Sarah was on Spring Break last week, so I took a half day on Thursday and we left at about 2pm for the first road trip in the CR-V. Traffic was pretty bad in DC, Baltimore, Wilmington(Delaware), and in the suburbs of Philadelphia so it took us about 4 hours & 15 minutes to get there when it should only take about 2 hours & 45 minutes. We were also caught off guard by how many tolls we had to pay on I-95. I think it was about $11 in tolls on the way up. We passed several commercialized rest areas on the way. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it. It was a big rest area between the northbound and southbound lanes so drivers going each way had access to about 3 gas stations and 5 fast food restaurants. It was quite a sight! We also got to see the ports and shipyards in Baltimore and Philadelphia while driving in. We arrived at the hotel with the help of CR-V's Navigation a little after 6pm and checked in. After taking our luggage up to our room, we started to explore the city. Our hotel was right by the historical sights in "Olde City," so we had to do a little bit of walking before we found the Hard Rock Cafe. We had a nice dinner in "Center City," which is what people in Philadelphia call downtown, before walking back to the hotel.
Friday was our day to visit all of the sights that required tickets. We started the day off at the U.S. Mint because it was only open on Friday, and I wanted to be sure that we were able to see it before the crowds got bad. There were a lot of "fluff" exhibits, but I did learn that the U.S. Mint also makes the Purple Heart awards in addition to coins. The machines weren't running, but we did see the huge 4x4x4 foot bins that were full of pennies and ready to be shipped. Next we had tickets to Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. It was pretty cool to stand in the same room with much of the same furniture that the Founding Fathers used over 200 years ago! We also learned some neat facts like where the term "stand trial" comes from. In Independence Hall is a courtroom with a metal cell in the middle where the defendant would literally have to stand for the entire trial. Congress Hall is adjacent to Independence Hall, so we toured the location of the first congress and senate. Again we learned an interesting fact. I always thought that the Senate was refered to as the "Upper House" solely as a reference to higher status, but in Congress Hall the senate actually met in an upstairs room in the building.
After Indepenence Hall we went on our Ride the Ducks tour. It was a lot of fun to ride around the city in the WWII cargo vehicle, but the best part was when we splashed down into the Delaware River! We floated down to Penn's Landing and where the Battleship New Jersey is now permanently docked. After an hour and a half of vibrations, diesel smell, and kids quacking constantly we went back to the hotel for a break before heading out for the evening. We ate dinner at one of the official cheesesteak places called Sonny's. I had it the classic way with cheese whiz and onions, and it was very tasty!
After dinner we went to the first home preseason game of the season that was in Philadelphia's Citizen Bank Park. There was quite a turnout for a preseason game! The ballpark is very nice, and their concession stands were great! We left a little early to beat the rush, but all of Philadelphia's sports arenas are in the same complex so we got stuck in a little traffic from the Flyers hockey game that had just ended.
Saturday was a much more relaxing and slow-paced day for us as we had no other firm places to go or times to be there. We started off the day by visiting the Liberty Bell, and I'm glad we did that first as the crowds were much more intense than they had been on Friday. You can see all the people in the background of our pictures below and if you want a group picture you have to pretty much go around to the backside of the bell as there is pushing and shoving to get a picture with the crack!
After visiting the Liberty Bell, we toured the National Constitution Center which has tons of interactive exhibits on the making and contents of the Constitution. It was educational and very interesting. Did you know that no delagates from Rhode Island were present to sign the document and Thomas Jefferson and James Adams didn't sign as they were overseas serving as diplomats? I also thought is was interesting that there were only 6 people who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, most notably Benjamin Franklin.
After the Constitution Center we walked over to Betsy Ross's house and explored more of the city. We saw several of these Philly Phanatic statues around the city which have been decorated by local artists, much like we do in Athens with the Bulldogs.
Sarah can only do so much walking before she begins to get hungry, so we stopped off at an oldtimey ice cream parlor for a treat. We visited Franklin Fountain for an excellent sundae and as you can tell by the line, we had a lot of company.
One of the final things we saw was the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier and payed our respects to the men who gave their lives for our country's freedom. It was a very nice memorial with an eternal flame inside Washington Square Park.
We had a nice dinner on Saturday night and checked out of the hotel at about 10am on Sunday before driving home. The trip home was much quicker since there was no traffic, and there were only two tolls this time for a cumulative total of $18 or so during the trip (not that I was counting). We got home about 2pm yesterday and spent the day catching up on various chores before beginning our work week.All in all, we had a great vacation together! Thanks for checking in with us, and let us know if you have any questions or comments about the trip!
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