I always enjoy visiting the Lincoln Memorial. It’s such a grand and dignified structure, honoring my favorite president.

“The words of Thomas Jefferson, some written more than 200 years ago, have shaped American ideals. Today, many of these impressive, stirring words adorn the interior walls of his memorial. The Thomas Jefferson Memorial stands as a symbol of liberty and endures as a site for reflection and inspiration for all citizens of the United States and the world.”

And of course there can’t be a post without pics of Grant and Griffin…

Just in front of the Capitol is the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial.

Since part of the inspiration for our Grant’s name came from this famous general, this photo seemed only natural.

As I was standing in front of the Capitol building snapping away with my camera, I heard some familiar music coming from the area behind me. I knew that there was a stage set up for the next day’s 4th of July festivities, but when we had arrived the stage was empty. I recognized the song that was being sung, and said to myself, “Is that really…?”

Yes, it was really.

Barry Manilow, that is. He was rehearsing for his appearance on PBS’ broadcast of “A Capitol Fourth.” I’m not a huge Manilow fan, but it was a treat to see him perform!

After our day in Philly, we headed down to Washington, D.C. We didn’t really have any specific plans once we got there, so we slept late, had brunch at Bob Evans, found our hotel and just hung out and relaxed for the evening. The next morning we bought our Metro tickets and took the train into DC. We chose one of those hop-off, hop-on type tours for the first day, so that we could hit most of the monuments. We went with Old Town Trolley Tours and were pleased with them. A bit pricey, but that’s to be expected, I guess.

Our first stop was the White House. We knew something was going on right away, because the part of the sidewalk along E St. that is directly in front of the White House was closed off. We had to trek halfway back on The Ellipse to get a decent view. This first pic shows you how far back we were (and is also the obligatory picture of the kids)…

Thanks to my zoom lens, I was able to see a little bit closer. There’s the president’s motorcade lined up out front. And see the person directly behind the middle car? I think that’s President Obama. He did get in that middle vehicle. And those two guys on the roof of the White House look like snipers to me!

After a few minutes the motorcade left, and we saw it heading southward towards the Washington Monument, accompanied by lights and sirens. Shortly after that we looked behind us and saw Marine One (and Two?) taking off.

So if that was Obama, then Vance and I have seen three of the past four presidents (we saw Clinton on our last visit to DC, and Bush Sr. on a whale-watching trip in Kennebunkport, ME).

This last picture was taken by Griffin. He tried to focus on the White House between the fence posts but it didn’t work. But I like it this way!

I love that they have the Preamble written on the outside of the building.

The lobby features this exhibit, which encourages people to add their thoughts on what they will do with freedom.

Grant and Griffin added their Post-It notes to the display.

I don’t know what Griffin wrote, but I’d be willing to be that it has something to do with Transformers.

At this point we were ushered into a theater for a multimedia presentation called “Freedom Rising” which is, according to their website, “designed to connect the audience in a direct, engaging and unforgettable way—to the story of the U.S. Constitution.” I thought it was a very moving production, and the kids thought it was “awesome.” After exiting the theater we were able to view some of the permanent exhibits (no photography allowed), but we were all pretty tired at that point and didn’t check out everything. The last exhibit is the Signers’ Hall, which contains life-sized statues of all of the signers of the Constitution. I think photography was allowed in that room. If it wasn’t, then I was a very bad girl.

Here Grant and Griffin take turns standing next to George Washington, and we all got to sign the book on the table and become “signers” as well.

The flags of all of the US states and territories.

And on the floor under each flag is the name of the state and the date it was admitted to the union.

Have you ever looked at a map of your Congressional district and noticed how oddly shaped it is? If you follow politics at all, you probably know that the boundaries are intentionally drawn in irregular, convoluted configurations to benefit the election prospects of the party in power at the time of redistricting. Pretty sneaky, huh? Well, here is the man we have to thank for that practice. His name is Elbridge Gerry and he is the founding father of gerrymandering.

Among Gerry’s other notable claims to fame, he was a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, but refused to sign the Constitution because the initial document didn’t contain a Bill of Rights. He also served as James Madison’s Vice President. Central New Yorkers may be interested to know that the town of Elbridge was allegedly named after him.

This life-sized statue is located in Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center.

(Photographer’s note: this post consists mostly of the people, buildings, and other things that caught my attention while riding around the city on this tour.)

