It would be impossible for me to pick one thing that I liked the most on this trip. We really did have a wide variety of activities, locations, lectures, etc. and I felt that the majority of them were beneficial and will impact my classroom teaching extensively.

Some of the highlights of the tour for me were the lecture with Carol Berkin at the National Constitution Center, touring Lancaster County and “Amish ” country, walking into Independence Hall and being in the sigining room, traveling to Washington’s Crossing, Valley Forge and Gettysburg, seeing the Liberty Bell, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, walking along the historical streets of Philadelphia itself, and spending time with like minded history “geeks”.   It is always a blessing to go to sites such as these with people who are as interested in them as you are.

While I thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Winterthur and am excited about using portions of the “Maker to Marketplace” activity in my classes this coming year, I have to say I honestly did not understand what the place was or why we were there until well in to our tour. I loved seeing the enormous collection of Americana that was on display in the house. I wish we would have had a bit more time to explore the grounds, as I don’t think I will ever go back. The gardens were endless and beautiful.

Another place that we visited that would be toward the end of the list of favorites would be the American Philosophical Society. There were fantastic documents in the lobby such as Lewis and Clark journals, and one of the only documents to have the signatures of the first 4 Presidents on it, and we were shown 4 other items of interest. However, I really felt like an intruder in their sacred halls. When I asked the gentleman for copies of the items he passed around his response was far from helpful. He stated he usually does make copies and they get left behind so he didn’t make any. I told him I was really interested in them. He said he would see what he could do. Needless to say, I never received them.

I enjoyed having more “free time” in the evenings than we had last year on the Boston trip. This gave us time to decompress, blog, upload photos, eat at a leasurely pace, and even do laundry. However, I would have liked to have one or two more organized dinners, such as the one we had at Conte’s and the Iron Hill Brewery (even though that was put together last minute! Thanks Matt and Donna!). It is nice to have the whole group in one spot to eat. Gives you time to see and speak with everyone, discuss the events of the day, and spend time together as collegues and friends.

While the dorms were not luxury accomodations, they did suit their purpose and the air conditioning did work! While a bit dirty and smelly, they did allow us easy access to the subway, restaurants, and the highway to our destinations outside the city.  Thankfully I was not in the dorms when the fire alarm went off. I think that trek down 11 flights of stairs would have been the end of me!

Overall, I feel we had a very productive trip. As with any large group, I think we had enough of each other by the end and were ready to go home. The hot temperatures and humidity took their toll on all of us. I like the idea of the Chicago trip being shortened by a few days next summer. I think that would probably help with the overall morale and energy of the group.

Matt, Johnathan and Scott – I can’t thank you enough for the time and energy you put in to organizing an endevour such as this. Speaking from experience, I know how time consuming it is to arrange speakers, tours, transportation, etc. for a large group. Your efforts do not go unnoticed!