1976

Summer of 1976, the Bicentennial of our country had a lot of celebrations. With Girl Scouts, I took two trips to Philadelphia. Pennsylvania had a passport kind of promotion to visit every county in the commonwealth.
Reenactments of Revolutionary War battles dotted the landscape. John Jakes America series in books, then I believe TV, told stories of our early history. Seemed everyone had one of his books in their hands.
Summer was hot. Imagine that. But some summers are hotter than others. I believe this one was a hotter  one. The first trip to Philadelphia with the Council, we camped. We met with another troop from Norristown, PA. We had a picnic in the outskirts of Philly on a muggy evening. I was not thrilled though with the "gang" showers. And not being able to blow dry my hair or do the whole routine I mentioned in the other post. We wore white blouses and forest green shorts, not flattering. We visited the Mike Douglas show with Vidal Sassoon, as guest. My beauty question before the show, we were asked to write on 3x5 card, was how to look great when camping with no electricity or mirrors. It didn't get chosen.
John Davidson,(the original Breck Girl) and David Brenner were also guests. I admired them both, but felt so conscious of my camping looks in that humidity that I would have died if I had really approached them. So I scrunched in the seat, hiding.
The next trip to Philly was with our West Middlesex troop. We camped out Beverly Hills style, well, not quite. We did stay at a Holiday Inn in the city. I sat on the edge of the balcony taking in the city sounds. My mom was a chaperone for this one. They all had fun corralling us into the rooms.
I loved this city as well, with cobblestone streets, the street entertainers, and food. The old neighborhood with narrow, but tall houses intrigued me. The street vendors and the man who played the glass harp thrilled me. Seeing people in colonial garb strolling around. I did not like the smells and heat of the Italian market.
Big celebrations at home as well. We were so proud our country made it two hundred years. It seemed so long. Everything brought our independence fight, and victory to our constant attention that summer.