Day 4 - PHILLY!

After our school visit, we headed to Philly for the day. I mentioned once that the traffic in Philly was a nightmare on Friday. It was no different that day either. Again, our marriages were put to the test, but we made it, found parking, and were off to enjoy the city - which, despite the traffic, is really great!


First we headed to the Liberty Bell which is in a really beautiful new building. Here Caleb, Madie, Isaiah, and Noah are looking at some of the info boards.



The Liberty Bell was surrounded by scores of people, but we finally found a space to stand and take pictures. Notice in the back on the left, a man getting ready to knock on the bell! The security guy came up and gave him heck for it. He actually knocked on it a couple times before being reprimanded. Who would hit the Liberty Bell?! What a moron!




Here's Miss Kendalyn getting her first taste of true American history!

And, here are the Trolingers, enjoying the bell. I saw it as a kid, but it wasn't surrounded by security and housed in this new building back then. Times have changed.

The front of the bell.

Pete took our picture in front of Independance Hall - where the Declaration was signed. We actually forgot to get tickets to go inside, so we just walked around the yard. It was really beautiful!

This oasis of history is smack dab in the middle of the booming city of Philly. Hard to believe when you see all the beautiful trees and the gorgeous old buildings. But, you look one block over and there are Philly cheesesteaks vendors everywhere and traffic and busyness. Such a peaceful little spot in the middle of all that. Preserved for future generations.

Here we are in the back of the hall. Or, is it the front? Not really sure which side is considered the front and which is the back. But, this door was the exit for the tours.

Independance Hall.

An old cobblestone road leading up to the Hall.

Tried to take a picture of Micah with mom and dad, then he said something funny and sent them all into hysterics and I just happened to catch it. LOVE this picture!!!

The kids in front of the George Washington statue.

We headed back to the Visitor's Center, which is in the middle of the Independance Mall area and picked up a little snack before heading out to the Franklin Fountain. We were checking to see if we needed tickets to go to the Philadelphia Mint. They saw this Philly Phanatic and HAD to get their picture taken!

The Franklin Fountain was a few blocks away and as we walked down we passed this old Post Office. Love how history is mixed with the new in this city.

We finally made it to the FF. Madie was so excited to go there! She had seen it on Man Vs Food and wanted to go too. They dress like it's the early 1900s and serve delicious ice creams and phosphates.

Looks just like an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. :-)

Of all the choices, Livie and Noah got vanilla. Madie and I got choc chip mint. :-) Em and Jeff enjoyed their ice cream with Livie.

Nana and Caleb enjoyed some ice cream too.

One of the soda guys came out and I asked him to take a picture with the kids. He said a lot of people ask that, so thankfully Pete didn't have to pretend he didn't know me. ;-)

Micah got the delicious Mt. Vesuvius, just like on Man Vs Food. Madie thought that was awesome!!

My cousin Heather works just a few blocks from there, so she caught a cab and joined us for lunch. She, dad, and Jeff opted to get roast beef sandwiches instead of the ice cream. Looked delicous and was so fun having her there with us before we left town. :-)

This was Christ Church Cemetary where Ben Franklin and 2 other signers of the Declaration are buried.

Here are the kids in front of Ben Franklin's gravestone. Ben's is on the right and his daughter's is on the left.

Papa showing Kendalyn Ben's grave.

Em, Livie, Dad, and Keni took a little breather while waiting for everyone else to come back from looking at the other graves.

Ben Franklin wrote this epitaph when he was a young man, never intending it to be used. But they posted it anyway and I don't blame them. It's just beautifully written.

This is Madie in front of one of the other signers. After this, we headed across the street to the Mint. We weren't allowed to take pictures there or I'm sure you'd have to sit through 10 more of them right now! But, the kids loved seeing how the coins were made. We saw lots of pennies being made and the kids thought that was really cool. After that we headed out of town and went to meet up with our Schmid cousins in Lancaster. I'll post about that later.