Wesley Bolin Plaza, Phoenix, Arizona

The Wesley Bolin Plaza is a part of the Arizona Capitol ground. Bolin is a former governor who was only governor for five months in 1977-1978 (he died in office) after serving twenty-eight years as the Arizona Secretary of State.

As I approached, the first thing I saw was an anchor from the USS Arizona. The memorial has the names of those who died when the Arizona was sunk during the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. 

USS Arizona Anchor Memorial

Right past the anchor is the World War II Memorial, flanked by two battleship guns with a mast from the USS Arizona.

WWII Memorial

The Arizona Fallen Firefighter and Emergency Paramedics Memorial is a large, round space with a lot of names and a variety of statues.

Arizona Fallen Firefighter and Emergency Paramedics Memorial

The Arizona Silent Service Submarine Memorial is quite dramatic. And, apparently, off limits. What's with the fence?

Arizona Silent Service Submarine Memorial

The Arizona Law Enforcement K9 Memorial is dedicated to animals that died in the line of duty.

K9 Memorial

The Arizona Peace Officer Memorial is a striking tribute to law enforcers from a long time ago. He definitely looks like he's from the territorial days.

Arizona Peace Officer Memorial

Side view

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has several stages, including a statue of soldiers, a map of the country, and a memorial listing those from Arizona who died.

Vietnam Soldiers

Map and Memorial

Nearby is the Father Albert Braun O.F.M. Statue. Braun was a missionary in New Mexico and Arizona. He served as a chaplain in World War I and again in World War II. In the Phillipines, he was a prisoner of war for 40 months. He received the Purple Heart and two Silver Stars. He returned to Arizona where he worked with the tribes and with the Hispanic community in Phoenix. The Mescalero Apache tribe wanted to bury his body on their land when he died.

Fr. Albert Braun Statue

The Desert Storm Memorial commemorates a more recent conflict and those who fought in it.

Desert Storm Memorial

Average people are memorialized too! Pioneer women and Arizona Workers both have memorials dedicated to them.

Pioneer Women

Arizona Workers

Across 17th Avenue is the Capitol Building with a few more memorials.

Capitol

Lt. Frank Luke Jr. Memorial Statue is dedicated to the Arizona World War I fighting ace. He had eighteen aerial victories, second only to Eddie Rickenbacker. The bird on his head would not fly away. I guess aviators stick together?

Frank Luke Jr. Memorial

Copies of the Liberty Bell were given to all the states during World War II as a way to inspire people and to raise war bond money. The Arizona bell is proudly on display just in front of the Capitol.

Liberty Bell

Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia

Independence National Historical Park is the home of two famous icons of the United States of America: Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It also encompasses some other historic buildings in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The star of the park is Independence Hall.

Independence Hall

The building was originally the State House for Pennsylvania and construction was completed in 1753. The view above is actually the back of the building, though that side faces a long grassy mall so it gets a lot more photographic attention. The front has the clock tower where the Liberty Bell originally hung.

Front entrance

The building is mostly original, but they are always doing work on some part to spruce it up. 

Didn't go there

Inside on the main floor, visitors see two rooms. The first is the Court Room of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Like courts today, there's an elevated area for the judge to sit, tables for the defense and the prosecution, and a court recorder's table. 

Court room

Some details

Above the judge is a statue of justice and the seal of the colony.

Signs of authority

Across the hall is the Assembly Room where the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the United States Constitution was hammered out in 1787. The Parks Department has left it decorated like it was in the 18th century.

Assembly Room

The head table is where George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention. The chair is his original chair.

Head table for the head man

Ben Franklin saw the detail of a sun looking over a horizon and wondered if it was a setting sun or a rising sun. When the Constitution was finalized, he said it was definitely a sun rising on a new country.

George Washington's chair

The upstairs exhibits were closed.

Philosophical Hall, just outside the main building, is a museum now but it was not open when we visited (curse you, Covid!).

Philosophical Hall

Wing of Independence Hall

Congress Hall was where the House and Senate met while the federal government was in Philadelphia. It has copies of the Declaration and the Constitution, but like Philosophical Hall, was closed to visitors.

Congress Hall just past the wing

At the back of the building is a statue of George Washington looking down the mall.

Washington statue

Nearby are two plaques in the ground commemorating the visits of Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy to Independence Hall.

Lincoln tablet

JFK tablet

Nearby is the Liberty Bell Center which has a long hall of historical information to get through before the bell itself can be seen.

Schema of the bell

Promotional materials

The Bell made out of people!

Many famous people came to see the Bell. 

Chief Little Bear of the Blackfeet Tribe, 1915

Martin Luther King, Jr., and Emmanuel Wright, 1959

The museum also displays tchotchkes sold by enterprising locals.

Take home something to remember the trip!

Finally, the Bell is visible, but the lighting was not good in the mid-morning.

Liberty Bell

Slightly better lighting

Next to the center is an open-air recreation of the first building where the presidents lived (Washington and John Adams).

President's House

Info on the executive branch

The living room area

The kitchen

The exhibit focuses on the government and discusses various issues around the slave trade. Washington had nine slaves here and their stories are told along with his. The site has ongoing archeology.

Finding out more about the past

Across the street is a statue dedicated to Religious Liberty.

Religious Liberty statue

Ben Franklin's original American Philosophical Society met in a building just across from Philosophical Hall. This building was constructed in the 1950s following the 1789 original and featured prominently in our ghost tour. 

The other Philosophical Hall!

Random Bits of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Here's some more bits from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Near the Capitol is a couple of churches. We did not get into the Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick but it looked very impressive from the outside.

St. Patricks

Practically next door is the Grace United Methodist Church, that also looks like it would be fun to see the insides. Maybe on a subsequent visit.

Grace United Methodist Church

 We saw a Red Cross building too, with a very classical look.

Harrisburg chapter of the Red Cross

By the state history museum is a replica of the Liberty Bell that's located in Philadelphia. Which reminds me, we still haven't taken the kids to see that yet. We'll have to make a trip to Philly someday.

Liberty Bell (copy)

We walked way down one street from the Capitol to Midtown Scholar Bookstore, a used/new book store that takes up a whole building.

Midtown Scholar

Cool shelves

A nice open store

 Our hotel had a funny sign in the bathroom to let us know they keep track of their stuff.

I should sell household items to this hotel