Philly - Day #3 - Independence Hall and Liberty Bell

So it was HOT in Philly the day we decided to walk around downtown....and did I mention we had one on borderline meltdown all day!!!  When we got done visiting Ben Franklin's gravesite, we went on to our scheduled tour at Independence Hall.  The kids were amazed by the food vendors all over the square, so we let them eat lunch from the carts.  Everyone got to choose something.  I was kind of using it as bribery...since they were getting tired from all the walking.

But it was inevitable....kids were TIRED!  And Joey was so cranky and ready to melt....so they were chilling a second while waiting in line for our tour of Independence Hall.

 Lydia though is always up for a pose...

I was glad that I reserved the tickets in advance...the tours were sold out that day.  You can tour for free, but it was worth the $1.50 reservation fee per ticket to know we had our spots.

 Our guide was awesome!!!    She was very informative.

 Supreme Court Room

 This is the Main Assembly room where the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence....on July 2, 1776.  But not all the signatures were collected until July 4th.

 The walking stick in the middle of the table on the right belonged to Thomas Jefferson.  Each colony had a delegate table.

This chair is original to the room.  It belonged to George Washington.  Ben Franklin nicknamed it the 'Rising Sun' due to the intricate backing.

Some great facts from another visitor on this site.

Then we stood in line to see the Liberty Bell...I was really expecting it to be much...much bigger.

A very fun and busy day!  The kids were soooo tired that we didn't get to see all the buildings in this National Park!  I can't wait to go back there some day and continue to see all that is there.  If you haven't been, please try.  But plan lots of time, this is not a whirlwind tour!