Day 5 - Good-bye, Philly! Hello, Washington, DC!

We heard our home town had record rain but none of it came to Philadelphia.  Today we are leaving Philadelphia, but before we go we have breakfast with Benjamin Franklin.  After packing out bags, we took the bus to the Visitors Center.  There we met Ben and got our picture taken with him.

After a lovely breakfast, Ben answered questions and talked about his life.  Here are some interesting facts about his life:
1. Ben Franklin was 15th of 17 children.
2. He was supposed to work for his father as a candlemaker but did not want to, so he worked for his brother as a printer.
3. He wanted to write for his brother but was not allowed to, so he created a pen name - Silence Dogood and became published.  When his brother discovered it was him, he was mad at Ben.
4. Ben traveled to Philadelphia to work for a printer.
5. He saw people making money printing almanacs so he created Poor Richard's Almanac.
6. He helped start the first fire company.
7. He helped start the first lending library.
8. He started the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia.
9. He helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence by giving advice

There are many more but we will add them to our fact page.  If you know more facts, add them yourself.

We met two lovely families from Scotland and Palatine, IL, USA. Hello to Catriona Scott from Dollar Academy in Scotland and Franklin! Also hello to the teachers who teach in Shanghai as their husbands relocated for their jobs.  They were supposed to be there for 1 1/2 years and are currently on their sixth year! It was wonderful to meet you!

Catriona and Franklin

Before we knew it we were on our way to Washington, DC.  Our train was delayed because of an accident, so we changed trains.  By 4 in the afternoon, we arrived in DC.  The heat unfortunately was also there.  What is the deal?  The heat seemed to be following us everywhere!!

Can you see? Over 2 hours delayed!

Train Station in DC

train station in DC

After checking in, eating dinner, and unpacking, we decided to take a walk around the city and get our bearings.  Tomorrow we plan on visiting the Smithsonian - at least a couple of them.

Smithsonian - one of them

Mrs. Hoffman, Mrs. Gibson, and Mrs. Cochrane.