Day 50: Liberty Bell and Other Historical Spots in Philadelphia

On July 8, 2009, before going to the Phillies game we stopped for Mik to see some of the historic sites of Philadelphia. His request was to see the Liberty Bell and since it was his morning to choose what we did we ended up not going inside Independence Hall. We did miss a few things by letting Mik make the choices, but at least he behaved at the game that night and was not a butthead until the next day other than having a fit in the Phillies parking lot, however that was just Dad being obnoxious trying to run the bases with Mik.

The first stop as we toured parts of historic Philadelphia was the Independence National Historic Park Visitor Center. Here I got my National Park Passport stamped and we picked up a map before continuing to the Liberty Bell. Center

The Liberty Bell is housed in a building that sits on top of the site of the slave quarters that were next to the Presidential House, which served as the ‘White House’ while Philadelphia was the capital of the United States from 1790 to 1800. They have the walls of the buildings part of that complex marked outside along with a display about the Presidential House that once stood there.

Visiting the Liberty Bell begins by going through displays about the history of the bell. It is very well done with lots of info, but also a good amount of artifacts to look at as well. One of the most interesting things is a cast of the words on the bell displayed in a flat line right before you get to the bell. You are encouraged to touch this partial replica of the bell to keep you from touching the real Liberty Bell. At the end of the building is the Liberty Bell in a room with windows that give a view of Independence Hall, where it was once located.

After seeing the Liberty Bell we walked in front of Independence Hall and took some photos. We then headed to the graveyard where Benjamin Franklin is buried. We looked at his grave site from the other side of the fence and that was it. I really wanted to go in the graveyard, which only cost about $2 a person, but Mik again said no.