Ring My Bell, Daddy 🔔Dan visits The Liberty Bell, Checks out some Hippos & Has A Masonic Adventure

It's sprinkling when I head out at 8.30. The overcast skies threaten to open up and down pour on the city. I just hope they hold off while I'm outside. I start the short walk down to the underground station. There's always something adventerous to me about taking the underground, no matter where I go, what city I'm in or im what part of the world I'm in. I need to switch trains and head onto the New Jersey public transit system, as the aquarium is in Camden, NJ not actually Philadelphia. It's only a 35 minute ride on public transit, which really isnt that bad. I watch the mist settle above the river as I walk up the street to the aquarium. It looks abandoned almost. There's not a person in sight. No cars. No buses. No trains. I wander around for half hour,trying to kill time before it opened. I saw the glowing light of a little deli that was open and was drawn to it. In addition to deli subs, they also had a breakfast menu. After ordering the contenitial breakfast, I watch a Michael Jackson concert on the telly that's playing over my head as I dig in. The carbination and sweet of the orange soda really was the perfect contrast. Possibly one of the best breakfasts I'd ever had; a heaping helping of scrambled egg, bacon slices, two sausage patties and four toast wedges, plus the drink for 10.00. Can't beat that. Having had my edible earlier it was starting to haze over me as I finished breakfast. Right in time for the aqarium to open. I already had my ticket in hand when I walked up to the ticket booth. I didn't expect to see as many families heading in during the middle of the week; I figured that I would have a relatively empty visit. The rain was starting to pick up as I walked through the front doors. Upon walking through the doors, I realised that I'd arrived at some place that was truely special. Walking in the first thing I saw were two giant hippos. I've never seen them upclose before. (And I admit that my stoned ass had the thought that they weren't actually real and just another made up thing from the government. Yeah, I know how that sounds, but I figured I'd put in an interesting fun fact.) One of the hippos made his way down into the water, sinking all the way to the bottom where a few of his friends were floating. Watching them twirl around and float in the water was the was magical. It was hard from me to tear myself away from the floating hippos to see what other creatures called the aquarium home. I wander down a dark pathway and see jellyfish moving ever so slow, it looked as if they were just suspended in a cylinder. I watched as they moved in flow motion, in and out, in and out. I love jellyfish. Fuck, I need to get a jellyfish tattoo. But where would I put it? I wander along taking in the various tropical fish, sea fish and crustrations until I reach the shark tunnel. This is the thing that I've been waiting for. By this point, the high has hit me and I'm starting to feel totally relaxed but sometimes when I get this level of high, I sometimes get vertigo. I get nauseaous too. I almost fall over or throw up onto the head of a little girl who's running around me inside the tunnel. Don't parents contain their children anymore? She's 2, she's not old enough to dial child line if you repremand her. Fuckin' parents these days-but this is about tourism, not a rant on how modern American culture is failing the youth of a nation. The fish feel like they're swimming around me. And looking through the lense of the camera I'm filing with it does. We're wearing masks inside so it really feels as if you're underwater with the fish and the sharks swimming all around you. Hammerheads and other sharks I can't identify swim around me. The nausea turns to unease as the hammerhead swims right over me. I know that logically it can't hurt me, but in reality if we were in the open sea he could. Watching the sea turtles swim around me was so calming. They moved so slow, floating through the gentle waves of the water. I wish we could pet them like we could the sharks and sting rays, which brings me to the last highlight of this section. The touch a shark pond. I love sting rays and smaller sharks, they also had some prehistoric looking (I believe it was a type of crab) creature that I got to each down and stroke with two fingers. I was afraid it was going to hurt me, it was just creepy looking, maybe even that pokemon...what's its face...it looks like a pre-historic crab? Ah, whatever, I lost where I was going with this. I pet sting rays and tickle them. I love to do that. They're so cute and happy. I put my hand into the tank and two swim over to me almost immediatly. This is alway the best part of any aquarium. This is the fourth or fifth one that I've been to that had a pet a sting ray pool. I was sad to leave the aquarium behind, but I had to head onto the next place of the day. The Liberty Bell! WHAT IS THE LIBERTY BELL? The Liberty Bell was a bell that was comissioned in 1751 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, but was originally known as another name. Originally concieved as the Old Statehouse Bell or simply, the State House Bell, which was the landmark's official name until the 1830's where it was dubbed 'the Liberty Bell' by abolitionist societies. The bell was originally cast by the Whitechapel Belly Founry in London, England. The bell is inscribed with a passage that references the book of Leviticus, lacated in the Bible. Can you guess which part? