I can’t even tell you how clean and beautiful Philadelphia looks after coming out of New Jersey and New York City. Parking an RV in Philadelphia was not the easiest. It took us a while to find a parking lot an RV could park in, at the cost of $20. Anybody ever RV’s in Philadelphia, a post on better options would be nice. But this place was probably half a mile walk to everything we wanted to go to, and if we wanted to stay overnight it was only $10 more. We didn’t, but since there aren’t a lot of camping spots nearby this is an option. (GPS Coordinates: N 39’57.362, W075’08.492).
Joan and Melissa Rivers and family in Philadelphia
Walking from our motorhome to Independence Visitor Center, we saw a mob of camera men running down the street chasing after a carriage. After a second glance I realized they were chasing after Joan Rivers and her daughter Melissa and family. There is no amount of money worth that lifestyle, what a nightmare. But I had my camera on my neck, so I got a photo also… (hypocrite, I know).
The first place you go to when entering town is the Independence Visitors Center. You have to get free tickets for Independence Hall. They have two movies there to watch that were very good. The first one we watched while we waited to use our tickets at Independence Hall (they have a certain time on the ticket you have to use them). The first movie was called “Choosing Sides”. It was very well done, and was about young people during the War for Independence. It shared journal entries from different people with different views. It was presented really well. There was also a second movie, I can’t remember what it was called, but both were worth watching. It was nice to spread them out so the kids could have breaks in between visiting sites.
They also had the same park ranger program that we did in Springfield at Abraham Lincoln’s Home. The kids were able to earn a new
Fireball and Starburst being sworn in as Junior Rangers.
badge that says Independence on it. When they earned their badge they had a swearing in as Junior Park Rangers. It was very cute. The park rangers were very sweet. Every time we saw them somewhere and they were explaining rules or going through security they would tell everyone that they didn’t need to worry about these kids with the badges on because they were Junior Park Rangers. It made the kids feel very special.
They also had a program were they could collect trading cards. They could get them at many of our stops if they would ask the ranger how to earn them. The rangers would usually ask them questions about the place we were visiting, and if they got the answers right they got a couple of cards. Our kids LOVED this, and it made them participate a lot at all the sites.
Independence Hall was my favorite place. Our country was created in that building. This is the building where you see the famous painting of all the signers of the declaration of independence. Those were such hard times, and they had hard
The room where they met to form the United States and sign the declaration of Independence. The chair in the back is the chair George Washington sat on. It has half of a sun on the top. I think it was Franklin (maybe Jefferson) that said he looked at that sun all during the arguing and work they did, and couldn’t decide if it was a rising or a setting sun. In the end he was sure it was a rising sun. Very symbolic.
decisions. But they were such good men and there they were able to work together to build a nation. It still amazes me just thinking about it. I don’t see those kind of men very often anymore.
Congress Hall is amazing because that is where our first Legislative Branch did business (the House of Representatives and Senate). Did I mention that Philadelphia was our nation’s capital for 10 years. They new they were building a neutral site in DC, but until then it had to be somewhere, and Philadelphia was the biggest city that existed at that time.
The Judicial Branch was in Old City Hall and the Executive Branch was run in the Presidential House on Market Street.
But back to Congress Hall…the biggest thing that happened there was the swearing in of a new president. I never thought about how significant that was. But no nation had really ever existed without either a king that passed power in families, or by sword. So this changing of power from George Washington to John Adams was the first time power could peacefully change from people unattached by family ties or by force, and our nation was able to show people that we could do it peaceably.
City Tavern
For lunch we went to City Tavern. It first opened its doors in 1773. It’s very old, and they have the waiters dressed up in colonial garb. They also serve recipes from that era. It was really fun, a little pricey, but I guess based on our kid’s favorite picks, it was a hit. We all liked our entries so much we made a forced trade, all 5 of the older ones in our family ate a fifth of every plate so we could all say we tried it all. The favorites…Colonial Turkey Pot Pie (amazing!), Chicken Breast Madeira, with a close second on Beef Pie. None of us liked Veal & Herb Sausage with sauerkraut, but my kids have only tried that once when they’ve liked that, we just aren’t a sauerkraut family.
They also served a white bread (Sally Lund bread), cornbread and molasses bread (Anna Damma bread), and Sweat Potato and Pecan Biscuits, Thomas Jeffersons’ favorite, and ours too out of those breads. It was a fun lunch and a fun atmosphere.
Part of the family went to Carpenters Hall and the New Hall Military Museum while I ran errands. No one thought they were worth much of their time. They said the first floor of the military museum was good, but they didn’t like the rest, and no one liked Carpenters Hall. I can’t tell you much more about those places.
We tried to go to Benjamin Franklin’s Grave. But make a note, the cemetery closes at 4pm. Of course we arrived at 4:05pm. They do
Plaque listing Benjamin Franklin’s accomplishments. Near his grave site.
have a fence just near his grave that you can see through (the rest of the cemetery is a stone wall). So we could see it from the street.
We went to the President’s House Site which you can save for last because that is outdoors, and the Liberty Bell Center. The Liberty Bell doesn’t take tickets, but there was a line, and there was a small security check both there and at Independence Hall.
We walked by the firestation that Benjamin Franklin helped start. It was the first firestation in the United States, and the model for all other firestations. He is so amazing!
