It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Thursday was a fun day of touring Philadelphia, PA. On our trip to Princeton, we drove through a quick section of Pennsylvania but never had the opportunity to look around or do any site seeing. So, we have been anxious to go to "The City" (as locals call it...as opposed to "The Big City" a.k.a. N.Y.C.) and get our tourism on!
















It turns out that the "City of Brotherly Love" is only about a 50 minute drive from our apartment and we were able to squeeze a day trip in during Chris' reading week. After we made a quick stop at the Philadelphia Visitors Center, we were equipped with a tourist map and tickets to tour Independence Hall. We visited The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall,
Benjamin Franklin's burial site, and had a Philly cheesesteak from Pat's (a must do in Philly!). Here are some highlights of our day...




The Liberty Bell:
Aside from Disneyland or eating an In N Out burger, there may not be a more important symbol and tangible icon of liberty and freedom in America than the Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell was our first "must see" site and happened to be the closest to the visitors center where we were currently standing at the time. After walking across the street to the museum that is now housing the bell (it is no longer in the bell tower of Independence Hall), we waited in a short line for about 5 minutes following a class of 6th graders on a field trip with their teacher. The museum was pretty amazing. There were pictures, video clips, newspaper articles, dishware and even jewelry that all described how the Liberty Bell has been an important icon of freedom for many nations, not only in the United States. We read a few of the articles and then found ourselves walking toward the bell. It was pretty amazing! The infamous crack, the size (not as big as I had thought), and the color was amazing. This bell has inspired our nation to continue pursuing independence and also freedom from slavery, equal rights for all people and liberation from oppressors. It was amazing to be privileged enough to visit such an influential icon! Enjoy the pictures...




Independence Hall:
This part of the trip was surreal! We loved walking through some of the great parks and squares in Philadelphia that were all right next to Independence Hall (Fall is a great time in Philly). Independence Hall did not disappoint. We visited the room where the Articles of Confederation (the first proposed Constitution that was rejected by the founding fathers of America) was created. We visited the first Supreme Court room. And, we were privileged to see the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence & Constitution were debated and later signed by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and many more great leaders of our American history. It was awesome!

We also visited the first house of Congress & Senate. Unfortunately, the bell tower was under some construction, so we were unable to get a good look of the tower this trip. Next time we'll see it. Check out some of the pictures below.





Pat's Philly Cheesesteaks:
Alright, everyone knows that when visiting Philadelphia one must eat a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. The instant dilemma of, "Whose cheesesteak is the best?", immediately fell upon us. There's Geno's, Pat's, Jim's, and even the local vendors on the streets. We had heard from a friend at Princeton that Pat's was the place to be. Pat's is one of the original Philly Cheesesteak shops in South Philadelphia that is located in the Italian District (we felt right at home!). With old black and white pictures of old baseball players, famous musicians and actors that included Frankie Avalon above the windows we ordered from...we knew we had chosen a winner. Ordering was an experience...("Wit" means with onions, "Wit Out" means no onions...then choosing a cheese...beverages and fries were ordered at a separate window). The workers were rough around the edges as we expected, and it was everything we expected from being in the heart of Philadelphia.






Right across the street was the rival cheesesteak shop of Geno's. We might try Geno's next to see how it fares against Pat's. We'll see!! Enjoy the pictures.