Visiting Valley forge from NJ provided another Philly traffic experience. Not a terrible experience but, it extended the joy of travel about 20 minutes each way. Seems every bridge across the Delaware River collects toll ($5 for the car).

We stumbled upon this little Bluegrass Festival in rural New Jersey of all places. We chose a family campground as base for our visit to Philadelphia. For Thursday, Friday and Saturday several hundred people and 15 different bands descended upon camp.

Smoke wafting through the campground: campfire wood smoke and more than a little wacky weed.
A giant, bright yellow stuffed “Reggae banana”, dreadlocks and all stood vigil at one campsite.
An eerie looking glow in the dark green beard….it was actually just a glow stick necklace under this shaggy white beard; really attention getting.
Fire juggling at a campsite across the lake from the music.
Tie dye absolutely everywhere. Three button placket shirts to bikini tops and doggie scarves.

Oh yeah, the music
Some sounded like what I anticipated bluegrass would sound like.
A double bass, fiddle, banjo and guitar where bass and guitar slaps provided the percussion. All this to accompany fun vocals like “Sleep with one eye open”. They did some yodeling (the guy was from Brooklyn!) too.
An all girls group, Della Mae, with a fantastic mandolin player along with bass and guitars and fun ballad-like vocals.
Some was just LOUD….The closing bands Sat and Sun were really more like rock bands; amazingly loud and not much to my liking.

Overall it was a lot of fun.
We’d probably do it again. We heard maybe a third of the bands and sampled some great local BBQ and baked goods and some pretty sorry tasting local wine. People were open and friendly and amazingly well behaved given the amount of beer consumed.

A testament to the enduring power of words and amazingly adaptive and … The Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution
Buildings (and things) that seem to speak to us….Independence Hall, Carpenters Hall, Old City Hall, The Liberty Bell
People that seem bigger than life….Washington, Adams, Penn, Franklin, Betsy Ross,
Waves of matching T-shirts….this must be the number one 5th grade field trip destination in the nation

The odd…the American Philosophical Society Museum. The exhibit is called “Time Flies”. “family trees” showing the evolution of computers and of mankind from Adam and Eve to Franklin’s time. Art: “clay in a shoe”, pierced aluminum star fields, pictures of clouds. A collection of past and upcoming solar flares, eclipses and storms.

Oh, and philly cheesesteak…not bad. I actually liked the Tandori Chicken and (you won’t believe it) okra that I got from a Pakistani restaurant. We got them both from shops at Reading Station market. It was a great place for a stroll. Lancaster county Amish shops were very well represented with bake shops, cheeses, and all kinds of specialty meats.

It brought tears to my eyes to walk the sunken road and the winding trails through the National Cemetery and to read of the devastation and deaths in the battles around Fredericksburg. People are capable of such ruthless destruction and possess enormous resilience. It is really amazing.

Music can be a delight to listen to by oneself. It can wrap up my mind and take me away from all that is around me. Tracing its intricacies or following its pounding rhythms can push out all else and lock me into the moment. But, I think its greatest power and its greatest contribution comes when it is shared. It pulls us together to celebrate, mourn, learn, reflect, share, and even disagree.

The cooper, blacksmith, milliner, silversmith, gunsmith, wheelwright, brick makers, carpenters, even a wigmaker. I have always loved checking out the trade reenactments. We met Dan and Dick, a pair of great tempered oxen and learned lots about tobacco planting too.

We met Fops (self important dandies, I have learned), Villains and Rogues at the Raleigh Tavern. Some wonderfully fun actors introduced us to some of the typical characters in theatre of their time (1775 or so). We thoroughly enjoyed it.

The sound of Fife and drum lifting up through the air calls all to come join in and be part of whatever is happening. It is like a magnet. Such a colorful and powerful tool to call to arms and engage the masses.
Violin, flute, harpsichord, and viola de gamba joined voices to bring together and entertain. A chamber quartet gave us a bit of a taste of the entertainment of the time and reminded us that the music of this time, at this place, was meant to engage people; to encourage and support socialization and camaraderie. If I closed m eyes I could see a room full of bodies swirling in a Virginia reel. I very much enjoyed their little concert.