2018

Ben Franklin and the America’s Cup

I don’t think Ben Franklin would be at all surprised to see the boats of this year’s America’s Cup, boats which seem no longer like sailboats but like an almost mythical hybrid of water creature and bird, equally at home flying through the water or above it. Ben Franklin admired the outriggers used by the Pacific Islanders, realizing that they were fast and stable.

The America’s Cup boat:

Visiting Ben, part 1

As I strode briskly toward the Independence Visitors Center in the Old City of Philadelphia, the heavens opened.  Unfortunately, God didn’t come down, only sheets of grey rain on a day that had until that time been gloomy but warm.  Despite my chic London Fog rain hat and brightly-green rain jacket as well as hastily-employed umbrella, my jeans were soaked almost to the knees and my socks distinctly damp when I reached the Center, only to find that the half hour movie I’d hoped to see didn’t begin until 11 and I had to be at Reading Terminal Market by 11:30 for lunch.  So I headed for Ben Franklin’s house and museum and I’m glad I did.

Having read his autobiography ages ago (free here as a pdf) and a lot about him, I knew he was a man of many talents.  But the newly-redone museum showcases wonderfully what an eclectic man he was.  Let me share in photos just a small slice of his accomplishments.