Philadelphia- Saturday, July 4, 2026

    This is it.  July 4, 2026.  Independence Day.  America 250.  The Semiquincentennial day.  And we're in Philadelphia.

     There has been a lot of lamenting online and in print about how Donald Trump has put a damper on the festivities.   Large portions of the country don't even feel like celebrating this year.  More than a few memes have said so on Facebook.  "It’s a damn shame the worst president of our lifetime, the most corrupt & most unpatriotic, is in office while this country celebrates such a milestone birthday!" said one shared by Matt.  Another referred to his pathetically attended "Great American State Fair" when it said, "He really has taken away what could have been a generational cultural moment.... and that sucks."  It is ironic that we are celebrating independence while we live in a regime that is arguably more tyrannical than the one the Founders fought for independence from.  A few days ago, Air Force Major Jason Watson was arrested on the steps of the Capitol, in uniform, while carrying a sign that said, "Impeach.  Convict.  Remove."   It is not only tragic that he was arrested for speaking out, but it is also tragic that we have a situation that made him feel that he had to do so.  "A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."  No kings, indeed.

     For us, though, the real problem was the heat.  This morning, it looked like the Philadelphia leg of this trip might be turning into this year's version of our failed Erie Canal cruise, but we planned things out in order to make the best of it. 

     In order to see the inside of Independence Hall, the ranger that Scott talked to yesterday suggested that a good time to arrive in the morning might be 7:30, though that was only a guess because they really hadn't seen anything like this before.  Scott was awake around 6:30, showered quickly, grabbed breakfast at the hotel and was down to Independence Hall at about 7:30, as planned.  The line had already formed and was already sizable (though not at all what it would be only a few hours later).  One gregarious guy from Chicago got into line right behind Scott and began playing the soundtrack to 1776.   ("It's ninety degrees! Have mercy, John, please.  It's hot as hell in Philadelphia!")  That same guy then began polling people in line to see how many states he could meet people from.  Before we went in, he ended up with 42 states represented and several foreign countries.  It was generally pretty shaded while Scott was waiting, and the people in line shifted it every once in a while as the sun got higher in order to keep it in the shade.

     Shortly after 8:45, all of the park rangers assembled on the steps for what looked like a photograph, a song and a cheer, though Scott couldn't hear what they said specifically.   Not long after that, the security check opened, and the line started to move forward, and waited again in groups inside the secured area.  Scott thinks he was in the third or fourth group to actually get in the building.  The tours that they were running were about 15 minutes, starting in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Room, which is interesting in its way, but not what we were here for.  It gave us time to get into the air conditioning and get oriented to the building and its history as the seat of the colonial government of Pennsylvania.  After that introduction, we went across the hall to the Assembly's room, where the 2nd Continental Congress (and the 1787 Constitutional Convention) met.  This was what everyone had come for.  The ranger that was giving us the tour had a Spanish accent and a great sense of humor.  He covered the basics of what happened there in ways that engaged the several children who were there.  Scott had only been in this room once before, on Easter in 2007.  He had come all this way for a chance to be in this room on July 4th, and had managed to do it.  He took a bunch of pictures and some video to help savor the moment.  

     After he exited the building, he made his way to the Independence Visitor Center.  He bought a shirt that he had seen yesterday.  It says "History Nerd," so it seems like it was made for him.  He re-filled his empty water bottle and walked the half of a mile or so back to the hotel. 

     When he arrived back at the hotel it was between 10:30 and 11:00.  Abby and Julie were both ready to go out to get lunch together, once Scott had a chance to sit down (the first he had since leaving around 7:00) and cool down.   Finding a place for lunch was a bit of a trick again.  Scott had spotted a Pizza Hut about half-way to Independence Hall, and thought that would be a great place for lunch.  When we got there, we discovered it was take-out only and had no place to sit.  That wouldn't do.   We found a Dunkin' Donuts that we would have gotten something at, but they had removed all the tables there so there was no place to sit.  Scott suggested we continue on to the Independence Visitors Center because, even though it was crowded, it was air-conditioned and there was a cafe selling food there.  Once we arrived there, we discovered that there were only three tables total for all of the massive crowds.  Miraculously, we ended up at one of them, though we shared it with another couple.  The choices for food were limited.  Abby ended up eating a Liberty Bell shaped pretzel, Scott had two hot dogs and Julie had a turkey wrap.  A nice family from the Philadelphia area sat with us when the first couple left.  They gave us a number of good tips about the fireworks tonight.

