I will keep this post as brief as possible :-)
June 25, 2011 - Travel Day
Our drive to Philadelphia took us about 5 & 1/2 hours with only 3 pitstops!! But the ride was pretty relaxing for the most part. Katie kept herself occupied the whole ride and she was very well behaved. Mike drove and I read my magazines :-)
We got to the hotel around lunchtime and had lunch by the hotel's pool while we waited for our room to be ready. We spent the majority of the afternoon by the pool!!
June 26, 2011 - Sesame Place
We were all very excited for Sesame Place...and we were especially excited about meeting all of our favorite characters!!!
Click to enlarge
Katie on the famous Sesame steps!!!
All of us on the Sesame steps!!! I was giddy...lol
June 27, 2011 - Sightseeing in Philadelphia
Our first stop in Philly was the Liberty Bell!! Do you know how the liberty bell got that crack?
I didn't until I looked it up! The short version of the story is this - A bell for the Pennsylvania State House was cast in London, England, however, it cracked soon after it arrived in Philadelphia. Local craftsmen John Pass and John Stow cast a new bell in 1753, using metal from the English bell. Their names appear on the front of the bell, along with the city and the date. By 1846 a thin crack began to affect the sound of the bell. The bell was repaired in 1846 and rang for a George Washington birthday celebration, but the bell cracked again and has not been rung since. No one knows why the bell cracked either time.
We also took a tour of Independence Hall which was constructed between 1732 and 1756 as the State House of the Province of Pennsylvania, it is considered a fine example of Georgian architecture. From 1775 to 1783 (except for the winter of 1777 - 1778 when Philadelphia was occupied by the British Army) this was the meeting place for the Second Continental Congress. It was in the Assembly Room of this building that George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. In the same room the design of the American flag was agreed upon in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and the U. S. Constitution was drafted in 1787.
We also spent a good amount of time at the Visitor Center which was an attraction in itself.
There was SO MUCH history in Philly that it was almost overwhelming to think about these amazing individuals that created a nation...our nation. I mean can you imagine the type of people they must have been to do this?? I am truly in awe of our founding fathers.
Also, I sware that I saw America's Got Talent's Doogie Horner crossing the street near the visitor center. I was in shock that I saw him and I wasn't really sure if it was actually him or not. Until I looked him up on the internet and found out that he lives in Philly!!! I wish that I had stopped him for an autograph....lol.
June 28, 2011 - Sightseeing in Philly Day 2
Constitution Center - check!
Hard Rock Cafe for lunch - check!
LOVE statue - check!
Rocky statue - check!
Rocky steps - check!
We stopped for photos at the Rocky Statue (at the bottom of the stairs) and then went to the top of the stairs and did the Rocky pose photos. I thought the steps would be a lot harder to climb, but 72 steps wasn't really that tough. Come on Rocky!! Lol
I love this picture of Katie - it is so symbolic because she truly is a fighter!!!
Oh AND - we saw Doogie Horner AGAIN - this time I was certain it was him, but I still didn't know how to approach him for a picture and autograph...lol.
June 29, 2011 - Travel Day
This was the day that we left our hotel in Philly and made our way to our hotel near Hershey. We had a bit of a relaxing day today which was nice in the middle of our trip :-)
The morning was spent going on rides while the afternoon was spent at "The Boardwalk" water park within Hershey Park. Mike made me lock up all my electronics, so I have no pictures, but it was worth it...we had a ton of fun together :-) I love days like this one!!!
July 01, 2011 - More Hershey!!
We didn't get over to "Chocolate World" yesterday, so we went back to do it today. It only took a few hours in the morning and then we did some poking around at the Outlet Mall in Hershey and Bass Pro Shops.
Who can really eat this much chocolate - I mean COME ON!!!
We had tickets to see a Battle of Gettysburg reenactment. This was the 148th anniversary of the battle, so we thought this was going to be amazing, but it was really a disappointment. I expected it to be a lot more life-like than it was. I mean noone "died" and the actors were laughing with each other while they had their sword fights. I mean really? I don't think there was anything to laugh about on this battlefield. The Battle of Gettysbury was fought July 1–3, 1863. Between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers from both armies were casualties in the three-day battle. No matter what side they were fighting for, they were all American lives lost and that is no laughing matter in my opinion.
On November 19, 1863 - President Lincoln went to the battlefield to dedicate it as a military cemetery. The main orator, Edward Everett of Massachusetts, delivered a two hour formal address. The president then had his turn. He spoke in his high, penetrating voice and in a little over two minutes delivered the Gettysburg Address, surprising many in the audience by its shortness and leaving others quite unimpressed.
The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we may take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Thank you MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION!!!!
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