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Day 4 (10/31) Philadelphia ...
- Logan Square and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
We arrived in Philadelphia
in the late afternoon. After checked in to the hotel at the Logan
Square, we took a walk along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. There are
many museums in the area, but we did not have time to visit any of them this
time. We then walked to the Boathouse Row and cross the Schuylkill
River for a nice Philadelphia skyline view.
Day 5 (11/1) ...
- Independence Hall
Independence Hall is the birthplace of America. The
Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were both debated and
signed inside this building. The building was completed in 1753
as the colonial legislature (later Pennsylvania State House) for
the Province of Pennsylvania. It became the principal meeting place of
the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and was the site of
the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787. The United States
Declaration of Independence was approved there on July 4, 1776, and the
Declaration was read aloud to the public in the area now known as
Independence Square.
- Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American
independence. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State
House (now Independence Hall), the bell today is located in the Liberty Bell
Center in Independence National Historical Park. It's this bell that would
ring to call lawmakers to their meetings and the townspeople together to
hear the reading of the news. Although no immediate announcement was made of
the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence, and so the bell
could not have rung on July 4, 1776, related to that vote, bells were rung
on July 8 to mark the reading of the Declaration of Independence.
No one
recorded when or why the Liberty Bell first cracked, but the most likely
explanation is that a narrow split developed in the early 1840's after
nearly 90 years of hard use. In 1846, when the city decided to repair the
bell, metal workers widened the thin crack to prevent its farther spread and
restore the tone of the bell using a technique called "stop drilling".
But, the repair was not successful. The repair failed when another fissure
developed. This second crack, running from the abbreviation for
"Philadelphia" up through the word "Liberty", silenced the bell forever.
- Carpenter's Hall
Carpenters' Hall has a long history as a meeting
place. It has been the home to numerous tenants in the arts, sciences and
commerce, and remains the headquarters of the oldest extant craft guild in
America. It was the site of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and was
occupied briefly by the British during the Revolution. The building was
designated a National Historic Landmark on 15 April 1970 and is part
of Independence National Historical Park.
- Christ Church Burial Ground
Christ Church Burial Ground is one of
America’s most unique Colonial and Revolution-era graveyards with 1,400
markers. The Burial Ground is the final resting place of some of our
most prominent leaders, including
Benjamin Franklin
and four other signers of the Declaration of Independence.
- United States Mint
The United States Philadelphia Mint Facility is just right beside the
Independence National Historical Park. It is open to public with
self-guided tour which we can view the coining processes and operations from
40 feet from the factory floor. Since it is a federal facility,
therefore no photography is allowed inside the building.
- Benjamin Franklin Museum
Benjamin Franklin (1706 -- 1790) was one of
the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a
renowned polymath and a leading author, printer, political theorist,
politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic
activist, statesman, and diplomat. Dedicated to the life, times
and legacy of Philadelphia’s famous founding father, the Benjamin Franklin
Museum features personal artifacts, computer animations and hands-on
displays exploring Franklin’s life as a private citizen and statesman.
- The Betsy Ross House
Elizabeth Griscom "Betsy" Ross (January 1,
1752 – January 30, 1836)
is widely credited with making the first American
flag. According to family story, upon a visit from General George
Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, in 1776, Ross
convinced George Washington to change the shape of the stars he had sketched
for the flag from six-pointed to five-pointed by demonstrating that it was
easier and speedier to cut the latter. The Betsy Ross House, the
birthplace of the American flag, is alive with the sights and sounds of the
18th century with a "real" Betsy there sewing and telling stories :-)
- Elfreth's Alley
Elfreth's Alley, established in 1702, was one
of the oldest continually occupied streets in America . Most of the homes
that still remain on the old street were built between 1728 and 1836.
- City Hall
We took a subway from the 2nd Street back to the City Hall
although it was just a short ride. We bought the tickets to
visit the City Hall Tower, which offers a breathtaking panoramic view of
Philadelphia's landscape from 548 feet above ground. We were the only people
for the time slot so we can stroll around the observation deck to enjoy the
view without any other tourists.
- We had a dinner with Woanyu's high school mate she has recently connected
online (but they did not know each other before). It turned out she
was my elementary school classmate, and we were in the same class for 3
years (2nd grade to 4th grade). What a small world!
Day 6 (11/2) ...
- Washington Crossing
Washington Crossing is the location
of Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December
25–26, 1776 in the American Revolutionary War. This daring maneuver led to
victory in the Battle of Trenton and altered the course of the war. The
site now has Washington Crossing Historic Park on the Pennsylvania side and
Washington Crossing State Park on the New Jersey side.
We went to the New
Jersey side first, but then turned back to the Pennsylvania side which has
more combination of nature and history.
- Princeton
We passed by Princeton and made a short stop to walk
around the campus.
- Davenport College, Yale
We finally arrived in New Haven at ~4:30PM
with some traffic along the way. We walked to Davenport College to
meet Linus and went to his
room to check it out (to see how messy it was...). We had a dinner
with Linus' girl friend and her family at a Chinese restaurant in New Haven
downtown. I think we had a good first impression from each other :-)
Day 7 (11/3) ...
