Friday, August 22, 2014

Independence Hall & The Liberty Bell

For the last day of our vacation, we visited historic Philadelphia, PA.  It was a TON of fun & really great for history buffs like our family.

The Visitors Center there is located in the very center of everything:
The Constitution Museum
The US Mint
Liberty Bell
Independence Hall
& other fun things.

We found a crazy old Revolutionary uniform there at the Visitors Center.


And of course we HAD to get our picture taken with Rocky!


Our first stop, Independence Hall.  This was the most exciting thing for me this trip.  I'd been waiting to go here for AGES & couldn't wait to see this part of American History.








Inside we only got to see 2 rooms, but they were very important rooms.  The first was the first supreme court room.  90% of Independence Hall is ORIGINAL so it was really neat to see the colors, the carvings, & the architecture from the 1700's.

This was a beautiful painted Coat of Arms located in the center of the Supreme Courtroom.

But the most exciting room at Independence Hall was this room: The Assembly Hall.  This is the very room that the men gathered together & signed the Declaration of Independence.  George Washington sat at the head of the room & together this room full of men determined what our great country was going to be.


Bladen thought the entire tour was boring & ended up falling asleep on the floor of the Assembly Hall.



This chair is the actual chair that George Washington sat in when he signed the Declaration of Independence.  THE ACTUAL CHAIR.

How cool is that?



And of course, these are the famous stairs leading up to the bell tower where the Liberty Bell one rang loud & proud.


After exiting the tour, we rounded our way to another building that housed one of the original prints of the Declaration of Independence.  Only 25 were printed & this is one of the only ones left in existence.  Pretty cool right?


There was also a printed page from the Constitution as well.


And they had the actual ink well that George Washington & the signers of the Declaration of Independence used to sign it.


After visiting Independence Hall, we played out in the courtyard for a bit to let the kids get their energy out before venturing into the long line at the Liberty Bell.  

Canyon wanted to show off his cool trick & the crowd loved it.  Everyone was taking pictures of them.  We were cracking up.






After playing we made our way to the Liberty Bell which is just to the right of the courtyard area.



It was amazing to see such an important symbol of liberty up close & personal.  I'm SO glad we were able to take the kids there & show them.  It was really a sight to see.
 





After that we headed back to the visitor's center & found the Philadelphia Phillies mascot & had to get a pic.


Philadelphia is such a beautiful city.  I'm SO glad we chose to end our trip here.  It was a great city & we loved it there.


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