Stopped off to visit Denise’s daughter, Adrienne in Jenkintown near Philadelphia and she suggested I stay with her family and take the train into the city.  Much better idea than the one I’d come up with.  She and her husband bought a large old stone home and have done a beautiful job of updating it without losing any of its lovely charm. Also gave us time for some catching up.

Caught the 7:15 train to Philly and didn’t return until 7:30 that evening.  The dogs were barking but well worth it.  Took Adrienne’s advice and stopped by the visitor’s center to pick up a ticket for the tour of Independence Hall.  The tickets are free but only so many are available so times get filled up. Visited with a Texan who was picking up tickets for her family and we traded San Antonio stories. Trotted over to get in line to see the Liberty Bell.  Interesting fact – it was first called by that name during the abolitionists movement.

The tour of Independence Hall was ranger-led and took us through three rooms in 15 minute segments.  You can’t help but feel an emotional connection to the place where it all came together. Men with faults and failings who hammered out some difficult decisions for the larger good.  Perhaps our current Congress should take the tour. 

They’ve also stationed story-tellers throughout the park and kids are given flags so they can collect 13 stars for each of the stops.(prize is a free ride on the merry-go-round). They’re not “moments in history” type stories.  More like moments related to history.  I listened to an exchange about a general (Washington) returning to Valley Forge where he ran into one of the men who fought with him.  Another was about the accidental beginning of a station on the underground  railroad and a young Temple drama student told about an artist winning the grand prize at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair for his Betsy Ross project. 

Visited both Friend’s Meeting Houses.  The Free Quakers got more involved in the Revolution than their pacifist brethren.  Paid my respects to Ben Franklin at Christ Church cemetery and wandered over to Washington Square.  In betwixt, I had a cheese steak hoagie at the Reading Terminal.  

Found a twisty-turny along the Delaware River and ended up at the Delaware Water Gap Nat. Rec. Area.  Began at the Apple Pie Bakery (who wouldn’t?) and criss-crossed between PA and NJ. Stopped at Dingman Falls which had a bonus falls.  Lots of rain the day before had both in good working order.  Gonna have to balance my viewing admiration with watching the road.  A rotary snuck up on me and Patience was almost a little thinner.

Crossed thru some beautiful roadways in CT including one that took me up and down both sides of the Connecticut River.  Stopped in East Haddam (home to the Goodspeed Opera House) for lunch.  Offered to take a picture of a woman and young girl at the table next to me.  Turns out she was the little girl’s aunt and they were repeating an outing she had taken the girl’s father on, many years before. 

Landed in the Hudson River Valley  and drove up to Hyde Park. Took the tour of Springwood with one of the more effervescent rangers I’ve come across. She REALLY enjoyed her job. Franklin’s father died when Franklin was a young man but he was his mamma’s pride and joy and that didn’t end with his marriage to Eleanor. The house remained in Sara’s name until her death, making Eleanor remark she’d “been a guest in Sara’s house for 30 years”. Amazing  tho what this wealthy and sheltered couple were able to accomplish in their

lifetime. The CCC projects are still evident in almost every park

I’ve visited and I’m especially grateful for the Social Security

Act.  Sadly, I arrived too late to tour Eleanor’s Val-Kill cottage down the road. Painfully shy, she didn’t become politically active until Franklin developed polio and she was called upon to be his representative for various events. After his death, Truman appointed her US UN Ambassador where she became a leader in the campaign for world-wide human rights.