By Rob Pressel

Today we started out by driving from our hotel in New Jersey to my home city of Philadelphia. Our first visit was to the National Constitution Center. We saw a live performance introducing us to the ideas and history of the Constitution. While most of us thought it was cheesy, Billy really liked it and probably was crying during it. We spent an hour in the museum looking at the exhibits and understanding what the Constitution is all about.

After the museum, we walked across Independence Mall to see the Liberty Bell as well as Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were debated and signed.

We then walked to South Street and had time to shop and eat lunch. I got to see my parents and dog as well as got a Philly classic…the cheese steak.

After free time, we walked over to Ben Franklin’s house where Billy told us it was the most technologically advanced museum around….he was a little confused as it may have been when he saw it as a kid in the 1970s, as it was very old school. Unfortunately, the actor who usually walks around dressed as Ben Franklin was not there.

We then stopped by Ben Franklin’s grave and then got on the bus to go to Baltimore. We did make one more stop on the way out of town. We pulled up to the Philadelphia Art Museum and Billy started playing the theme to the movie “Rocky” as we were able to run off the bus and up the famous steps.

Our first stop in Baltimore was at the offices of the Baltimore Jewish Times where editor Neil Rubin spoke to us about the responsibilities of a free and vibrant press, as well as being a member of the Jewish community reporting on the Jewish community. He had us discussing what we would do as editors of a Jewish paper by giving us real life scenarios such as a prominent Holocaust survivor is found to have fabricated some of her stories, or do you publish wedding announcements of intermarried couples.

At night we had free time to roam the Inner Harbor and have dinner. There were Japanese naval ships docked at the harbor and a drum band playing on the sidewalk.

After free time we drove to Washington DC and along the way, Billy showed us an episode of the West Wing, my favorite television series, that spoke about how our government works and some of the tensions of our freedom.

While being a tourist in my home town was odd, it was a great day.