American Historical Sites I've Visited (Part I)

In 1977, one year after the Bicentennial Celebration, our high school band and choir visited the Washington D.C. and Philadelphia area. It was a fascinating trip for a young person to experience and four of the five sites I'm going to reference in this blog series were part of that trip. I'm forever grateful for the sacrifices and foresight of our teachers to allow us to visit this part of the country.  

Okay, the first site I'm going to list is the Liberty Bell Center, home of the Liberty Bell. I recall the line to view the bell was quite long, and as we were visiting in March, the weather was warm but easily tolerable. At that time in our history, you could actually touch the bell which I remember doing as I exited the viewing line. I do remember a sufficient amount of awe for seeing and touching such an important historical artifact, but my most vivid memory is my buddy Jon trying to figure out a way to put his chewed gum inside the bell. I am happy to report he was not successful in this attempt. Anyway, after an attack on the bell in 2001, the bell was moved out of reach of visitors and a no touching ban was instituted going forward.