Valley Forge

October 22, 2007

We found that many of the historical sites in Philadelphia were closed on Mondays so we changed our plans and drove to Valley Forge. We stayed off the major roads and drove the small local roads through the suburban countryside. Valley Forge is a large area traversed with walking and bike trails to the sites. It was almost 80 degrees as we boarded our bikes to begin the 6.5 mile trail to visit the encampment, the headquarters, and several other exhibits. We enjoyed the fresh air, the fall color, and the representation of history before our eyes. Another great day in a very special place. The first picture is the only original structure that has survived to this day. It was Washington's headquarters. The second picture is a reproduction of a box of "official messages" Official messages were bound with red tape to show their importance. Thus the origination of the phrase "red tape".

We did stop at the John J. Audubon home and museum on the way home. It was closed so we just walked the grounds. We were disappointed because we were anticipating seeing many of his original paintings (they call them elephant books?).