is better for inside photography (a fast prime, for those that know the lingo and/or care).

Independence Hall is the original town hall in Philadelphia. It was here that the continental congress met in 1776 and debated before signing the declaration of independence. It was also a courthouse, and in the west wing was where the first United States congress and senate sat.

The tour started with a quick talk by one of the rangers (a lot of the sites in Philadelphia are actually a national park) that was going to take us on the tour. It was quite a good introduction as he ran through what we would need if we were going to have a revolution today and then paralleled it with what they did back in the 18th century.

We then moved into Independence Hall itself. The first part was the courthouse; the second was the room where the continental congress met. It looked to me just like the room that was featured in the HBO mini-series “John Adams”, which is basically all I can compare it to because I obviously didn’t learn American history at school. It was pretty cool to be in the actual place that I’d heard and read so much about.

That was pretty much it for the Independence Hall tour, but I quickly found myself on another tour (no ticket required) of the original congress and senate house in the west wing of the hall. It was quite interesting, and again it was great to be in such a famous place. We sat in the congress chairs, but the senate was roped off. It also looked a bit fancier.

The last place to visit at Independence Hall was the “Great Essentials” exhibit, which featured copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution. Although not the originals, per se, they are contemporary copies that were made at the time. The Constitution was actually a working draft that belonged to George Washington, and includes one small correction he made. There was also the silver inkstand that would have been used to sign the Declaration of Independence.

I then moved on to the next major attraction across the road, the Liberty Bell. It was a bell that was originally hung in the Independence Hall, but had to be removed as it almost caused the building to fall over. The bell itself reflects the imperfect metallurgy of the time and features one massive crack, and apparently that wasn’t the first. But the bell has come to signify a lot to Americans in particular, although international visitors such as Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama have also lauded it as an important symbol. There was high security to see the bell as well.

My next destination was to head back to the visitor centre to watch a couple of the films they had there. They were okay, but by now I’ve seen so many short films about the revolution and beginning of the USA, that I was a little bored by hearing the tale. The second film also featured some incredibly bad camera work, but it had the distinct feel of a student production so I’ll cut it some slack. I then had a bite to eat at the café in the centre while I worked out what to do next.

Mostly I decided to just walk around to the various old buildings on the visitors map. The two places that I was thinking of visiting (The New Hall Military museum and the Carpenter’s Hall) turned out to be only open on weekends, so I was left to spend the afternoon walking around taking photos. I also wanted to find a post office, so that was how I spent the afternoon before heading back to the hotel exhausted.

I took it a bit easy getting going today (Tuesday) because I thought I was just up for a quick drive down to Washington DC via the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy centre (actually just outside of DC). Once I got in the car, however, it turned out the drive was longer than I expected. I was still scheduled to get there by half past one though, so I stopped along the way to have some food.

The drive was pretty easy, on expressways the whole way, and the only thing of interest was seeing Baltimore as I drove past (for those who’ve watched The Wire). I arrived at the museum just before 2. I was a bit surprised at the $15 parking fee, but the museum itself is free to enter so it’s not that bad. Again I had to pass through security to enter, but the guy was pretty cool and not as thorough as they were in Philadelphia.

I grabbed a map from the information desk and was about to head in to look around when they guy said that I should think about joining the free tour that started at 2. It was just on 2 at this point, so I thanked him and headed into the hanger. The place was huge and from the entrance I could see an SR-71 Blackbird and the tail of a space shuttle. But I saw the tour had just started so I headed straight there so I didn’t miss it.

The museum is absolutely awesome if you have any interest in planes or space. The stuff they have there is incredible and I was like a kid in a candy stall – biplanes, jets, the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the first atom bomb), a concord, an F-14 (the planes in the movie Top Gun), an X-35 Joint Strike Fighter (a brand new jet fighter that is yet to enter service, and I believe Australia is planning to buy some of them), as well as the aforementioned Blackbird and the shuttle Discovery.

The tour took us all over the hanger, with our tour guide giving us information and stories at a selection of planes. We didn’t stop long at any one place, other than the space shuttle, but the tour still managed to go almost 3 hours. And that time just flew; I was surprised that it had been that long. My back and feet were sore when we finished, but I didn’t feel that until the end.

The museum closed at 5:30 so I had about half an hour to run around and get some more photos, particularly from the elevated walkways as the tour was all done at floor level. I was annoyed at myself for taking so long to get going in the morning because I could have spent a couple of more hours there. But, there’s another Air and Space Museum in downtown Washington so I will get to see more there. Plus, I still have the Kennedy Space Centre to visit in a couple of weeks time, which should be great too. All in all, the Udvar-Hazy centre is awesome and I highly recommend visiting if you get the chance.

From there, I just had to drive into Washington DC. Unfortunately it was now peak hour, so the traffic was pretty bad, but I got to my hotel after about an hour. The hotel is a couple of blocks from the Washington Mall, so I’m perfectly situated for looking around. I saw the Washington monument as I drove in (it was impossible to miss, really) but I can’t wait to have a good look around over the next few days. I’m staying here for 4 nights before heading down into Dixie.

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Photos

Benjamin Franklin bridge
Just outside the hotel

Statue
Outside Independence Hall

Court
Inside Independence Hall

Meeting room
Inside Indepence Hall

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers
In Washington Square

Tour Guide
At the National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Centre

Apollo re-entry capsule
Actually, the capsule was just for training. But the floatation stuff was from an actual Apollo capsule.

Comments

[Jenny]

That museum looks amazing! Love the pic of the squirrel too....

[deejayvee]

Squirrels are everywhere here. In Washington, I have seen them on the national mall, and at both the Jefferson and FDR monuments. The last two were very much unafraid of people, one coming right up to me until I showed my hands were empty. He lost interest in me after that.