Philadelphia

     It has been over a week since we left home on Friday, June 14, 2018, so it is about time for me to start telling you about our trip!  It has developed into a 3-parter. For the first part we went to Philadelphia, the second part was in Washington DC, the third part is in New York City.

     For Philadelphia – we flew into Washington DC and our friends, the Shaffers, picked us up at the airport. We stayed at their daughter’s house in Alexandria and drove to Philadelphia on Saturday. Holly grew up here, so she was happy to give us a tour of her former haunts!

Washington Crossing the Delaware

     Our main stop was the new Museum of the American Revolution. I am not much for museums, so I did not really know what to expect. We had a tour guide who made history come alive for us and made the whole museum come alive. I learned so much about the Revolution and wish I could tell you everything. We learned that the Stamp Act was one of the first things to happen. Great Britain felt they needed some financial help from the colonies to help cover the debts from the French and Indian War. The Americans felt they had done enough! So, it was grounds for conflict no matter what. The stamp was made by a metal stamp which made an impression on the items to be taxed (not a postage stamp!).

     The first real battle was Lexington – Concord and the conflict went on from there. There were many battles and situations that helped the colonists defeat the British who were much better prepared for fighting. There were videos and displays showing these battles.

     One of my favorite things was the diorama of the Statue of King George which was pulled down after the Declaration of Independence. It was made of gilt paint over lead and they used the lead to make muskets balls to fight the British. Just recently they found a musket ball with some gold paint – one of the few left known to be made from the statue!

     Many artifacts are stored in the museum, but not normally on public view. One of these is Washington’s tent that he lived in for most of the time of the War. He believed in being where his soldiers were. We saw a video about this and then a scrim opened to show the actual tent set up on the stage. What a moving sight – the lighting and the changing background made you believe you were seeing it just as Washington would have when he was living in the tent. They only do this two times a year, so we were lucky to see the actual tent.

     After visiting the museum we had dinner at the City Tavern where Thomas Jefferson and other famous Philadelphians ate.

     

Samantha, Bob, Holly & Suzanne at Brandywine River Museum

On Sunday we headed back to Washington DC. We stopped at the Brandywine River Museum of Art. It is located along the beautiful Brandywine River (another Revolutionary War site). The museum features paintings by N.C. Wyeth and his son Andrew. There were many paintings by other members of his family and by painters whom he taught in his studio, which was located not too far away.