We had a light breakfast on the go - cereal in the car while driving into Philadelphia. We left the hotel around 6:45 am so we could beat the crowds into Philadelphia. Our first stop was the Philadelphia Museum of Art - made famous as the steps that "Rocky" ran up during his training for the big fight. Unfortunately, so many streets were blocked off for special events for the 4th, we could get to any of the streets we had planned to. Finally, I (Tim) "parked" illegally near the Museum while everyone else ran up to the Museum for a great photo op.
We then tried to drive to Independence Hall. But since we hadn't parked where we thought and with many streets blocked off, we had quite an adventure. We finally got to a street we knew and found our way there. If you go, use the National Constitution Center parking garage. It is competitively priced and is centrally located and has a lot of space. Independence Hall gives out free tickets/reservations every day except July 4th. We knew that and thought there would be a long line, so we decided to show up early. The Visitor Center opened and so did the security for Independence Hall at 8:30 am. We were there by 8:00 and no one was there. FYI, there are no tickets for July 4th so don't wait in line (Visitor's Center) for them but go directly to Independence Hall (unless you want to do the Junior Ranger program, then you need to pick up the booklets at the Visitor Center first).
Well, we were in the first group to go into Independence Hall. It's smaller than it looks or than you would think but very worth it. Visit the Great Expressions display nearby. It has one of the original "prints" of the Declaration of Independence, which is actually older than the signed version. From there, we went and visited the Liberty Bell. It was great and the kids really enjoyed it.
We then walked a couple of blocks to the Betsy Ross house. We got there earlier than our plan which was great because we got there right before it opened. As such, we got there for the flag raising ceremony when it opened (10:00 am). Jordan and Jedi were selected to help. What a blast for them! The house is nice and worth the admission at least to be able to see what a house of the time was like. There is a "Betsy Ross" impersonator that does a good job.
From there we walked back to Market Street, where the preparation for the 4th of July parade were going on. We were told that it would be the biggest that Philadelphia had ever have. We stopped into Campo's for some cheese steaks. We got one with the works, one that was a chicken cheese steak and one called the Heater (jalapeno cheese and buffalo hot sauce). They were so good. By the time we finished and headed back to the Visitor Center, the parade was about to begin. It was sponsored by Wawa and they were handing out free American flags and bottles of water, tea and leamonade. Thanks Wawa!
Right as we got to the Visitor Center, the parade was starting right in front of it. We got to see some great parts of the parade. When we checked Jedi and Jariah in to get their Junior Ranger badges, the Ranger shared with us about Ben Franklin's house and print shop. There were free and we were ahead of schedule so we decided to head back down market street and check it out. Technically, neither the house or print shop still exist but there is a good museum and a replica print shop were the kids got prints of the Declaration.
Leaving Philadelphia, we stopped at Washington's Crossing in PA to see the place that General Washington crossed the Delaware. The spot is nice but if you only want to see the spot you are limited. They have a whole set of original and replica buildings and they charge an admission to see all of that as well as the spot. If you don't want to pay, there is a great movie in the Visitor Center and in the back of the Visitor Center you can see out some large windows to the monument marking the spot - only about 12 feet away. From there, we decided to drive to our hotel in Jersey City, through Staten Island and Brooklyn - so we visit more of the New York City boroughs and so we could go across the Verrazano and Brooklyn bridges.
In just a little while, we will be going down the street (within .3 miles of our hotel) to see the fireworks over the Hudson.
Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at a Marriott for $0 by using points accrued with initial purchase on no-fee credit card.
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