Philadelphia, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell

Philadelphia, PA

We have meant to visit this city the whole time we were in Virginia.  It kept getting put on the back burner and postponed until we were finally out of time!  We had to go and we had to go now!  If you read my previous post, then you know it almost didn't happen.  Luckily, nice rental car people, auto garages, Independence Hall ticketing agents and traffic all worked together to help us get here...

This is what we most wanted to see...

Independence Hall

Where the declaration of Independence was signed, essentially starting our first war as a nation to gain our Independence to become a Nation.  America was born here...and later confirmed on Surrender's field in Yorktown.  It was so neat to see this building and soak up some History.

You have to get tickets early online to see this beautiful Hall.  So I had been a good tourist and done that.  Then everything happened with our car, and we weren't sure if we were going to make it.  If you don't show up 45 min. prior to your reservation, they release your reserved tickets (which are free) to the public.  So, we are in our rental driving from D.C. to Philly and we know we aren't going to make it 45 min. prior to our tour time.  I made some quick calls, talked to some wonderfully understanding park rangers, and they held our tickets for us!  We arrived 30 min. before our tour, grabbed our tickets and amazingly made it to our tour.

This is the main court room inside the Hall.  This building served as a town hall for Philadelphia.  Our forefathers essentially rented out a room to meet in.

I took this picture because of the "Bar" going across the room.  In those days, only the Lawyers were allowed to "pass the Bar" in a court room.  I didn't realize the saying had such literal origins.  Once you took the "Bar" exam, you were given the authority you required to "pass the Bar" and work in a courtroom.  Kinda cool.

 Matt in front of his "Bar" in Independence Hall.

 The main Hall that was rented out for the debate, writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence.

 Now this was a piece of work, that took months of debate and work to put together.  The counsel had actually rented several different rooms from different locations, during the forming process.  This just happened to be the last location the met at and formally signed the documents declaring our Independence.

Green was a very rich color.  It was a hard dye to come by back then.  If you had green in your home, you were considered wealthy.  I love all the green in this hall.

Tidbit....George Washington's family home, Mt. Vernon, has a whole green room.

Not many items in this room are original...but the Sun chair behind the desk in front is the original Sun chair that Mr. Washington sat in during the counsel and signing.

We had a great tour guide.  He was small but mighty.  He was maybe 5'3'', but his voice was very dramatic.  You could tell he enjoyed what he does!

 Finally, the dramatic conclusion...the Declaration is signed!  Our guide pulls up a framed replica with flourish and pauses in silence for effect.

At which point, Jack calls out loudly " But, where are all the Weapons?  I want to see the weapons.".

Nice, Jack, Nice.

It was a great tour though.

Next we head across the street to see the Liberty Bell

 Playing on the lawn, while waiting in line to see the bell.

I love seeing Independence Hall in the background.

We owe much to our brave forefathers who had the courage to go against the crown for what they believed in.

 The Liberty Bell, with the tower she once hung in, in the background.

 We also walked past Benjamin Franklin's gravestone.

It seems that I keep finding out new things about this great man.  Things that created this great nation.

He definitely was rare and unique gem.

Of course, what's Philadelphia with out a Philly cheesesteak sandwich.

Of course, we did the tourist thing!  You know us!

There are 2 cheesesteak places that constantly compete for the title of best sammy in Philly.  They are kitty corner from each other.  So we went to both!  We got a cheesesteak from Pat's and one from Geno's.  Then we all tried both.  We thought Geno's was the best.