Philadelphia

This past week was Spring Break. A friend and I decided to load her 2 children and my 3 into our van and take a day trip to Philadelphia to visit Independence National Historic Park. We had a wonderful trip, saw a lot, (but not even a tenth of all there is to see there), and had a great time. Here are the highlights.

Our first stop was Franklin Court, the area where Benjamin Franklin's home once stood. Now they have a Ghost Structure of his home so you can see exactly where it once stood and its size. The museum there has displays of several of his inventions and a great 30 minute film about his life and contributions. He was an amazing business man, inventor, statesman, ambassador, and writer.

We visited the post office in Franklin Court (to the bottom right of the arch way) where we had fun sending postcards to our cousins, and watching them be hand stamped with Benjamin Franklin's signature just like they were so long ago when he was Postmaster General, first for Pennsylvania and then for all of the colonies.

Next we toured the home of Betsy Ross. It was narrow and small. At one time her daughter and 6 children lived in the home with her and her husband.

She is buried in the courtyard behind us.

We walked past Benjamin Franklin's grave on our way to Independence Hall.

I thought it was so exciting to see the Assembly room where the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States were all signed. The only original piece of furniture still in the room is the chair at the head of the room that George Washington sat in during the signing of the Constitution.

No trip to Philadelphia would be complete with out a stop at the Liberty Bell. It was really impressive to see. It was the highlight of the trip for P and the first thing she told R about when we got home. "Daddy we saw the bell and it had a huge crack in it with 2 screws." Although this picture isn't the greatest, what is cool is that the bell is now standing so that beyond it you see the bell tower of Independence Hall where the bell once hung.

Having grown up on the west coast, the places associated with U.S. history were so far away. All I knew of them was what I saw or read in a history book. It is amazing for me to think that I now live less than a days drive from most of the places so prominent in our nation's history. (And I live in the middle of one of them!) I love where I live and my kids have no idea how lucky they are.