The third day of our trip we left the AirBnb at 6 am in order to get to Independence Hall by 8 so we could get tickets. I naively thought we wouldn’t have too much traffic to deal with until we got closer to Philly. It seems there are a lot of people who commute 1-2 hours every morning and evening! There was a LOT of traffic even at 6am. Thankfully it was flowing pretty good and we still arrived at 8 am and were second in line to get tickets.

Independence Hall is considered the birthplace of the United States of America. It was in this room that the Declaration of Independence was adopted. This is also where the Constitution of the United States was debated, drafted, and signed.

As you can see, we were quite lucky with hardly any crowds! More and more people showed up as the day went on but it was still very little compared to what it normally is.

Congress Hall is located right next to Independence Hall. It served as the temporary capitol of the USA from 1790 – 1800. The House of Representatives met on the first floor and the Senate met on the second floor. It was here that George Washington was sworn in for his second term and John Adams was sworn in as the second president of the Untied States.

Elfreth’s Alley is the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in America. Homes were built between 1703 and 1836. It was beautiful!

Gideon is into making his own money. He spends hours drawing and designing! We had to take a picture of the US Mint here in Philly to show him.

After touring Independence Hall, Congress Hall, seeing the Liberty Bell and Elfreth’s Alley we visited the National Constitution Center. Signer’s Hall has 42 life-sized bronze statues of the Founding Fathers.

They also had exhibits about The Civil War and Reconstruction and the 19th Amendment. Part of the Reconstruction exhibit was a section called “In Their Own Words” where you could see pictures and hear recordings of formerly enslaved people. Most of the recordings were done in the 1930s. It was fascinating!

I highly recommend visiting the Nation Constitution Center if you ever visit Philadelphia!

The last place we visited was the Museum of the American Revolution. After watching a film about George Washington’s tent, which was then displayed, we toured the exhibits which were amazing.

Not only were there artifacts on display but recordings and videos telling the story of the American Revolution. I did get weepy at certain points throughout the day. One of the exhibits talked about the “first” people in the Americas – the Native Americans, the Spanish, British, African slaves, and French – and realized my children are descended from ALL of those.

This quote by Elizabeth Freeman, also known as Mumbet, was so poignant. “Anytime while I was a slave, if one minute’s freedom had been offered to me, and I had been told I must die at the end of that minute, I would have taken it – just to stand one minute on God’s earth a free woman – I would.”