The 4th of July weekend sort of began on Friday, July 3rd when I had the day off from work. Aaron was concluding his Nature-based day camp, and MJ and I had a rare Adam-only day on our hands. Unfortunately, the weather had been scorchingly hot, with temperatures reaching 100F and the heat index soaring far above that. What would Adam like to do, indoors, and Aaron wouldn’t be too bummed about missing? The last requirement was tricky, they share a lot of interests, so we settled for something high on Adam’s interest list that we tactfully would just not mention to Aaron: visiting a race car museum in the southwest of Philadelphia, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum.
It was really cool. Down by the airport in a nondescript warehouse, they house over 75 “historically significant” racing sports cars, spanning eras and brands. The exhibits take you through a number of the famous race tracks, which Adam has been learning about via YouTube, watching F1, and playing Gran Turismo 7. And then had various exhibits of cars over time.
At ever car placard Adam had questions about horsepower and top speeds, and seemed surprised that the history of cars is relatively short. He was curious about the pace at which car speeds increased. I enjoyed seeing the 1956 Maserati 300S.
While there, we learned that most of the cars actually run, and they do regular Demo Days where the cars are taken out for a drive, either inside the warehouse or out in their back lot. So cool. Unfortunately there was only one while we were here for the summer and we already had plans that day, but it’s definitely something to look forward to on another visit.
From there, we headed back toward home to pick up Aaron at his last day of camp at the Churchville Nature Center. It was very unfortunate that his summer camp at a nature center overlapped with the hottest week of the summer, so they had to keep most activities indoors. Still, they did seem to get outside some and the theme of this week was Nature Art, so the core of the camp was satisfied by taking items the found in nature and making them into art, which was completely doable indoors. This conclusion day featured a Family Art Show were we could browse everything the kids made throughout the week and take it home.
As usual when our kids disappear for hours in the day, Aaron had very little to say when he got home each day, so it was nice to see his classroom, interactions with other campers, and all his artistic results. I’m glad we all could attend, this camp is definitely on our list for next year for him.
The 4th of July itself landed on a Saturday, and it was still hot. I don’t do well in the heat, so I was apprehensive about any plans that took us outdoors. But as MJ pointed out, celebrating the 250th anniversary of The United States of America in the city where the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776 was ultimately too good of an opportunity to pass up. Then MJ learned that Union Pacific Big Boy was spending the weekend in town for the celebration. Cool!
After breakfast, I prepared the boys by putting on the
Union Pacific’s Big Boy Locomotive episode of Jay Leno’s Garage so they could have some context as to what we’d be seeing. And then it was off to the Naval Yard where Big Boy was parked, and we finally got to see “the largest and most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world” for ourselves! Parking was decently organized and then it was just a bit of a walk from our car over to the area of track where it was parked, along with several other engines and cars.
It was an outdoor affair, with free water and popsicles being given out, along with a gift shop (the line was long, we skipped it) and a couple organizations that were helping to sponsor the event giving out free hats, handkerchiefs and coins to commemorate the day.
Union Pacific had a museum passenger car that walked you through some railroad history, facts about modern railroads in the United States in general, and also Union Pacific itself. It was interesting, but also blissfully air-conditioned. Once we completed the walk through that Aaron and I began wilting due to the heat, so I stayed with him in some shade while MJ and Adam walked the rest of the way down to the end of the train and back. Aaron and I also stopped at a hydration station on our way out, we were both pretty worn out by the time we got back to the car.
The drive from the Naval Yard to downtown Philadelphia offered up some nice recharging time for Aaron and I, and we parked in a garage near Independence Mall and grabbed lunch at P. J. Clarke’s. We’d never been before, but it was a nice place and I could see us going back. Lunch consumed, it was time to venture back out into the heat to enjoy some Philadelphia-style 250th anniversary celebrations!
The first thing I’ll note was that it wasn’t as busy as I had expected, probably because the temperatures were flirting with 100F and the humidity piling on to that. Independence Hall was blocked off, and the line for the Liberty Bell seemed pretty standard for a summer weekend (long, but moving swiftly). We walked along the mall a bit and then ducked into the Independence Hall Visitor Center to get some air conditioning – and free cupcakes.
From there we were on our way over to The Constitution Center where we had 2PM tickets. On the way, we walked through the outdoor President’s House Site, which shows some of the original foundations of the house used by the first two presidents of the United States, along with plaques talking about the history. This is an important historical site, but also one that has attracted a lot of attention lately because of the documentation provided of another home at that location: one where people who were enslaved lived. It’s an extremely moving part of the site, especially given the juxtaposition with all the symbols of freedom and liberty that surround it. Predictably, the recent attention has been from the Trump Administration and their allies who are uncomfortable with this dark part of our history, and insisted that all references to the presence of and horrors these people were subjected to it be taken down. The legal battle has been going on for months, with the plaques being taken down and removed a couple of times now. Just days before the 4th of July they were removed again, but citizens took it upon themselves to make large print-outs of them and duct taped them to the wall. Throughout the site there were hand written and printed signs, in various languages, explaining the on-going legal battle and what Philadelphia has done to protect the site. Resist!
By the time we got to The Constitution Center, Aaron and I were quite melty again. Air-conditioning helped, but ultimately I could only really cope with a limited amount of time visiting exhibits, even with a nice interlude to sit and listen to a short lecture about the US flag. On the bright side, this does mean I didn’t have the energy to waste money at the gift shops! Man, I love gift shops.
Our journey back to the car included a final stroll through the visitor center and then out to the mall where some tents were set up, one of which had copies of the Declaration of Independence that you could sign. Proudly! The boys did too.
It’s a shame the heat cut our day shorter than planned, but we still had a good time and made some good memories. MJ was right about taking time to observe the 250th anniversary of our country downtown, it was worth being there for.