Team Breitmann World Tour: Philadelphia

Philadelphia! The home of the famed Liberty Bell and the former capital of the United States. We could not miss coming to the historic district of this city, where within a square mile, literally, we, as a people declared our Independence and determined our form of government. An appropriate place to focus on being thankful on Thanksgiving Day!

Team Breitmann's Urban Assault Vehicles and troops at our Philadelphia encampment. It is no small task finding campgrounds in these parts that are open year round and aren't total "rat traps". We were happy to stay here at the Homestead Campground just north of Lansdale, PA, which is about 40 miles north of Philadelphia. As is our modus operandi, near big cities, we camp out in the country and take the train into town. We took the Landsdale regional rail into downtown and walked. Perfect!

Hailey gets into the Thanksgiving spirit and makes our dog Molly a "pilgrim" head covering!

And I'm now an Indian! A sick Indian! I was suffering from a bad head cold this day. I look great, don't I ?!(sarcasm is intended!)

Hailey sports a turkey feather she got at the Chaparral Campground in Wisconsin. She loves that thing! She is sitting in the hall at the Homestead Campground, where we spent Thanksgiving day. We originally had no plans for Turkey day and were kinda dreading it, assuming we'd be all alone at some restaurant. Well...we were certainly ALL WRONG about that assumption! Donna, the campground owner, coordinated a HUGE Thanksgiving dinner at the hall! We brought pies and others brought various other dishes to include turkey, ham and beef! What a great time we had meeting new people and sharing our adventures!

I guess our girls made a favorable impression on someone at the Thanksgiving festivities because for two mornings afterwards, we received anonymous gifts of donuts and pastries on our door step! Yum, yum is right!

The girls in downtown Philly, in front of Christ Church. This Church was founded in 1695 and the building behind them was built between the years 1727 and 1754. The steeple and bells were added in 1754 and financed, in part, by a lottery organized by Benjamin Franklin. The Church itself is a testament to the success of William Penn's (founder of Pennsylvania) "Holy Experiment", wherein the Charter of Privileges of Pennsylvania allowed all denominations freedom of worship, even the Church of England, from which the Quakers had dissented on their native England's soil. Christ Church is often called "The Nation's Church" because it's history is so closely tied to that of colonial Philadelphia, the birthplace of America. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence and other Patriots all worshipped here! Christ Church's first rector, the Rev. William White, served as a Chaplain to the Continental Congress, while in Yorktown. A little known fact is that many Loyalists were counted among members of Christ Church. With respect to America's religious history, in 1789, Christ Church was the place where the American Episcopal Church was created. And it was also the site of the 1804 ordination of Absalom Jones, the Episcopal Church's first African-American priest. Christ Church is still active in the city and the nation.

The symbol of freedom...the Liberty Bell, a national icon! I find it ironic that those who wish to remove all religious expression from government discourse fail to recognize the Judeo-Christian roots of our foundations that produced a country like ours, where all are free to worship or not without compulsion. The very inscription on the Liberty Bell is from the Old Testament book of Leviticus, Chapter 25 verse 10 (KJV): "...Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof..."attests to the fact of our religious heritage. Check out more about the Liberty Bell here: Liberty Bell

The girls in front of what is commonly referred to as Independence Hall. Interestingly enough, this is not the name of the building! It is the Pennsylvania State House. The Marquee Lafayette, the French advisor and close friend of George Washington, remarked, in French, that the Pennsylvania State House was a "Hall of Independence"! Of course, we Americans liked that and switched around the words to say; the "Hall of Independence", which has stuck ever since. You can read more here: Independence Hall

Here it is...the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was constructed, approved and signed! The chair in the center back of the room is the actual chair that George Washington sat in during the Constitutional Convention, which birthed our US Constitution! How awesome to be in the room that was the birthplace of the document that over 24 years ago, I publicly swore to defend against all enemies foreign and domestic! All the men who met in this room to sign the Declaration of Independence knew that they were potentially signing their death warrants. What are you willing to put your life on the line for? All these men had much more to lose in this venture than gain, by opposing the most powerful government with the most powerful army and navy the world...the King of England!

Stacey and Hailey at the Christ Church burial grounds. You can read more about the burial ground, like who's buried here: Christ Church Burial Ground

You've all heard the term "Founding Fathers". How 'bout "Founding Mother"? No? The gals stand in front of the home of Betsy Ross, who, not until recent times, is considered to be the "Founding Mother" of our country. She truly endured much (one husband killed in the war and one afterward and losing a child) for the cause of freedom and steadfastly supported the revolution, never knowing the acclaim, in this life, that others did in the pursuit of making America. She lived and worked here in this house during the American Revolution. Betsy Ross was a successful upholsterer and is credited with making the first stars and stripes flag, upon request of General George Washington. She also secretly produced musket cartridges in her basement for the war effort. She went on to produce flags for the government for over 50 years. She was a skilled artisan and she represented many women of her day that supported not only their families but the war effort, during the Revolution and early Republic. You can learn more here: Betsy Ross House

Inside the Betsy Ross house we learn about chocolate use in early colonial times and how it was prepared in drink form. Unlike our chocolate of today, it was used like an all purpose medicine and something like "Tums" to aid in digestion and to be taken after meals. It did not have the added caffeine and sugar content of today's chocolate. Hailey says: I like chocolate!