I know it has been a long time coming, but it is finally here. The first blog post about our trip to Philadelphia! This recovery from broken bones in my foot and subsequent foot surgery has really left me behind with the blog posts. Hopefully now that I’ve gotten re-started, I’ll get on a roll and be up to date in no time!

The President’s House.

The first thing we did when we arrived in Philadelphia was to head to the historic area where the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and other important buildings are. Of course, we didn’t do our research very well and did not realize that tickets were required for Independence Hall and that the Liberty Bell can have crazy long lines, so it is better to go first thing!

Tate and Independence Hall.

Instead of doing the traditional touristy things in that area; we wandered around just to see what was in the area and to have a look at some of the lesser known historical buildings.

Tate and ‘The Signer”. This monument is to commemorate the courage of those that signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

We ended up at Carpenter’s Hall, a lovely old building, that was the meeting place for the First Continental Congress in 1774. Tate was given an American flag by a story teller. Unfortunately the story told was not one aimed at little people and did not involve a book. So, while Richard and I listened to the story, Tate happily played with his flag.

Carpenter’s Hall.

Tate’s flag.

After lunch and during nap time, we headed over for a stroll along the river, where we could see a lot of old ships. We didn’t go on to any, mind you, as we had a toddler asleep in the pram!

One of the ships.

Next up was a walk around the Korean War Memorial Park before we headed over to Chinatown for dinner. No visit to a new city is complete without at least one meal in their chinatown!

Knox investigating the memorial.

The whispering bells of freedom honoring Crispus Attucks.