We also drove to the future site of the LDS Temple that is going to be built in Philadelphia. It just a parking lot right now, but now we can see we’ve been there when we see it built.
Philadelphia is very family friendly, and was very beautiful. They have done an amazing job. They were great at including our kids, and nothing was too far away to walk to on our list. There was a lot more to see, but what we saw, was what we felt was most important. I think a family could spend two days there easily if they wanted, and keep them both full. I just love the rich history here. Great men did great things in this place.
There was one recommendation we never got to, but we had heard great reviews on. That was the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology. They have great Egyptian Items, and the Dead Sea Scrolls are there also I believe. Had we had a longer day, that was next on our list.
CAMPING NOTES:
So I am going to write some notes on just camping for this long a time with the family. It’s been 24 days, and has been fabulous for us up till now. We really have had few hitches. Our kids have been so great, we’ve been able to stay in budget, see all the things we want to see, and add a few fun things. We’ve been able to still go to church every Sunday, get laundry done quick, and for the most part stay organized.
It seems like this last couple of days we’ve hit a wall. (I will blame in on NYC since that’s a simple place to put it) But I think that we just really booked this next week and a half and it’s just gotten more complicated. Today everyone had to re-wear dirty clothes because we haven’t made it to a laundry mat. We had run out of food in the camper, and missed church because we were running late. I guess days like that have to happen. I thought there would be more of them. I think lots and lots of planning, and the blessings of God have made this trip really smooth. We’ve had a lot of lucky breaks and great things happen. The last day or two are just hiccups in the road. But I do think they have to do with the amount of planning also. The first half of the trip I had planned so detailed, it was flexible, but I was well informed.
This last half of the trip I didn’t research as hard and schedule as rigidly because I didn’t know where we would be at this point in the trip. I kept having people tell me they didn’t think we could do all of this, and I wasn’t sure either. So hopefully this relaxed, less planned ending, we can pick up a stride and continue. The nice thing is that after Washington DC area, we have nothing scheduled until Missouri. So from the coast until Missouri we are going to have a relaxed, leisurely, flip a coin and decide what we are doing, type of vacation. That will sure be a change of pace, it will be interesting to see how it works out. I’m guessing my younger 3 will love it and my older three will be craving the structure…but we will see. I already had Warhead (not the one I would have pictured saying this) that he wished I had printed them out an itinerary so they knew exactly what we were doing each day. I do have a printed schedule, but I never knew they cared. I guess I will start pulling it out every night and reading the agenda for the next day : )
The kids decided they wanted to make a spontaneous change and go to Hershey, PA. Which is great, so we called our Washington DC camping spots and erased one of the days we would be there. It all seemed great, but then today I asked Mr. S if there were any spots we needed to stop at between NYC and Hershey. He said he didn’t see any on the map, and I kind of asked if he was sure, but I was so tired from the last two days I didn’t check. So we are on our way to Hershey, and I look out the window and see a sign saying we were passing King of Prussia, PA. Now that’s not a name you can forget, and that’s were Valley Forge is. I asked Mr. S if he realized we were passing Valley Forge and that was on our list (I might not have said it so patiently : ) By the time we reprogrammed our GPS, it said there were no off ramps for 15 miles (so we would end up driving 30 miles out of our way to turn around). It was getting dark, and the park closes at dark, and our next day was already planned. So Valley Forge is out the door. It really was my fault for not checking our schedule better before we made this change, but we were kind of making it standing in the middle of Benjamin Franklin’s printing press with only the papers on hand to guide us. But such is life and camping. And to be honest, I guess if this is our only mess up we are doing great. I expected it to be harder than this. It really has been a lot of fun.
So multiple people, at multiple places have asked us if we were going to Hershey Park while we were in Pennsylvania. It comes highly recommended. It wasn’t in the plans, but the plans were made to be adjusted. We are excited to see how it compares to other parks we have been too. And for the younger kids, it will be their first time at an amusement park.
Another silly note…we are on a strict budget on this trip. Because the trip is so long, there is wiggle room, but it does take wiggling to make changes. For instance we have budgeted $50 a day for food, and $40 dollars a day for camping. Today the kids wanted to eat at the tavern. Mr. S just asked them if it was worth no air conditioning and showers. Of course they said yes! Food always trumps everything with these boys. Basically that means tonight we are sleeping in Walmart’s parking lot in the RV. But the weather is good, and we will have a camp spot tomorrow night. So it works. I just need to remember not to offer food over camping spots to many times or we will be a very stinky bunch : )
Summary of Day 24
Drove: 202 miles (98445-98647)
Places we visited or saw: Independence Visitor Center, Independence Hall,
Kids in front of Independence Hall.
Congress Hall, City Tavern (restaurant), Carpenters Hall, New Hall Military Museum, Benjamin Franklin’s Grave, President’s House Site, the Liberty Bell Center, and the future site for the Philadelphia LDS Temple.
Favorite thing we did today:
Jawbreaker: Independence Hall
Spitz: City Tavern and Liberty Bell
Bazooka: City Tavern and Military Museum
Warhead: City Tavern (restaurant)
Starburst: Independence Visitors Center and the collectors cards
Fireball: City Tavern
Mr. and Mrs. S: Independence Hall
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