With it being our last full day in Philadelphia I had to pack a lot into it, so
we started our day bright and early! We started out with sites that were outdoor and had no set hours.
Our first stop was the President's House. It was the third
United States Presidential Mansion. The house was originally built in 1776.
Afterwards, we walked around visiting Washington Square
and checked out a few more gardens as we waited for The Liberty Bell to open.
The Liberty Bell opened at 9:00am, but I had read it can get crowded
and hard to get a photo of the bell. So I made sure we were in line at 8:40am and we were about the 5th group in line. Once inside I decided to do the museum backwards.
We went straight to the end and got our photos, while everyone else started in the front.
Then we made our way to the front to check out the exhibits.
It might have only been 9:30am, but his little legs
had already logged a few miles and we had many more to go.
After we got done with The Liberty Bell we had a few minutes to kill
before our next location, so we visited the welcome center.
It was a nice center and you could buy tickets to
different attractions around the city, but the cafe's were not open yet, so we opted for some
bottled water from the gift shop before we headed to our next location.
Up next was the National Constitution Center
We started with the Freedom Rising show and we all really enjoyed that.
The kids enjoyed seeing themself as the future president and taking quizzes about voting rights in different states.
We explored Signers' Hall and the rest of the museum. I didn't take as many photos because I
was too busy reading. We (the oldest three) could have spent all day reading and exploring.
Once we were done we found a local burger joint and grabbed
a quick bite to eat before heading to our next location.
We walked over to Independence Hall for a little guided tour.
A good guide can make or break a tour and we had an awesome one.
The tour was very quick, only about 20 minutes and we only saw two rooms, but
it was one of my favorite things that we did. She gave great facts, but keep it funny and picked on Rhode Island and really interacted with the whole group.
Independence Hall is where the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and eleven years later created and signed the United State Constitution.
The building was originally constructed to be the Pennsylvania State House. It once housed all three branches of Pennsylvania's colonial government.
After the tour was over we decided to get in line to visit Congress Hall.
They only let 40 people in at a time and we just missed the cut. So, we had about
a 20 minute wait in line before we got in.
Sometimes you just have to take a nap!
His little legs had logged at lot of miles at this point
and we still had so much more to see and do.
He used his Dad's shoe as a pillow and put down a map to lay on.
He is resourceful!
Philadelphia served as the temporary capital of the U.S. from 1790-1800 and during that time the U.S. congress met in Congress Hall. The House of Representatives
met on the first floor and Senate on the second. President George Washington (twice) and John Adams
both took the oath of office in this building.
We might have heard a few stories about a few fights that took place in House of Representatives
during that time.
Once we were done we headed over to the West Wing to see the original printed copies
of the U.S. Constitution, Articles of Confederation, and Declaration of Independence.
We headed to our hotel to freshen up and grab a bite
to eat before we headed out again.
They may or may not have had some ice cream
on the way back. Sometimes little feet
need extra motivation to keep moving.
I
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