I took the train up to Philadelphia, only about an hour and some change away from the BWI station here in Maryland. The 30th Street station in Philly also looks like something off of an old movie set, with a departures/arrivals sign that still uses rolling numbers to indicate what time and at which gates trains are arriving, and the numbers flicker past with an audible whirr.
My reading wasn't until 7:00 p.m., so my 10:24 a.m. arrival in Philadelphia left me plenty of time to do . . . well, something. I was considering heading straight for the library and spending the day just reading when I saw hanging above the south doors an enormous black banner advertising STAR WARS: THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE IMAGINATION over at the Franklin Institute. Decision made.
I found the Franklin Institute -- which happened to be cattycorner to the Central Library -- paid my sheckels, and headed straight for the exhibit. C-3P0 and R2-D2 (or, as it was always spelled in the Star Wars comics, Threepio and Artoo) stared down at me from another enormous banner, practically begging me to step inside. Who am I to ignore the icons of my childhood? In I went.
And I loved it. Much of the exhibit was geared towards hands-on exhibits for the younger set ("Build your own hovercraft using electromagnets!" one sign dared -- this was, after all, a science exhibit) but to me, the real goods were the models and costumes. There was the actual landspeeder from the movie (on three wheels, ready for driving!), costumes for Threepio, Artoo, Darth Vader, and a Stormtrooper, even a display of their guns (though to my disappointment, Han Solo's way cool pistol was not included).
Oh, and there was also this:
It doesn't get much cooler than a four-foot model of the Millennium Falcon (or "Fulcun" as Harrison Ford -- and even the model builders in the accompanying video -- always pronounced it). My museum experience was complete.
As for the event I came for . . . well, I couldn't have asked for a nicer, more responsive crowd. I spoke for about 30 minutes (hey, they came on a Wednesday evening, and I wanted to give them their money's worth), mainly about Irving's work on A History of New York and the hoax he pulled off to promote the book, then took questions for an hour. (The first question I got: "How come they don't teach us this in school?" I couldn't answer it.) All in all, a good time all around.
I walked back to the train station (passing on Market Street the first adult movie theater I can remember seeing in years) and was lucky enough to catch an earlier train back to Maryland than the one I had reserved. I made the 70 minute drive back home, finally crawling into bed around 1 a.m. And I still had to get up for work the next morning.
My thanks to everyone who came out to see me on their Wednesday night -- and a special thanks to Lee Fishman at the Philadelphia Library for helping make the event possible.
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