Sunday, February 28, 2010

Liberty Kids

With a midterm bearing down on Amy, I decided to give her a little bit of space and so took the kids bright and early on the subway to go frolic downtown. Of course, we made a beeline for Reading Terminal Market, where we luxuriated in the sights and smells and partook of soft pretzels and smoothies. Then we hit Chinatown to get some pastries for Amy.

Then we meandered through the historic area and ended up at National Liberty Museum, which I'd been to before but had never taken the kids to. Too bad we didn't go last weekend: it's free for kids under 5. So Jada cost $2 and I cost $5 ($7 minus $2 for being a AAA member). I thought hard about joining - it's $60 for the year, and you get $60 in coupons for the gift shop - but decided to hold off for now.

The kids couldn't really read all of the interesting placards on people through the years who have demonstrated bravery, tolerance, and humanity - from cops who died in 9/11 to luminaries like Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela. But there was enough visually interesting stuff to make wandering through the exhibits somewhat interesting for them. Plus they got to feel the reverberations of a replica Liberty Bell being rung in the lobby, see hundreds of images of themselves in a clever mirror exhibit, and touch a piece of blown glass (cooled, of course!).

Sadly for the museum, there weren't many people circulating through. Although I think they get a lot of school visits. All in all, it was worth the visit and the seven bucks. Maybe when they're older, I'll take Aaron and Jada again, so they can learn more about liberty and not just tool around looking for something to play with.





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