Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Episode 11: Philadelphia and a Mutiny

I had an amazing week this week. Between the flight simulator tournament a bunch of the interns are having, to my day trip to Philadelphia, and a mutiny by the interns over Air and Space's social media accounts, this week seemed to fly by.
Philadelphia

You might think I went to Philadelphia to experience the history of being in our nation's first Capitol, right? Wrong, I went to see a big boat. For years, I've been interested in the SS United States. This ship has an incredible story - she holds the record for the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing, doing in 3 days what used to take 7. The Titanic could do 21 knots; the SS US could do that in reverse. She was a favorite of celebrities and presidents, and was known as "America's Flagship." For good reason: Besides the name, having those bold red, white, and blue funnels on the world's greatest ocean liner was a distinctive symbol of how Americans in the 1950's were going places.

 
The SS United States

 In 1969, after making 400 voyages, she couldn't avoid the punishment the jet airplane put on the shipping industry. She was laid up, never to sail under her own power again. After a series of false-starts, she ended up in Philadelphia in 1996, where she has been ever since. Here she is today:






Yes, I eventually went to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the Ben Franklin Museum, but I really went to Philly to see a rusting metal hulk. I've attached a lot of emotion to this ship. She has an uncertain future, but I'm pulling for her.

On my way back downtown, I stopped at the Independence Seaport Museum, which has two old vessels on display. The first is the USS Becuna, a WWII sub. It's docked adjacent to the USS Olympia, a pre-WWI battleship. It was part of the "Great White Fleet," fired one of the first shots in the Spanish-American War, and it's final voyage was to bring home the Unknown Soldier to be interred in Arlington National Cemetery.


The great thing about these ships were how authentic they were. They had very minimal modifications; besides roping off a few areas and gluing down all the switches, anyone who went on board got to experience what it was actually like to be on board. They didn't even widen the bulkheads on the sub.



Nope, you had to squeeze through them just like a submariner. This was not a tour for everyone.

Here's the cool thing: Someone else who just happened to be walking through right behind me actually served aboard the Becuna! How can you top that? That's better than any guide. Even if I happened to have an official guide that served on board, that wouldn't be as cool as a chance encounter with someone with a personal history with this vessel, who just happened to choose today to visit with his grand kids.

On my way back to Independence Hall, I stopped at the Ben Franklin museum. It was OK, but I already knew a lot of his story, they were a bit short on artifacts, and I was tired by this point.

But, I stopped by the print shop. It's a recreation of his print shop, but they were printing copies of the Declaration of Independence using the plates made the same way, the same sort of ink, and a printing press of the same designed Franklin used. And the printed copies were for sale! As my sister said, I got "practically the real thing!"




That will look nice when I have it framed.

Finally, I made it to Independence Hall. Like any historic place, it's hard to believe you're standing in the same place where these important events happened. You stand in these rooms and try to imagine the Declaration of Independence being signed, or the Constitution being debated. You try to picture yourself in the same room as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ben Franklin, and John Hancock. It doesn't seem real, but it is. Here's some pictures I took:

 In 1776, the people in this room said, "Goodbye, England," and committed high treason. In 1789, the Constitution was written in this room.



George Washington sat in this chair as he presided over the Second Continental Congress.


Then, I took the late, late, late train back to DC. It was so worth it.

A Mutiny
Our NASM interns are a crazy group. Today, we had an uprising and took over all the social media for the museum.

 

Actually, it wasn't really an uprising. We had permission. But they trusted us - that was their mistake. 

We'll be "good." We "promise."
Actually, we didn't misbehave. We were good. My favorite was when I took over the @SIObservatory Twitter page and gave some education about the Sun.
 


The fun was about to begin.

 














But then, it was time for the fun to end. #SadFace


And that is the story of this week. After I get through Thursday and Friday, I'm going to the Zoo on Saturday, and I'm renting a car to go down to George Washington's Mount Vernon on Sunday. Can't Wait! After that, it's just one week until my triumphant homecoming to Indianola. See you all there!
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