Roadschool Trip to Philadelphia

When we visited Pennsylvania last year, we didn't make it out to Philadelphia, so it was high on our to-do list for this trip!  With one afternoon to spend, we hit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the US Mint before heading back to home base.  But what a fun-filled day!

Resources used for this trip :

• Declaration of Independence mini-movie
• Revolutionary War history pack
• Free Liberty Bell Unit Guide
• Free Liberty Bell : Obscurity to Icon unit
• Chester Comix - Founding Fathers & free teacher guide
• For You They Signed : Character Studies
• American Symbols : The Liberty Bell
• Mystery of the Missing Liberty Bell
• Ben Franklin: Inventions and Hands-on History
• Historic Philadelphia Learning Guide
• The Liberty Bell Timeline & Trivia
• Obligatory souvenir Liberty Bell
• Make Your Own Liberty Bell-shaped Cookies!

It’s free to see the Liberty Bell, and you don’t need tickets – just show up and get in line!  Tickets to tour Independence Hall are required but are also free, and for $1.50, you can reserve them in advance online.  It was worth it to us to not drive all the way there and get turned away.  As a side note, parking is available in an underground garage that opens directly into the Independence Visitor Center in the historic area, and I highly recommend it. It’s worth the cost to be central to all the historic sites!

If you have the time, the Franklin's Footsteps Walking Tour looked like a good one! But you'll want to budget the better part of a day for that.  In two and a half hours, we toured the US Mint, grabbed a city slice (even my teen couldn't finish the big thing!), and headed for Independence Hall.

The tour of Independence Hall is short, but informative.  And how inspiring to be standing where the founding fathers set our country into motion!!

We even got to see Benjamin Franklin's specs (from National Treasure)!

As they usually do at National Parks, the kids completed the Junior Ranger Program : Independence Hall booklet, and they earned their badge and Junior Ranger Trading Cards.

With a little more time, we would have visited the Betsy Ross house and museum to learn about the history of the American flag.  Maybe after going on your own trip, you can tell us about it!