The first thing they do when everyone boards the duck is to pass out these really loud “quacker” noisemakers. The amount of time it takes the novelty of the quackers to wear off when you’re traveling with boys aged six and ten is measured in milliseconds.

The tour goes down South Street, which is a quirky section of town to say the least. It’s great for people watching. The buildings are interesting as well.

The zipper design on this building is very cool. So are the ants. The zipper and the ants together, however, are a little disturbing.

Not everything you see from the Duck is right out of the Chamber of Commerce tourism guide.

Philadelphia is a city packed with outdoor art and murals. Here’s one that fools the eye a little bit from a distance.

Right after we splashed into the river, we crossed paths with this other DUKW swimming along under the Ben Franklin Bridge.

On the opposite side of the river is Camden, NJ, best known as the home of Campbell’s Soup (Camden — It’s Mm Mm Good!) Pictured here is the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey, a floating museum permanently docked in Camden.

The boys after the tour. We confiscated and hid the quackers immediately after this photo was taken.

This is the first in a series of photo essays about our family trip to Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Since my husband Vance is the writer of the family, I am letting him take care of most of the descriptions. A little family collaboration.

Even with all the family trips we have made to Philadelphia, none of us had ever seen the Liberty Bell. Rectifying that situation was one of our first orders of business last week upon arriving in Philly.

The Bell is housed in a long, narrow building. To get to it, visitors must first snake through a series of preliminary displays that provide technical specifications and historical context for the artifact. Those displays run the gamut from silly (a Liberty Bell themed living room lamp from the Bicentennial) to poignant. An example of the latter was a display about the Liberty Bell’s use as a rallying symbol for the Abolitionist Movement. In fact, it was the Abolitionists who first started calling it the “Liberty Bell” — a fact that Vance did not know and has since filed away in his trivia bank. That part of the exhibit was of particular interest to us as Central New Yorkers as it featured a photo of Frederick Douglass at an Anti-Slavery rally in Cazenovia.

The main attraction is in a chamber at the end of the building. During our visit, that room was mobbed with people who had come with the same intent as us — to get pictures and pose in front of of the famous bell. Watching over the comings and goings of the tourists was a National Park Service ranger who split his time between answering the odd question and saying, “Don’t touch the Bell!” to people who either hadn’t noticed or had deliberately ignored the umpteen signs throughout the building asking everyone to not touch the Bell.

It’s a little anti-climactic, perhaps even demystifying, to see such an iconic item up close and in person. The Bell is big, but not so big as to inspire awe. Strictly as a piece of metalwork, it’s quite plain. It’s actually kind of curious that a broken steeple bell would have gone on to symbolize the American Revolution, the City of Philadelphia and the very idea of freedom itself. But it did and it does, and we’re glad that we finally got to visit this national treasure.

Grant and Griffin in front of the giant Ben Franklin statue.

Detail of the rotunda that ol' Ben sits under.

Griffin and Mike try to get the water wheel turning. Griffin loved getting lifted off the ground.

Griffin tries to guide a ball through a maze.

Mom takes a ride on the Sky Bike.

Then we headed to the machines and engineering area, which Grant loved, of course.

Grant loves anything mechanical.

At the controls of a big crane-like thing.

This is a giant heart. It looks innocent enough, but it is responsible for my first-ever bout of claustrophobia. I really, honestly almost freaked out in this thing. It seems so simple – walk in, up some stairs, around and around just like you are blood pumping through the chambers of the heart. EXCEPT. The stairways are really narrow. And the ceilings are kinda low, so you have to hunch over if you’re over 5’5″. And it’s kinda warm in there. And they have this INFERNAL HEARTBEAT NOISE thumping loudly all around you. And – and this is the part that nearly put me over the edge – the path that you follow is much longer inside than you would think from looking at the outside. Really. There is a lot of twisting and turning going on in there. So while the other factors are starting to get to you, you are secure in the knowledge that this torment is almost over. And then you take another turn and go up some more stairs. And then you are sure that it is almost over. And then you make another turn and you start to wonder if it will ever end, and thoughts of being trapped in this hot, cramped, thumping fiberglass contraption for the rest of what is left of your life start going through your mind, and then…. it’s finally over. Really, it wasn’t pleasant.

After Griffin got himself lost for a few minutes (he snuck back inside the damn heart), we moved on to the transportation section of the museum. Grant and Griffin (and Vance) got to check out the inside of this plane.

And hooray for my new ultra-wide-angle lens! I'm totally loving this thing.

And there was a big train! Choo-choo!