Philadelphia, PA

"In west Philadelphia, born and raised...." It was definitely after I had been in college for a while that I finally learned that song said Philadelphia and not Villanovia, which I thought was some area like Compton around L.A. I had that line stuck in my head all day yesterday as I was walking around old Philly to see the historic sites, so I thought I'd share :)

I loved Philadelphia, well old Philadelphia anyways. I found myself wanting to know more and more about our nation's history and wondering why I didn't pay more attention to Mrs. Smith in 8th grade. In fact, I'm very interested in good novels about the Revolutionary War if anyone has a suggestion.

It was an incredible feeling standing in the room where our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence; just feet away from the actual chair in which General Washington sat and oversaw the whole affair. I got butterflies in my stomach as we entered the room and felt as if I was standing on sacred ground. I later re-read the Declaration of Independence and I love these words:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.... And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

I am so grateful for our Founding Fathers and the divine help they received in forming our beloved nation and, as always, I am still so proud to American!

Other cool things I saw in Philadelphia were: the Liberty Bell (natch, it was awesome), the Betsy Ross home, the U.S. Mint, Christ's Church and burial grounds (where Benjamin Franklin is buried), Elfreth's Alley (the oldest continuous residential street in the nation), and learning all about the Quakers.