A Day in Philly, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I had no idea that Philadelphia was the largest city in Pennsylvania, or the fifth largest city in the United States, for that matter. I only knew Philadelphia as the place where our Declaration of Independence was signed. And the place where my German ancestors immigrated to in 1751. Because of that connection, I was thrilled when the opportunity came to take our family there to learn more about US history. I hope I’m not too irreverent when I refer to it as “Philly”, but Philadelphia actually means “brotherly love.” We definitely enjoyed our visit!

There are so many things to do and see in Philadelphia, but our itinerary only allowed for one day. We were commuting from New Jersey (cheaper hotels), so we got up pretty early and drove across a bridge to reach the center of Philadelphia.

There’s no charge; you just have to stop in the Liberty Bell Visitors’ Center and pick up a timed ticket. We had the added challenge of dealing with pouring rain, but there were exhibits we could look at inside the visitors’ center until our appointed time for Independence Hall.

After seeing “National Treasure”, starring Nicholas Cage, our kids were pretty psyched to see Independence Hall. I know they were hoping to find the secret hidden compartment where the spectacles were found in the movie! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).