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| We started our tour in this room and the guide told us how, in this painting, the man leaning over the table with his back to us was painted that way because there were no historical images of the man's face. You can see everyone else's face in the painting. |
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| The Supreme Court occupied this room in the 1790's |
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| The Assembly Room - where the Declaration of Independence was formulated and signed and where Lincoln's body lay in state as more than 85,000 mourners paid their respects |
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| In this room we saw original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. |
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| House of Representatives Chamber |
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| Senate Chamber |
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| Back of Independence Hall |
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| Front of Independence Hall and Independence Square |
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| We could see the Liberty Bell through this window but didn't want to wait in line to see it inside |
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| I bought this shirt |
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| Adam looking at the book we bought for the boys |
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| Derek and Helen squared off in this trivia contest |
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| Writing their names with old fashioned pens |
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| Typical narrow street in downtown area |
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| We walked a pretty good way for lunch to eat at Jim's |
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| We all thought Jim's was the best cheesesteak we had eaten. Derek has been having withdrawal and keeps asking when we can go back. |
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| Milkshakes |
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| Ben Franklin was everywhere. Did he ever take a break? He was definitely one of those people that make you question what the hell you're doing with your own life. |
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| Christ Church - congregation to 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence including George Washington and Ben Franklin |
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| Elfreth's Alley - one of the oldest continually inhabited residential streets |
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| Their favorite activity - mini golf |
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| We got to Reading Terminal Market just before it closed. We wish we would have gotten there sooner because it was a really neat market with lots of delicious looking food. |
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| We were able to get something to eat at this place, Tokyo Sushi |
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| We thought the chicken fried rice was the best we've ever had |
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| We drove to Fairmount Park a few miles west of downtown and rode our bikes around |
Monday June 6, 2011
You have to get timed tickets to Independence Hall and when I went to reserve them a week or so before our trip, all the reservable tickets were gone. They also give out first come first serve tickets, but warned that you have to get there early. So we rushed somewhat to make it to the Independence Hall Visitor Center when it opened. We were still about 30 minutes late, but there was no line and we got tickets for a time that allowed us to look around some before heading over to Independence Hall.
We took the Independence Hall tour and it was pretty good. It was neat to actually be standing in the place where it all started, but sometimes it's hard when you're at a famous destination and so much around it has changed. They build a modern visitor center and the immediate surrounding area is nowhere near what it was like back when. It becomes much more difficult to really immerse yourself and soak in the moment.
People always want us to summarize our trip for them and list our favorite things. They want to talk about the famous places everyone knows about and expect us to list those places. But our favorite moments are rarely ever the big tourist destinations. You feel compelled to see them and often times they are well done and worth seeing, but they aren't the best parts of the trip. The best parts are captured in a bunch of out of the way unexpected moments - like a sunset bike ride or an early morning ferry or trying to set up a tent together on the beach in the dark on a blustery night.
After the tour, we walked around the hall exploring on our own for another hour or so before heading back to the visitor center to watch a film, check out the gift shop, and experience some other things.
For lunch, we walked 6 or 8 blocks to Jim's for some cheesesteaks. We had tried Pat's and Geno's the night before so we were eager to compare. We all thought Jim's was the best. Something about how all the ingredients melted into the roll perfectly. Derek was in love.
We walked to Johnny Rockets for some milkshakes and then walked to Penn's Landing. We had some trouble figuring out exactly what Penn's Landing was. We weren't sure what to expect and kept looking for a bunch of shops or something. We got in the general area near the river and figured we had walked enough before heading back into town.
We checked out Christ Church, Elfreth's Alley, and the Betsy Ross House before taking a tour of the Philadelphia Mint. It was kind of neat. There were some good exhibits, but the mint was all automated and not much was really happening in terms seeing money being made.
We walked across the street to Franklin Square and relaxed in the shade near the fountain. The kids were eager to do their favorite activity - mini golf. After golf, we walked over to the Reading Terminal Market. We arrived about 15 minutes before closing and many of the shops were closed and cleaning up, but there were still some that were open. We really wish we would have gotten there sooner. It looked like we could have spent a lot of time there looking at and sampling all the delicious food.
We walked back to our van and then drove to Fairmount Park and rode our bikes around. We posed with the Rocky statue and climbed the Rocky steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. As the sun was setting we rode down along Boathouse row - another favorite trip memory.
We got back to the van and punched, into the GPS, the address of our Hampton Inn in Secaucus, NJ. The boys were pretty wiped out and slept. We arrived about 11, which seemed early for us.
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