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? The Liberty Bell is important because it is a symbol for freedom and independence. It serves as a reminder not only to those who live in America, but to the world at large that freedom and independence are a birthright to every individual and, in many cases, these rights are stripped away or watereddown to better suit the needs of the government. The Liberty Bell is a powerful symbol worldwide, especially in today's current political climate that freedom is not free and more often than not, independence is born in blood. It has served as such a symbol through hundreds of years and most likely will continue to do so. I haven't been to the liberty bell since I was 16 years old on a school travel trip. I will never forget that trip, even though I no longer speak to any of the other kids that were on the trip, I hold the memories close to me. I take pictures around me, loving being in history. There's almost nothing better. (I won't lie, the edibles made it an even better experience.) It's crowded. I head through secutiry and walk right through with two things of edibles in my bag. They really don't check things at American monuments do they? Not that it's a real big deal, but they didn't even look in my bag. Who knows what else could be in there just because the metal detector didn't go off? The rainy, drizzly sky is the perfect backdrop for photos. I snap a few pictures of the history of the bell before reaching it. It's smaller than I remember. Did it shrink in the rain? It doesn't look real. I don't know why. It's as if it's one of those things that you only read about in books, you know? For you to imagine, but never see. The magic of the place runs through my veins as I step outside once again into the rain. Despite the downpour, the Independence Hall tours and tickets were sold out for the day, despite me having a Philadelphia City Pass. It didn't bother me too much; I could just use the pass for another thing that I wanted to do, no big deal. I saw a gorgeous cathedral across the street and I wanted to shoot it. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a Masonic lodge. My granddad had been a mason and I remember when I'd visit with him he'd take me to one of the Masonic family picnics as well as Shrine things for the kids, especially the circus. He helped with fund raising for the kids and road a moped around in the annual parade. It was a treat to be let into the Masonic Temple and take the tour with one of the Masons. He led myself and a small group around each of the rooms, each room decorated to a certain theme. I think my favourite had to be the Egyptian Room. Candles adornes certain rooms, while stained glass, despite the dullness outside)had a majestic glow to it. Hearing about the history of organisation mixed with the beauty of the rooms made for a lovely afternoon. They had a small library and museum display of items that made Masonic history. The man who did the guide was lovely, warm and engaging, a true gem of a person to have running the tours. It was him that makes me want to return for another visit and do another tour when I'm back in Philadelphia! There are times that I find it difficult to blog, to get all of the memories and feelings out of me. It's not the writing that hangs me up, strangely enough. I write paragraphs, chapters, everything in my head without issue. The issue is finding the focus for long enough to get it all out. That paired with my self-doubt that all of this is just a big waste slows things down. And then there are times that I just don't feel like writing. That I don't feel like drawing. I just want to lay on the bed. It feels like I'm waiting for something. but I can't put my finger on what it is. Real connection? A decent level of success? Maybe I'm just chasing a pipe dream here. If you haven't notced, I've been writing fewer and fewer blogs over the past few years and it really has very little to do with COVID. A large part of me thinks, 'Why bother? No one cares.' Maybe that's just the depression talking. Thanks for reading and I hope you all will take a look at the line of hand sanitisers, stickers and candles that are slated for release in the next upcoming weeks. There will be a new blog coming soon on other merchandise that will be available. There will be a proof update for the next sticker coming out with ordering info. I'm still working to get my Square Store and website up and running. The next blog in this series will be my adventures in the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Franklin Institute, The Rodin Museum and