We got up early on a Saturday morning and drove to the city to spend the day in Independence National Historical Park, home of the Liberty Bell. The visitor center has parking underneath it for a fee, so we parked in their garage and went up to street level into the vc. We had read online that you have to get tickets in the vc (they are free) to be able to tour Independence Hall. The tickets you will get are for a certain time, a Ranger leads tours through at timed increments throughout the day, and that you should get your tickets first thing because they often sell out (or run out-again, they're free). We snagged some of the very last tickets available for that day and set off to see as much as possible in the other buildings until time for that tour.
After leaving the visitor center, we crossed the street to the area where the Liberty Bell is housed. Just in front of that building were some informative videos playing on outdoor screens and an excavation glassed off for viewing. We stopped to read the sign and discovered that the excavation is of the first Presidents' house! We were standing on what used to be the home of George Washington and after him, John Adams, so essentially the first White House.
Next, we got in line to see the Liberty Bell. The line was long, but it moved really fast. It didn't take long for us to make it to the front and the first security check point of the day. They did look inside my camera bag and we all had to hold up our hands and turn in a circle (?), then we were allowed on through.
This building is all about the Liberty Bell. There was exhibit after exhibit with any kind of information you can imagine pertaining to the famous bell. We read, looked, and walked...until finally, we could see the bell! It was really cool to be standing that close to it...
When you exit that building, there is another street to cross and then you are on the block that has Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Old City Hall, the American Philosophical Society Museum, and Independence Square. To get to these places, you have to go through another security check point pretty much exactly like the first one.
In Old City Hall, we saw the court room where the Supreme Court met and cases were tried in the late 1700's...
Next, we walked through the building that has housed the American Philosophical Society since 1789. This Society has had members such as Benjamin Franklin (founder), Albert Einstein, John James Audubon, and many Presidents and Nobel Prize winners. Pretty cool...
After this, we found a bench to sit on and rest our feet for a while in Independence Square. This square is an open grassy area full of big shade trees. The clock tower on top of Independence Hall rises above all of it giving a beautiful focal point to ponder as you sit.
This Square is where the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to the public on July 4, 1776. Wow...
The next building we entered was the West Wing. It is a very small room that houses original drafts of the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, and the Declaration of Independence. To think that those very same documents passed through the hands of the founders of our Nation...they touched them, wrote upon them, poured so much of their selves into them. Just incredible...
When we exited that building, we had just enough time to take the Congress Hall tour before it would be time for our Independence Hall tour. I am SO GLAD that we did not miss Congress Hall. I was so wrapped up in everything that the Ranger was saying during the first half of the tour that I completely forgot to take any pictures of the downstairs.
When we entered the building, we were told to take a seat. The seats where we sat were polished wood with a desk area in front of each one. There were two sections, each side had stadium seating that curved around and faced a raised seating area in the front center of the room. It was in this building, the first capitol of the United States, that both the House of Representatives and the Senate convened. In that very room where we sat...both George Washington and John Adams were inaugurated as Presidents of the United States...the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution was ratified...and Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee were admitted as states. The Ranger that led the tour and told us all of this was an excellent speaker. Everyone in the room, even the children, listened intently as he spoke. It was excellent :).
The second half of the tour was upstairs, where the Senate met. I did get some pictures up there :)...
Our last tour of the day was Independence Hall. This tour starts out with everyone being shown into a room and being told to find a seat, also. Night and day difference, though. If this room had a specific purpose, we weren't told what it was and the seats were folding chairs that were in two groups that faced each other. Not quite the ambience of the last tour, but it got better towards the end.
The highlight of this tour was the last room in the last building we were shown. The Assembly Room in Independence Hall. This is where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were drafted and signed. Can you imagine...
There is a chair with a rising sun on it that sits at the head of the room...this chair is the very same chair that George Washington sat in as he and the other men laid out the foundation for our nation...
I am so glad that these things exist as reminders of where our nation started.
***I'm gonna break this up into 2 parts, this is getting rather long...be back soon!
Very cool . . . I love stuff like this . . . I wish my kids got more out of it, but they would be able to point out all the areas that were highlighted in the movie, National Treasure!
ReplyDeleteThat gives me an idea...I'm gonna get that movie to watch and see if we can recognize some places from our visit...sounds like a fun thing to do on a rainy afternoon (like today...hopefully the library just up the street has it)! Thanks :)!
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