Family Adventures At Independence Hall: National Historical Park

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Another article in our series from Susan Strayer who’s an inspiration to many with her Blog – Mountain Mom and Tots.

The highlight of taking the tots back east, aside from visiting family, was touring the Independence National Historical Park.

This National Park is unlike any other in that its purpose is to preserve the birthplace of our nation. The biggest draw for me was a tour of Independence Hall, the location of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Now, I’m no historian, but I did have a great US history teacher in high school. I know the founding fathers met here in the Pennsylvania state house to discuss the radical ideas of representative government. It was heart warming to tour the building where this great nation began and to consider the cost the founding fathers were willing to pay for their idealistic democracy.

I mean, if King George had come out on top in the revolutionary war there would’ve been a lot of smart guys killed for treason. Luckily for the USA, the crazy democratic experiment continued against the odds.

Independence Hall has two main meeting rooms, both set up in the way it would’ve been in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

In order to tour Independence Hall, you must pick up tickets at the visitors center on the day of your visit. Tickets are free and are available starting at 8:30 in the morning. On busy days they suggest having someone in your group pick up tickets for whatever tour is available and planning your visit from there.

Being in the same room where our nation began gave me a powerful feeling of national pride. I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the sacrifices of those founding families and I was awed by their courage to try such a bold endeavor.

Unfortunately, little g was more concerned with pushing her stroller around than staying quiet for the tour. Whenever I tried to park the stroller to the side, she went over to it and cried until I undid the brake.
Big E was also upset with life and wanted to be held by me constantly, making the stroller controlling even more difficult. Thankfully my brother and his family were there to help and thankfully the tour was only about twenty minutes.

After the tour we had snacks outside, which was probably the tots favorite part of the experience. They ran around the garden area watching birds sneak in to steal our spilled food. It was a great tour and I was glad to have gone there, but next time I’ll make sure to have snack time BEFORE the tour

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Susan Strayer, author of MountainMomandTots.com is all about getting families into nature. She lives with her husband and three young kids in the mountains near Sundance, Utah and spends her time hiking, biking, skiing and camping as much as possible.

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