In late August, we visited Philadelphia for my wife’s business trip. On my own free day, I had a tour around the historic district. I first went to the Independence Visitor Center to pick up a ticket for the tour of the Independence Hall.
Visitor Center
I then went to the Liberty Bell center which is across the Market Street. It has various exhibitions related to the Bell. Near the exit, I was able to see the famous cracked bell.
Liberty Bell
The cracked bell
Across the Chestnut Street is the Independence Hall. It is a building originally built as the state house for Pennsylvania, but later served as the venue of the Second Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention.
Independence Hall
Independence Hall
I waited for the ticketed ranger-led tour at 10am. We first entered the East Wing for a briefing and then entered the Independence Hall.
Start of the tour
We first went to the courtroom. A famous story related to it is that as the Declaration of Independence was being read outside the hall, a group of people entered the courtroom and took out the coat of arms of the British King.
Courtroom
On the opposite side is the famous Assembly Room. It was in this room the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were signed. It is where the American democracy was born.
Assembly Room
Where the Declaration and the Constitution was signed
Exiting the Independence Hall, on the right is the Congress Hall. This building was originally the courthouse of Philadelphia, but during the period in which Philadelphia served as the capital of the United States, the building was used as a meeting place of the congress. The first floor was used for the House of Representatives, while the second floor was used for the Senate.
First House of Representatives meeting place
13 rings held tight
First Senate meeting place
Senate committee rooms
Secretary’s office
A short walk from these buildings is the Washington Square, where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution is located.
Washington Square
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution
Returning to the Chestnut Street, situated next to the Independence Hall is the Old City Hall building. It also served as the first Supreme Court.
Old City Hall
Courtroom
Walking along the Chestnut Street, I passed by the Second Bank of the United States, the Carpenter’s Hall (meeting place of the First Continental Congress), and the First Bank of the United States.
Second Bank of the United States
Carpenter’s Hall
First Bank of the United States
I then went to the Franklin Court, the site of now demolished house of Benjamin Franklin. There is also a museum dedicated to Franklin, which I didn’t visit.
Site of Franklin’s house
Instead, I went to the Benjamin Franklin Printing Office, which replicates the printing culture of the 18th century. Franklin worked as a printer in this city, so I was able to imagine him printing copies of the Declaration. It was interesting to watch the demonstration of human-powered printing press.
Printing house
Printing the Declaration
I then walked towards the Delaware River and reached the Penn’s landing, a harbor area named in memory of the 1682 landing of William Penn, the founder of this city and the Province of Pennsylvania. An open view of the river and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge cleared my mind.
Penn’s landing
On the way back to the Independence Historic Park, I stopped by the Welcome Park. The statue of William Penn was at the center, surrounded by the floor tiles representing the street plan he designed.
William Penn welcomes the immigrants
I then went to the Christ Church, where several signers of the Declaration including Benjamin Franklin attended. Due to a church event, I could not enter the inside.
Christ church
It was not a good time for lunch. When in Philly, one’s gotta try the cheesesteak.
Sonny’s cheesesteak
The cheesesteak sandwich tasted great. Cooked fresh, the meat was tender. I liked that the bread was soft.
My last stop was the Chrich Church burial ground, where the grave of Benjamin Franklin is located. He spend majority of his life in Philadelphia, and in the end he was not buried next to his family in Boston.
Christ Church burial ground
Back to the center
I then wend to the Reading Terminal Market. It was a busy place full of delicious food options.
Reading Terminal Market
I was quite full with the cheesesteak I had earlier, so I went for a cannoli. Termini Bros Bakery has a branch in the market, and they serve a fresh cannoli by filling in cream on the spot. The cream was sweet just to the right degree, and the shells were crispy because it wasn’t pre-filled.
Termini Bros Bakery
Cannoli shells
Fresh Cannoli
Next, I walked to the Philadelphia City Hall, and enjoyed the view from across the street sipping La Colombe coffee.
Philadelphia City Hall
Lastly, I went to the University of Pennsylvania. I walked around the campus imagining what it would have been like attending this school.
Furness library
Restaurants
1. Double Knot
Double Knot is a modern Japanese restaurant, mostly serving sushi and robatayaki. Our favorites were short rib, mushroom, and scallop robatayaki, and black cod fried rice.
Double knot
2. Capogiro
Across the street from the Double Knot is Capogiro, a gelato shop. The best flavor was Sevilla orange, which had only a subtle sour but rather sweet taste.
Capogiro
3. Federal Donuts
Federal Donuts have several branches all over Philadelphia. I had the freshly made original donut and peanut butter flavor. Both were very good.
4. Amada
Amada is a Spanish restaurant near the Independence Hall. We had several tapas with sangria. An interesting dish was salpicon, which is cold octopus mixed with tomato sauce.
Hudson Han's Log 