Sitting Where George Washington Slept

The Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, PA brought the first Oval Office to Lawrenceville, NJ this weekend. As part of their Oval Office Project, the museum brings a replica of the oval-shaped tent General Washington used during the Revolutionary War to meet with his most trusted colleagues. It is referred to as the original oval office. The original is on display in Philadelphia. Realizing they wanted to share it with a larger audience, from 2013-2015 the museum teamed up with Colonial tradesmen to create a replica tent. This took place before they opened their doors to the public in 2017.

Looking at their schedule, they seem to spend one weekend a month with a team of reenactors. About six months ago, Paul, with the Lawrence Historical Society, announced this event would take place. At the time it seemed so far in the future. Suddenly the day was here! The December day was brisk with four to six inches of snow in the forecast for the next day. The reenactors were divided on their feelings of taking really cool pictures of the tents covered in snow versus getting it home and dry on schedule. I'm sure they opted to take it down Saturday after the last of the visitors left.

The reenactors were all top notch. I spoke with the woman in charge of programming at the museum. I did not want to break character and learn her 21st century personality, as learning she has a modern job was at odds with the Colonial attire she was wearing. She was mesmerizing to listen to as she and another person were adjusting the tent poles. She said they keep it real at these events.

The man inside the oval office tent showed how there is a smaller tent inside the main one, thus allowing the general's slave, William Lee, to be near, but to be able to keep working while Washington met with his team. It was surprisingly cozy inside the inner section. Washington's bed was inside another inner section. Closing off the bedchamber would have kept him snug. At 6'2", though, he would not have been able to stretch out on his bed.

Another docent told us there are three levels of mattresses. Can we guess what they are made out of? Each layer gives a different level of firmness. The levels are: hay, horsehair, and feathers. His monogrammed pillowcases were filled with feather pillows. No question was deemed wrong to answer by any of the people working the event. Perhaps on the drive home they laughed about the strangest question, just as Fort Mifflin volunteers can't believe how often they are asked why their historic site was built so close to the airport.

Much to my surprise, I was encouraged to sit on the bed to feel how comfortable it was. I can honestly say I sat where "Washington" once slept. 

Photo credit to Laurie K.

Several smaller tents were brought with the large oval one. Inside one of the smaller tents were clothes you could dress up in to pretend to be a soldier. I was given the impression they were child-sized. 

If you are interested, keep an eye out on their schedule. With the sesquicentennial taking place next year, they anticipate having a lot more activities. Being able to step inside the tent made history come to life.

Philadelphia Holiday Traditions

Before cell phones made connecting with people easy, Philadelphians would say to each other "meet me at the eagle," the eagle being the one located in the center court inside the Wanamaker Building on Market Street in Center City. 

Dedicated by President Taft in 1911 when it opened, Wanamaker was THE department store in Philadelphia. In addition to the statue of the eagle, the iconic building boasted the Grand Court Organ featuring 27,850 pipes, making it second only behind the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ in Atlantic City, NJ (33,112 pipes), and nearly three times the size of the one in the Sydney Opera House (10,888). Sydney's claim to fame is it is the largest mechanical key action organ (way to try to claim a largest status).

Since the 1950s, Wanamaker has hosted a Christmas show throughout the holidays as a way to attract the returning WWII soldiers and their young families. It began with a fountain and light show. In the 1960s the light show we know began to evolve with the March of the Toys song. It was hosted by a local newscaster.

In 1998 the soundtrack became digital. A couple of years later the fountains were finally drained and a new computerized system was installed. his is about the time Don took me to it. I can't believe we never even thought to take Ashley to see the show. Decembers were too busy.

In 2007 Wanamaker was purchased by Macy's. They upgrade the light show to LED. A couple of years later Julie Andrews becomes the narrator, as she still was this year.

The updates on the Wanamaker Organ friend's site ends with 2022. Earlier this year, Macy's closed the location. Many wondered "what happens to the eagle?" "what about the light show that has been a tradition for decades?"

As Macy's was closing, Uncle Bob passed away. Uncle Bob loved old department stores. I always thought of him as more of a New York City fan since there was a bus stop a few houses away that would have whisked him into Manhattan in about 40 minutes. I learned at his funeral he had a soft spot for Wanamaker's in Philadelphia, and its eagle. When I heard the light show was returning for one more year, I told Don we need to see it live again.

This year I learned there is a second part to the light show: Dickens Village. The village is a collection of animatronic statues set in scenes based on the 1843 novel, "A Christmas Carol." It has been a Philadelphia tradition since 1956, perhaps making me the last person in the area to learn about it. The statues are completely dated by today's standards, but, as Don reminded me, these pre-date anything Walt Disney created, including "It's a Small World" and "Great Moments with Abraham Lincoln," both of which debuted at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City.

