Morning in Philli, Evening in D.C.

This morning, we all awoke okay! It was a great start, but we didn’t know the heat that awaited us. We got on the bus and headed down to the U.S. Constitution Building. It was air conditioned, so it was a great respite from the heat outside. Our tour guide Chet (pictures later I promise) said that it was the hottest day in Philadelphia since 1980! In the Constitution Building, their motto was “We the People,” and the point was really driven home. We even saw a wonderful show about the Declaration, and it was really interesting to hear the history behind the Declaration.

Then we headed over to Independence Hall. It was also air conditioned, so we were thankful for that. I had seen the replica in Soak City in Knott’s Berry Farm, but it was really cool to see the place where they actually signed the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Articles of Confederacy. We also saw the exact spot where George Washington, and Ben Franklin sat!

We walked around the block to Liberty Hall, and waited in a large line to see the Liberty Bell. I got a great picture that had the Bell with Independence Hall in the background. It was interesting to see that they had actually tried to make the crack worse in order to make it better!

For lunch, we stopped by some great places to get some world famous Philli Cheese Steaks. (Honestly, it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.) We spent some time in the restaurants recovering from the heat, and then set off for the buses for our ride to D.C.

Once there, we got off and went to Arlington National Cemetery. We saw many interesting graves, including the tomb of the Unknown Soldier! We got to see a guard change, and it was really interesting to see the entire ceremony that they go through to switch guards.

After that, we had a beautiful dinner at Tony Chang’s in China town. It was so great, my whole table just stuffed our faces.

Later, we went to the Korean and Vietnam war memorials. The depth that went into the design was astonishing. Finally, we went to the Lincoln Memorial, and saw the awe-inspiring statue that is Lincoln. Also, some of the Troop got some great patch trading in. We saw scouts from Oklahoma, Louisiana , and Texas!

One thing I forgot to mention, was the Scout of the day yesterday. Matthew Carter was in a room that was affected by the sprinklers, and so as a result, his clothes were soaked. Several members of our Troop were kind enough to lend him some spare clothes. Throughout the day, he had no complaints, and just wore a jubilant smile all day. That is a symbol of Scout Spirit.

Daily Dysfunction: Not from our troop, but while we were at the Lincoln Memorial, on of the other troops had come up to us saying they had lost a scout who had been seen trading with us. Hope they found him.