     While we were eating lunch, we got word via Anna that my mom had broken her toe.  Apparently, she and my dad were trying to move furniture together when she got hurt.  When we got in touch with her, she and Dad were going to see my brother who was going to take them to get some medical attention, but that was the real trick this weekend.  As of the last time we spoke this evening, she was still in the emergency room waiting to be seen.  [Update: After 8 hours, they hadn't seen anyone and left without being treated.]  It must really have been a trial for her to wait through.  We have had her in our thoughts all day.

     After lunch, Abby wanted to get her face-painted, and since we had more than an hour and a half to kill, she did.  After that, she went to see some of the kid-friendly exhibits in the National Park portion of the Visitors Center.   At one end of the long building was an enormous American flag made out of 5,000 frosted cupcakes.  At 1:30, they began handing out the cupcakes for free, though we had to move outside into the sun again to wait in line for some.  Julie got a red one and Abby got a white one.

    Just before, 2:00 the three of us moved outside to do something Scott had been planning to do for quite a while.  Back in 1976, he and his brother had two small Liberty Bells that they rang at the Fourth of July parade in Boston, New York.  50 years later, Scott still has one of the bells, along with the box it came in and the small certificate to say that he rang it at the Bicentennial.  Scott wanted very much to ring that bell again at 2:00 today.  We stepped into a shady spot, within site of Independence Hall, but far enough away so that we weren't bothered by the stupid crowds around the Fox News trucks that were messing up much of the view.  Julie had given Abby a smaller Liberty Bell to bring to ring today, but it got left back home.  Scott bought her a new one yesterday, and with our two bells we waited until the bell in Independence Hall struck 2:00.  When it chimed, we began ringing.  Scott will have to make two new documents when we get back home to certify that these two bells rang today at the Semiquincentennial now.  As we left, we went by the original Liberty Bell.  We didn't have enough of a desire to wait in the hot lines to get to see it inside, but we were able to see it a little through the window.

     By this point, we were ready to head back to the hotel.  As we left, it seemed like the religious proselytizers had taken over every corner around Independence Hall with their megaphones and loud speakers.   We made our way in the heat and found a place that was a combination of Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Subway, and DeLuca's Pizza.  Not only was this a place that had tables for us to sit at in air conditioning, but it was almost empty.  It didn't take any arm-twisting for us to decide to get some snacks and drinks there.  Where was this place when we were looking for lunch?

     After cooling off here, we continued on to the hotel, but we passed the "Fashion District."  Scott had passed its entrance several times in the last two days, but it hadn't occurred to him that this was the name of a shopping mall.  He was a little confused when Abby asked if we could go into "the mall," but since it was more air-conditioning, we decided to head in.  Inside and up two escalators is an AMC theater, and we decided to spend the second half of the afternoon seeing a movie.  We saw Toy Story 5 in 3-D and ate through two tubs of popcorn in the air-conditioning.  We were wondering who would be the first to fall asleep, but none of us did.  It was nice to be able to do something that Abby enjoyed too, since this hasn't been a great two days for her.  (Scott said that going to the movies was "Dublining" our trip, though.) 

     After the movie, we had a challenge getting down to the lowest floor of the mall because one escalator was not working.  When the elevator doors opened, though, a Starbucks was directly in front of us, so she stopped there.  While we were waiting for her, Abby discovered that she had a blister on her foot from the Crocs she had worn all day.  We tried to put a bandage on it, but the security guards were yelling at us that the mall was closed, NOW, and we had to help Abby limp out with one shoe. 

     It was after 6:00 by that point and we wanted dinner.  Julie had found an interesting place around the corner called Bar-Ly's, but when we got there, it was packed with people and the TVs were blaring the World Cup game.   We were not going to be able to get in and wouldn't be able to hear anything if we could.  Going back to the Auntie Anne's/Subway/DeLuca's seemed too far.  We found a place that was selling take-out but had no place to sit and no air-conditioning.  Scott took Abby back to the hotel and Julie came after them with the food. 

     At the beginning of the planning, we had thought about going to see the city's big fireworks display near the Art Museum.  When we chose this hotel, Scott noticed that the distance to there should be walkable, though in the opposite direction of everything else.  The heat made us doubt whether we wanted to walk anywhere again.  The family that shared a table with us at lunch gave us the most valuable piece of information that we hadn't considered-- The fireworks wouldn't start until about midnight, after Christina Aguilera, Will Smith and others performed at the concert. That's way too late for Abby, and honestly, pretty late for Julie and Scott two.  Add to that the severe thunderstorm warning that has been issued, and we decided we wouldn't go to the fireworks this year.  Maybe we're Dublining it, but we're ready to go home. [Update: As of this writing, the concert has been evacuated because of approaching storms and is "on pause."  It's good we're not there.]