Every Liberty Bell replica

Every Liberty Bell replica

One story at a time

The sign

{reading time: 9 minutes}From out of nowhere, like a mugger who has me dead to rights, something both familiar and foreign blocks my path …

Saved by zero

{reading time: 12 minutes}When we think of magical numbers, we don’t think of zero. But that just makes the magic stronger. So it’s only fitting the Wyoming Liberty Bell replica is number zero.

Precious

{reading time: 9 minutes}The Arizona Liberty Bell replica weighs 2080 pounds. 1,622 of those pounds are copper. 1,103 of those copper pounds were mined in the state. Here’s the story …

2,000 miles

{reading time: 9 minutes}Hundreds of blood-red handprints cover the bright white Columbus limestone columns and steps of the Ohio Statehouse … (Part 5 of 6)

Big things in little towns

{reading time: 8 minutes}Charleston, Illinois is where, in 1858, Senatorial candidate Abraham Lincoln famously refuted his opponent’s accusation that he favored racial equality. But that’s not why we’re in Charleston. We’re here to see the Liberty Bell … (Part 4 of 6)

So much cheese

{reading time: 7 minutes}At the Melting Pot restaurant in Wilmington, the main attraction isn’t getting to cook your own food, it’s the full-size Liberty Bell sitting inexplicably in the lobby …

Good vibrations

{reading time: 12 minutes}The parade features a floating (and erupting) volcano stage, a 200-person roller-skating human pyramid, fast food restaurant workers marching in uniform, the Liberty Bell, and (of course) Patrick Duffy …

It tolls for thee

{reading time: 12 minutes}McBride spends his last 35 cents on coffee and rolls. He tramps the streets for 16 hours until remembering the young well-wisher who donated their glass Liberty Bell bank to the cause …

Cracked rear view

{reading time: 5 minutes}Perhaps in an effort to not be known as the home of the world’s largest statue of a racist centenarian, Columbia boasts the world’s largest fire hydrant and a Hootie and the Blowfish memorial …

Resolute

{reading time: < 1 minute}It’s two minutes to midnight on 2020’s last day. I’m sipping a Surly, slouching on a couch somewhere south of comfortable and clean. Dawn’s five …

Kick it

{reading time: < 1 minute}I can be particular about things. Such particularities can present as significant personality flaws, so I look for more benign things to be particular about.  …

Relax

{reading time: < 1 minute}Reflections on a week at sea. A week ago, I shipped my first of 30 daily essays as part of Ship30for30. I’ve had some fun, …

Elevation

{reading time: < 1 minute}Some of the most valuable skills I learned in college were outside the classroom.  Through the summer and holidays, I worked as a porter at …

The Air

{reading time: < 1 minute}Dawn and I woke up in Wall, South Dakota this morning. Wall makes for a nice halfway point on our regular road trips from Colorado …

Heavy

{reading time: < 1 minute}The weight. 2020 was heavy. So heavy, it didn’t start until March and still lasted 16 months (and counting?) Is it over yet? I suppose …

On Principle

{reading time: < 1 minute}Cold turkey. My grandmother quit smoking in her seventies. Cold turkey. Not because smoking is gross. Not because her friends were dying. Not to eke …

Appreciation

{reading time: < 1 minute}There’s no skill to art appreciation.  You like what you like.  If you want to sound fancy, you can toss out words like trompe-l’œil, juxtaposition, …