- Yale campus
It was always a good feeling to walk around the campus
when there was no people around. The tranquil atmosphere reminded me
of the good time of a student life.
- Beinecke Library
During the Yale family weekend, there were many
organized activities and tours for family to attend. The
Beinecke Library is Yale University’s principal repository for literary
archives, early manuscripts, and rare books. It both houses public
exhibition and serves as a center for teaching and for research by students,
faculty, and scholars from around the world. The Beinecke Library is one of
the largest buildings in the world devoted entirely to rare books and
manuscripts.
- Cross Campus and Sterling
We then went to the tour of Sterling
Memorial Library and Bass Libraries with an introduction to the libraries’
history, architecture, and collections. We were taken to the book
stacks inside the library tower and we were free to look around between book
shelves. We did find some interesting
Chinese books...
- Davenport
We met Linus after the library tour and had a lunch
together at the Davenport dining hall although Linus said he was already tired
of the food here. The food was not bad at all, but I could understand
it's easy to get tired of cafeteria food after 2+ years.
- Yale Art Gallery
Founded in 1832, the Yale University Art Gallery is
the oldest university art museum in the western hemisphere when
patriot-artist, John Trumbull, donated more than 100 paintings of
the American Revolution to Yale College. The Gallery’s encyclopedic
collections number more than 200,000 objects ranging in date from ancient
times to the present day.
Linus has visited the gallery many times for
some of his course work. He took us around as a guide for some modern and
contemporary arts such as
Piet
Mondrian,
René
Magritte,
Pablo
Picasso,
Edward Hopper,
Mark Rothko,
etc. (well, I just copied the names and links...).
- West Rock Ridge State Park
West Rock Ridge State Park is about
10-minute drive from New Haven downtown. The park road is actually
only open to cars during summer weekends so we had to park our car at the entrance.
In fact, it gave me more flexibility to wonder around to enjoy the fall
foliage in the forest. The diffused light from the clouds made it
perfect to photograph the fall colors.
- Davenport Pops Orchestra (DPops)
The Davenport Pops Orchestra, affectionately known as DPops, is Yale's only
pops orchestra. DPops is entirely student run, featuring student conductors,
student board, student arrangers, and student musicians. Linus was one
of the score arrangers and conductors for this year. Here is a
short excerpt of Super Mario Galaxy
arranged and conducted by Linus.
Day 8 (11/4) ...
- East Rock State Park
East Rock is a popular outdoor recreation
destination among residents and visitors of the greater New Haven region.
Views from the clifftops span metropolitan New Haven, Long Island Sound,
and Long Island. It is another good spot to see the colorful fall
display in the woods.
- Peabody Museum
After the lunch with Woanyu's high school friend in
New Haven downtown, we joined the Peabody Museum Behind-the-Scenes Collections
Tour provided for the family weekend. From Anthropology to
Zoology, the 13 million objects and specimens in the Yale Peabody Museum of
Natural History’s collections represent a world-class record of the history
of Earth and its cultures. Yet less than a tenth of one percent is on
display in the public galleries! In this tour led by Yale students you’ll
visit two different curatorial divisions, learn how the collections are
stored and organized, and glimpse some hidden treasures that rarely see the
light of day. We were shown some dinosaur fossils and insects/butterflies
samples collection, where we could open any drawer we liked to see the
samples up close.
- Yale Family Weekend Gala Concert
One of the main family weekend
events was this Family Weekend Gala Concert, which featured 3 premier
student music groups: Yale Glee Club (Jeffrey Douma, Music Director),
Yale Concert Band (Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director), and Yale Symphony
Orchestra (Toshiyuki Shimada, Music Director) at the beautiful Woolsey Hall.
Day 9 (11/5) ...
- Yale
We had a breakfast with Linus in New Haven (most good breakfast
places were all packed...). After the last stroll of the campus (we
walked with Linus to Berkeley College where he has DPops on the Sunday
mornings), it's time for us to go...
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- Thomas Edison National Historical Park
On our way back to Newark
Airport, we stopped by the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New
Jersey for a couple of hours. Thomas Alva Edison (February 11,
1847 – October 18, 1931) has been described as America's greatest inventor.
Edison was a prolific inventor, holding 1,093 US patents in his name. He
developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world,
including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting,
practical electric light bulb. He was one of the first inventors to apply
the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of
invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of
the first industrial research laboratory.
Thomas Edison National
Historical Park, established in 1962 (and renamed in 2009) preserves Thomas
Edison's laboratory complex and residence Glenmont.
Going Home ...
We had a good combination of this trip: seeing Linus and Iris' college
life on their campuses, meeting a few "old" friends we haven't seen for a long
time (or haven't seen before), visiting a few important places in American
history, and photographing the famous and fantastic East Coast fall foliage
color. I think we have got used to and began to enjoy our 2-person family (or honeymoon
like?) trip :-)
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