Chillin' with B-Frank, T. J. and G-Dubs

The Liberty Bell

Monday July 18.  The first thing on our agenda was to visit the Liberty Bell.  The Liberty Bell was moved from Independence Hall in 1976 and encased in glass, and again in 2003 to the Liberty Bell Center, where it resides today.

Signing Room in Independence Hall

Independence Hall was awaiting us, so we ventured across the street to line up for our tour.  We had tickets for 11:00 but got there a bit early and we went in with the 10:45 crowd, swapping tickets with a park ranger.  I am glad we did, because the ranger who did our tour was fantastic!  I think about how many times a day/week/month/year this man says the same spiel over and over and how excited about history he was during just our tour, and I was impressed.

The tour of Independence Hall began with a short presentation in a larger room.  During the presentation, the ranger talked about our founding fathers and history of the United States, etc.  He also asked questions of the audience and guess who got called on?  Andrew!  The ranger asked him if he knew what “anarchy” meant.  My boy said, “Yes!” and then he proceeded to give the definition.  The ranger asked how old he was and then asked if he was with us and told us we’d better watch out.  LOL. 

Christ Church Burial Ground

Just up a few blocks from Independence Hall was the Christ Church Burial Ground.  This cemetery was seen in the movie National Treasure and was the setting for an exciting foot chase.   Benjamin Franklin is buried there, along with four other signers of the Declaration of Independence.  The cemetery is nicely maintained, and it even has extra plaques stating the details of some of the graves, as they are so old the engravings in the stone are nearly completely worn down to the point of illegibility.

 

Betsy showed us how to cut out the five-pointed stars.

The Betsy Ross House is a cute little building on Arch Street.  Today, Betsy was home and we got to speak with her at the end of the tour and take a photo!  We walked through the house, which was on four levels, I believe.  Did you know that Betsy Ross also made ammunition during the Revolutionary War?

One of many tunnels we passed through on this trip.

After visiting the Betsy Ross House, our time in Philadelphia had come to an end and it was time to say good-bye and head onto Washington DC.