Upper Erdkinder Trip to Philadelphia
BY A.J. ACKMANN
This year, Upper Erdkinder went on a trip to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. We thought it would be fitting to visit places that represent freedom, as that is our semester theme. We also visited many sites and museums that teach American history, since that is the focus of our humanities learning this year.
On day three, our group went to the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. There, we saw various relics and models from the Revolutionary War, such as bayonets, ships, and more. There were also many interesting miniature scenes depicting battles and forts from the war. This museum represents America’s struggle for freedom and independence, as well as what America was meant to become: a land of equal opportunity and equality. And, of course, a land that celebrates freedom.
One monument we visited was the Liberty Bell, an unfortunately disappointing and underwhelming experience. As a group, we decided that the twenty-minute wait in line for the actual five-minute viewing was not worth it. A small tour group discussed the history of the Liberty Bell, but even that was short and didn’t really provide us with much information. In fact, most of our tour was given by our teacher, Mr. Frolick, who also agreed that the exhibit was dull. Anyone else who has visited the Liberty Bell certainly has the freedom to disagree with our assessment, but we were not impressed.
One tour the whole group thought was incredibly interesting was Eastern State Penitentiary. This was once a massive prison that followed the strict nineteenth-century prison philosophy of harsh punishment, rather than reform, for inmates. Isolation was the main way to punish prisoners and keep their spirits low. For example, when inmates were moved, they had bags put over their heads so they couldn’t see anyone else. The prison also enforced a strict no-talking rule. Eastern State Penitentiary is no longer in use today and now functions as a museum. However, its moody, lonely atmosphere and eerie corridors made it the perfect place to wander around for an hour and a half in contemplation of freedom and what that means.
Unlike many previous trips, when we stayed in hotels, on this trip we stayed in a house, so we ate most of our breakfasts and dinners at home. We went to grocery stores and markets to buy ingredients for meals that we prepared ourselves. We put our years of food prep skill-building at MANH to good use and made delicious meals such as tacos, pancakes, and curry all by ourselves. While on the trip, we even celebrated my birthday with a number of sweet treats, such as cookies, soda, and cake.
Since the group decided that we didn’t want to walk everywhere, we used public transit a lot. We took the subway and the bus almost every day and got to see all of the interesting sights and smell all of the unholy odors of the city in the process. Day two was probably the most eventful and frustrating in terms of public transit. As we were leaving Washington, D.C., our train got delayed by two whole hours due to engine failure. A replacement engine needed to be fetched for our train, so we had to sit on the train and listen to the conductor say we were very close to leaving every twenty minutes. At least on a train, everyone has the freedom to get up and move around while waiting! We eventually made it back to Philadelphia at around 11:00 PM.
Despite some minor annoyances and a few dull museum tours, the whole group had a ton of fun and learned a lot about each other on this trip. In our freedom to explore two uniquely American cities, we bonded. We will all remember this for the rest of our lives and can’t wait for the next Erdkinder trip.
