Sonya's Blog - Day 139 - The Historic District of Philadelphia

Sonya’s Blog - Day 139 - November 8th - Historic District of Philadelphia

The Historic District of Philadelphia was where we were headed today. We wanted to check out Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It is also supposed to be a great area to walk around and there is history to be learned all over the place.

We got out by 10:30 AM. Natasha made lunches for everybody before we left, which was awesome. Our plan was to head to Penn’s Landing and park the truck there. It is a short walk to the Historic District from there. The lady the runs the campground recommended we park there because we have a big truck.

It took us about a half hour to get to Penn’s Landing and then about 10 minutes of walking to get to the Independence Hall Visitor’s Centre. We walked up Market Street and Market Street was closed off by the Police. Blake asked one of them what was happening and they had the street closed off because they were having a Veteran’s Parade which was due to start anytime. We walked up a bit more and the staging area was in front of the Independence Hall Visitor’s Centre. We found a spot to check out the action. It started out a little slow and they seemed to be quite disorganized. As it turns out, it was the first annual Veteran’s Day Parade for Philadelphia. A couple of highlights from the parade were the regiment from Arlington and the parachute jumpers. The Arlington regiment did a fancy little routine with their bayonets, that was pretty impressive. We got to see them do it twice. While they were singing the Star Spangled Banner three parachute jumpers landed right behind us. One had a whole bunch of banners that were red, white and blue, the other had the American Flag and the third had a whole bunch of ribbons flying out behind him. It was pretty cool. I also really enjoyed this marching band. It looks like they were dressed up as George Washington, but they are wearing red coats - I was a little confused. My recollection is that the red coats were the British, so I didn't really get this marching band. I guess they are not suppoesed to be George Washington. They looked fancy though.

It turned out to be a really long parade so when we were done watching we went over to the Visitor’s Centre. There are free tours offered for Independence Hall and we snagged some tickets for 3:20, but we needed to be there a 1/2 hour before. We sat down and had our lunches, the kids looked in the gift shop and I looked through the small learning area they have there. They have a whole bunch of panels that list the historical figures and sites of Philadelphia and a little bit of history on these people and places.

We arrived at Independence Hall at 10 to 3 PM and cleared security in about 3 minutes. We had a 1/2 hour before our tour, so we looked for something to do. There is a small museum dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, so we explored that until our tour time. The museum is dedicated to Jefferson’s interest in science and the advancements he helped to further for the American people. The Americas were not seen as a country of great thinkers and Jefferson did a lot of things to try and change that perception and to make America into a land of scientists and forward thinking people.

It was time for our tour of Independence Hall where both the Declaration of Independence and The US constitution were debated and adopted. This building was not originally called Independence Hall. It was the Pennsylvania State House. We started in the East Wing and then moved to the Courtroom of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. You cannot see it in my picture, but there is an area where the prisoners had to stand if they were on trial. This court system was originally based on the British court system, so the courtroom is in the British style. Later on, American courts would remove this standing area for prisoners, because it was felt they looked guilty standing there and there was supposed to be the presumption of innocence. The term “standing for trial” comes from these original courtrooms, even though nobody “stands” at their trial anymore in the States. An act of defiance and treason took place in this room on July 8th, 1776. A group of Pennsylvania militiamen stormed in the room and tore King George III’s coat of arms off the wall and burned it.

We moved on to the Assembly Room. This is where all the action happened to start the United States of America. The Pennsylvania Legislature loaned out the Assembly Room to the men of the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776, these meetings led to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The resolution for independence was actually approved on July 2nd, but the document, The Declaration of Independence, was not approved until July 4th, 1776. It was signed on August 2nd, 1776. The Pennsylvania Legislature loaned out this room again in May of 1787 to the men of the Constitutional Convention. This time they met because the Articles of Confederation were not working and there was great concern that the country they had fought so hard for was going to fall apart. They argued and debated for 4 months and this led to the signing of the U.S. Constitution. In the background of our picture you can see a wooden chair up on a dais. This is the “Rising Sun” chair where George Washington sat and signed the U.S. Constitution.

We moved upstairs and explored the upstairs. There was the Long Gallery where the banquets and dances took place. During the British Occupation of Philadelphia this room served as a hospital for American Prisoners of War. Upstairs also has the Governor’s Council Chamber, which was the scene of the fugitive slave trials in the 1850’s. The final room on the 2nd floor is the Committee of the Assembly Chamber, which is where fugitive slaves were held to await their trial (this room is right above the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence was signed - ironic?).

In 1824 The Marquis de Lafayette toured the United States. He was given a heroes welcome for his assistance in the War for Independence. When he arrived he asked to see the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The “Hall of Independence” was fitted up “in the most splendid manner” for his tour. This was the turning point for this building, as there had been talk of tearing it down. The Pennsylvania State Legislature had moved out of the building by this time and the city of Philadelphia was unsure what to do with the building. They realized that if the Marquis had interest in seeing the building, then others might as well and so they chose not to tear it down. It was still used for several different things after the Pennsylvania government moved elsewhere in 1800. The upper floor was used as a museum by Charle’s Peale from the early 1800’s to 1828, which was dedicated to “celebrated personages” and “noted worthies” of the founding of America. The family sold off the Peale collection item by item after his death. Some civic minded Philadalephians bought several of these pieces and displayed them in Independence Hall. The official opening was on George Washington’s Birthday in 1855. In April of 1865, thousands of people filed through Independence Hall to pay their last respects to Abraham Lincoln, whose body lay in state for two days on his homeward journey to Springfield, Illinois after his assassination. In 1872, the city of Philadelphia decreed that Independence Hall would be a site of historic renown and would be restored to it’s original appearance. The National Park Service took over operation of the building in the 1940’s.

After our tour it was time to head back and get supper on the go. We walked back to our truck, stopped for groceries on the way back to the campsite and were back at the campsite within the hour. It was a busy time to try and get groceries put away, Kizmet walked and fed and supper going. We all did our part and were eating supper pretty quickly. Isaac was supposed to be preparing supper. He made PB&J snack bites for an appetizer and washed some carrots. Blake grilled the chicken and heated up some crab cakes. Natasha made the aioli sauce. It was all good and we were all really hungry.

After supper, it was decided that we should watch Rocky since we are in Philadelphia. I have never seen the movie. We are going to run the “Rocky Steps” and we need to see the movie first (according to Blake). I cannot say it is the greatest movie I have ever seen, it was a little slow (but we have found this with 70’s movies, it was just the style). Spoiler alert, he doesn’t even win the fight at the end. He “goes the distance” though, which is what it was all about. I get it, he was the underdog and he was still standing at the end of the fight with the Heavyweight champion of the world. Plus it was a love story between him and Adrian and how they found their love against the odds, yadda yadda yadda. Everyone loves an underdog story.

We were all pretty tired after this, so off to bed. We are going to head to Atlantic City tomorrow to check out the boardwalk. It is only an hour away and we are going to take Kizmet.

Sonya