Road Trip USA: Philadelphia

Sometimes I wonder if an adventure is really an adventure without some misadventures mixed in? 

Monday morning we were up and out of the house 15 minutes before our scheduled departure. We had big plans to explore Philadelphia for the day. Grandma and Grandpa agreed to join us, even though they travel to the city at least twice a week to work in the temple. I followed Grandpa as we got closer to the city and all went well until he took the wrong exit (if I were in the lead, I might very well have done the same thing...it was confusing). I tried to follow him, but neither of us really knew what we were doing. We both ended up making a potentially illegal left turn right in front of a police car. The lights came on and the police SUV pulled up behind me. If you've ever been pulled over before, you know the sinking, sick feeling that comes from seeing those flashing lights in your rear view mirror. To make matters worse, I still didn't know where I was and there was absolutely nowhere to pull over. I drove for a while until I could find a semi-safe spot to pull over. And then, once I was over, the police car drove right past us. Say what?!? We sure weren't complaining!

We were still turned around though and struggled to find parking. Finally, Grandpa called to say, "We are parking at the temple!" It was Monday, and the temple was closed, but there are perks to being a temple worker. Grandma called ahead and spoke with the security personnel, and soon we were parking in a nearly empty underground parking garage.

By this point, we were in desperate need of the calming influence that comes from being on the temple grounds. 

We still needed to make our way to Independence National Park. We decided to take the Subway; an extra adventure for the kids! Of course, this came with its own misadventures. "I'm sorry, to get a senior pass, you have to go to another office far away to get a different card." "You want a family pass? Follow me far away from the kiosk to get that pass. Oh, sorry. The family pass is only good for 5 people. Now walk all the way back to original kiosk." 

Everything took way too long, but finally we made it to Independence National Park. It was 10:50 am. We immediately went to the counter to get tickets for the tour of Independence Hall. "I'm sorry," the Ranger explained, "the tickets for today have all been given out." Ugh!

I'm a glutton, so I went back and asked, "Excuse me, what time did you give out the last tickets?" She answered, "10:15." Double Ugh. So close.

As we started to walk away, however, she called us back. "I have some extra tickets for the 12 pm tour. Some people didn't pick up the ones they reserved." Hallelujah! We were back in business!

While we waited for our tour time, the kids worked on their Jr. Ranger booklets. Or rather, the big kids worked on their booklets while Mark and Nellie took advantage of picture opportunities. 

Nellie sure likes getting Jr Ranger badges, but she's not usually interested in doing anything to get them. It's like she's three or something!

There was a super long line to see the Liberty Bell, but on our way to the tour we were able to catch a glimpse of it through a side window. 

We were so pleased to get to tour Independence Hall. It's hard to take in the enormity of what occurred within those walls. 

It's truly, "The room where it happened." Our tour guide was no nonsense, but also knew how to weave a story.

We took time to visit Congress Hall as well, and it is equally impressive. The kids might have plopped themselves down right in the middle of one of the rooms to finish their ranger booklets. 

By this point, it was well past our typical lunchtime, and we were all getting a little hangry. We walked quickly over to a nearby food court and ordered four Philly Cheese-steaks to share. They were delicious! Every one of my kids devoured their portions (onions and all) without complaint. They take after their dad in their love of cheese-steaks.

We stopped briefly at the visitor's center to get their Jr Ranger badges and get sworn in, then we hopped on the Phlash Bus and made our way back across town to the Franklin Institute.

On our way to the science center, we passed this fantastic fountain.

Mark has fond memories of visiting the Franklin Institute as a kid and was eager to take the kids.

One of the things Mark remembered best was a huge, walk-through model of the heart. Amazingly, 30 years later, it's still there. Walking through the heart would have been a lot more enjoyable if there hadn't been hundreds of school groups screaming and pushing their way through at the same time.

Bryce got to have an ultrasound of his arm!

It's a neat museum. We didn't have time to really do it justice, but we really enjoyed the areas we did get to see and explore. The brain exhibit was especially enjoyable for all ages.

We stayed just about till the museum closed. The kids were excited to get to play with Cubeulets again. 

We said grateful "see you laters" to Grandma and Grandpa and made our way to our hotel for the night - a Residence Inn in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Since it was a Monday night, the hotel served dinner, and it was pizza. You can imagine how happy that made us all!