Being the big little American history nerd that I happen to enjoy being, it surprises even myself that I haven't made an effort until recently to make a pilgrimage to not-so-far-away Philadelphia.
Click on the images for the bigger and better versions, if you care to see them.
'Tis done. We have become a nation.
--Benjamin Rush, 1788
Wish not so much to live long as to live well.
--Benjamin Franklin, 1746
When we have lived our generation out, we should not wish to encroach on another.
--Thomas Jefferson, 1816
We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
--Benjamin Franklin, 1776
I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction....
--John Adams, 1776
Give me the steady, uniform, unshaken security of constitutional freedom....
--Alexander Hamilton, 1774
Liberty cannot be purchased by a wish.
--Thomas Paine, 1792
The greater the chaos, the greater will be your merit in bringing forth order.
--George Washington, 1781
But my country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived. And as I can do neither good nor evil, I must be borne away by others, and meet the common fate.
--John Adams, 1787
What disappointed me about visiting these major historical sites is how... detached I sort of felt from them. It's a little difficult having time to really connect with history when you've got to go get tickets, go through airport-level security, and stand on long lines with and be shoved around by several dozens of other tourists. I didn't feel I could get close to the things I saw and fully appreciate the places I stood in. Maybe because it is, after all, Philadelphia, I should have expected it to be as theme-park as it was. Either that, or I was just tired and spoiled by New York historical hot spots.
Click on the images for the bigger and better versions, if you care to see them.
'Tis done. We have become a nation.
--Benjamin Rush, 1788
Wish not so much to live long as to live well.
--Benjamin Franklin, 1746
When we have lived our generation out, we should not wish to encroach on another.
--Thomas Jefferson, 1816
We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
--Benjamin Franklin, 1776
I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction....
--John Adams, 1776
Give me the steady, uniform, unshaken security of constitutional freedom....
--Alexander Hamilton, 1774
Liberty cannot be purchased by a wish.
--Thomas Paine, 1792
The greater the chaos, the greater will be your merit in bringing forth order.
--George Washington, 1781
But my country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived. And as I can do neither good nor evil, I must be borne away by others, and meet the common fate.
--John Adams, 1787
What disappointed me about visiting these major historical sites is how... detached I sort of felt from them. It's a little difficult having time to really connect with history when you've got to go get tickets, go through airport-level security, and stand on long lines with and be shoved around by several dozens of other tourists. I didn't feel I could get close to the things I saw and fully appreciate the places I stood in. Maybe because it is, after all, Philadelphia, I should have expected it to be as theme-park as it was. Either that, or I was just tired and spoiled by New York historical hot spots.
VIEW 22 of 22 COMMENTS
that mentos/diet coke one was great, though.