After visiting Philadelphia, I commented on social media that, while I would probably never put Philadelphia on any bucket list, Holly and I certainly had a wonderful time. One place I wish we'd had more time spend was the Independence Hall / Libery Bell area. Located right next to each other, both locations offer a huge amount of history. Here's what you need to know about both. To get inside Indepence Hall, you need to make a free reservation inside the vistor center, located just across from the Hall. I'd recommend going there first and getting your reservation time. From there, and assuming you'll have a wait (it was going to be about 4 hours before we could go in), I'd recommend going over to the Liberty Bell. While we were there, the line was about an hour long to see the Liberty Bell up close and person, so Holly and I chose to look at it through the glass window on the grassy field side of the exhibit. You can generally walk right up and look in to see it. It is truly impressive! Had we known, I would have gotten in line right when we arrived instead of getting our tickets for Independence Hall… BUT… we were going to try to see too many things in one day.
The museum at the visitor center is packed full of good information and is worth the time spent. As you walk / drive around Philly, you'll see landmarks that you will recognize because you read about them at the museum. It's a great education piece. It is also hard not to be impressed by the history of what is around you. Indepence Hall is, of course, where the Declaration of Independence was signed back in 1776. Also nearby is (what is left of) the house where Benjamin Franklin penned a majority of the document. Pretty crazy stuff. The Liberty Bell, also a great symbol of independence here in the US (and, by the way, is pretty stink'n big!), is impressive in its own right.
Here's another tip for Philly in general. Park your car and WALK. We wasted a lot of time looking for parking spots until we finally abandoned the idea and just found a place to leave the car for a day. Public transportation is another option, but it was so pretty the day we were there, we just decided to get our exercise in and walked all over the city. Lots of cool things to see!
–Dan Thompson