As we walked through the display I heard a woman say "don't forget the kitty." She said they've been visiting this display for decades. To make it more interesting they look for obscure items and take pictures of them. Ah...the joy of cell phone cameras helping to turn the ordinary into a treasure hunt.

Personally, I reminisced about the year Ashley played Ebenezer Scrooge in her school's version of "A Christmas Carol." I could picture her face in place of the statue.

This year they required advanced reservations to walk through the Village. I feel this heightened the excitement, it certainly got us to make a commitment and go even though it was freezing outside. The light show was still accessible without a reservation, but they might ask you to wait for the next show if the space was too crowded. We made our reservation while in Belgium for the day after we returned. It turns out that is one of the few days Don is not working at REI between now and Christmas. Reservations become available at 5 pm five days in advance. I wanted a late time since I knew we would be jetlagged and busy. As a bonus, the organ puts on a 40-minute live concert six days a week following the 12:30 pm and 4:30 pm light shows. We wanted to time our visit to hear the 4:45 performance. We timed it just right. We were allowed in to the Dickens Village early, and because we had tickets for that, we could stand and watch the light show from the third floor balcony.

Standing next to us was a young mother who was introducing her 3-year old daughter to the show. I could tell she has fond memories of her parents taking her to the show. Her parents were tending to her infant during the light show. Her little girl wasn't quite as interested, but that wasn't the point. The tradition had been passed down. Will the little girl grow up and take her children to the show? Will the show still exist? How will it change? How will technology change?

Don and I walked around the indoor holiday market and posed (like most everyone else) for a selfie next to the eagle. On our way in and back out to the car, we walked through the outdoor market near City Hall. After spending a week looking at Christmas Markets in four different cities, we felt like experts. I saw two booths selling scarves similar to the one I bought for ten euros ($12) for $25-$32. I also saw alpaca socks. I did not see the cut record guy I usually see in Philadelphia, but this year saw in Bruges and Antwerp. Until I saw him overseas, I thought he was a unique seller. Turns out, there are very few unique booths. This market differed in the wide variety of Philadelphia merchandise. I wish the same had been true in the other cities! Philadelphia had less food merchants than the ones in Europe.

The newly christened Wanamaker Building will be closed for two years as they transform the interior. There is talk of keeping the ground floor retail and adding apartments on the upper levels. We'll see what happens. The plan is for Dickens Village and the light show to return at that time, but plans don't always work out, which is why I wanted to see it one last time.

More pictures:

View from the third floor

The organ hidden behind the light show

This feels a bit dated

The organist plays from the side on the second floor

Getting ready for the 5:30 pm show

My photography teacher taught
me the cool way to photograph
a carousel using the live feature

Jeni's! Grateful it was quiet and we could
eat inside on the bitterly cold night

Day 6: Ghent: Belfry

We left the Castle of the Counts and started to walk to the Belfry when I noticed a street with a lot of graffiti on it. As we got closer, my hunch was confirmed, it is Ghent's famous Warregarenstraat. We strolled through this tiny alleyway, and back again to the main area. I predicted it would appear on our Dark Side tour that night, but I was wrong.

The Belfry was around the corner. Through a comedy of errors, we kept missing the entrance and overthinking it was in the Christmas Market. As we bought our ticket we were given the good news that unlike the Belfry in Bruges, this one has an elevator! What we were not told is we had to climb up a narrow spiral stone staircase to reach the elevator. We were also not told that everyone was encouraged to take the elevator UP and walk back DOWN. As it was not very crowded, and the stone stairs were slick since it was raining, most people opted to take the elevator DOWN, too.

Even though we had just visited another belfry, I wanted to visit this one because it boasted a dragon. I still miss Sandy and Glinda dragons. We enjoyed listening to the music from inside the other belfry, so we waited for the 4 pm ringing. We did not see the bells chime. Unlike in Bruges, this one did not list their playlist. It, too, changes every two years and debuts on Easter. 

The Belfry of Ghent does not go all the way to the top. It ends at a balcony that goes all the way around giving nice views on Ghent. I suspect the views are even more magnificent on a sunny day, but we had more of a typical Belgian weather day.

Here are my Belfry pictures:

By this point it was pouring outside. I was glad I had packed my "magic stick that wards off rain" (a.k.a. an umbrella). It was the only time it came out on the trip. We ducked into House of Waffles for a treat. While it was a nice place to warm up, it did not live up to its hype.

After our snack, we noticed the rain had stopped so we walked around while waiting for our evening tour to begin. Ghent is another very photogenic city. Unlike Bruges, though, we did not see a bunch of Instagrammers.