Philadelphia Freedom!

If I could give ONE piece of advice to anyone who’s life is so busy they feel like they can’t breathe side-ways – If you’ve ever put OFF doing things you’ve always wanted to do, because a better time will come up later, or there will “always” be a next time – it would be to DO IT NOW! Keep your schedule a bit flexible, and JUST DO IT!

I was going to head home from Glenside, PA on Sunday afternoon. That was the plan anyway—but during set up for Saturday’s workshop on Friday evening it struck me, that I had been here several times, always “NP” ((Near Philadelphia, don’t you know!!)) But NEVER once had I actually been “IP!” ((IN Philadelphia!))

And as much of a history buff as I am, it just hit me ---WHY DON’T I JUST ----and I voiced it out loud! And you know how quilters will just chime in and push you along---Marsha started telling me all the places I *HAD* to not miss, and before I knew it, on Saturday morning, she had brought me a tourist map!

From then on ---wheels were really turning! Did I have to really hurry home? No! The roof was half OFF the house by Saturday afternoon when I last talked to DH. It’s a mess of pounding and construction debris and, well……okay! I’m going in to PHILLY to sight see!

And I posted it on my facebook page, and lo and behold, I get a message back from Elsie Campbell who I’ve taught with at a couple venues this year telling me SHE is in Philly too visiting her son! She lives in Ponca City, Oklahoma! So what are the chances we would both be showing up in the same place at the same time? She was on her way up to NY to teach this week….and more plans were quickly made to meet up for dinner at a Mediterranean place downtown!!

SO…off I go!! Guess where I went first?

It was kind of pricey, but the visitor’s center has 24 hour parking beneath it….and it is central to EVERYTHING, and since I had quilts and books in the car, I felt safer in the spendy garage than I would have on the street.

These guys were so cute, I could have just taken them home with me! All over the place, people are dressed colonial style, and they will talk to you as if they are in complete character. VERY fun! They directed me to where to get my tickets for the tour at Independence hall….which is free, you just have to get tickets for it.

I was just AWED to be looking at these buildings….thinking of all the history that happened here. It gives me goosebumps! I think because it was mid afternoon on Sunday, the lines were extra short, and there I was, just walking into these places that have so much meaning in our country’s history!

Here I am in the court room side. I love asking families if they want their picture taken together, whenever I see them struggling to find a way to get it to work. ((I don’t know about you, but trying to take my OWN picture by holding the camera at arms length does NOT work for me!)) And sometimes, they will return the favor! I'm getting a bit braver about just asking people if they wouldn't mind just snapping my pic too in exchange!

But THIS is what I really wanted to see. This is the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Our tour guide was fabulous, so full of information and she made it all sound SO exciting, really pulled you in. See that chair in the center back? George Washington sat in that chair. He really did. More goosebumps!

From here I walked across the way only to find that the line for the Liberty Bell was VERY short!

The light is pretty crummy, it was late afternoon, but can you see Independence hall behind me through the window? Just amazing! I’ve seen the image of the Liberty Bell all through my life….but I was THIS close to it. Very cool!

I was meeting up with Elsie and her son at 6pm, so I was hoofing it on foot to as many places as I could get in a very short time frame! Some other highlights were:

Benjamin Franklin is buried in the Christ Church burial ground along with several other signers of the Declaration of Independence, and other well known patriots.

Old cemeteries just have such a reverent feel to them. I guess it brings to mind my own mortality, and I think of these people who lived, loved, laughed and wonder about their lives, and what they would tell us if they could. Would they be amazed at how we live now, or would they think we are missing out on so much because we are SO BUSY!?

All shapes and varieties of headstones and markers. I love reading the names and the dates, and pondering on each – some of them had really INTERESTING verses on them! But the one I came to see was close to the front, very simply marked:

Here is Benjamin Franklin’s tomb. Covered with pennies and nickels! I couldn’t hardly read the writing from the foot, so I had to go around to the front and take a picture from the other end, and then reverse the photo to have it legible…

Benjamin & Deborah Franklin, 1790 That’s all it says. With all the other graves so beautifully marked, listing the accomplishments and memories ---the simplicity of this one just was so striking to me. Really. What more needed to be said?

Of course, Benjamin Franklin was a Mason, as were many other of our nations’ founders..and I found it wonderfully fitting that this beautiful floral display was at the head of his stone.

I have more pics to edit down, my day was only about half done at this point, and I’ll continue this post later! Stay tuned!

Also, remember to return tomorrow, it is my day for the Quiltmaker Magazine blog tour for 100 Blocks Volume 3! You’ll want to remember to leave a comment to be in the drawing for 2 free copies!