Every summer we spend a week in August with my family in New Jersey and we often take day trips from there to explore the surrounding areas. Philadelphia is about an hour and 45 minutes from my parents’ house. I had long been interested in checking out Adventure Aquarium (across the river from Philadelphia in Camden, NJ) and JB had just learned about the Liberty Bell in kindergarten. It seemed like a perfect time to explore Philadelphia.
The drive was easy and to simplify things we parked right in the parking garage at the Independence Visitor Center. Aside from providing convenient (though expensive) parking, the visitor center actually had a lot to offer. The visitor center has some really nicely done exhibits, as well as a theater showing free historical films about Philadelphia during the American Revolution. You can also purchase tickets to practically any attraction in the city. We figured that the duck boat would be a fun and easy way for the kids to tour the city, so we bought our Ride the Ducks tickets (along with quackers of course!) and headed the few blocks to the start of the tour.
The tour guide provided some interesting information about the city and its history, but the information was buried deep under several layers of corny jokes. His humor was the type that would either be a huge hit or a major miss depending upon the particular audience on board that day. Unfortunately for him, nobody really responded to it and there was more eye rolling and groaning than laughing. The tour was also a little long for the kids. Not finding his jokes funny, there was not a lot to keep their interest and they kept asking when we would go into the water.
The boys did love the moment when we finally splashed into the water. It was exciting to have the bus drive straight into the water (and a slight relief when it successfully floated). The tour continued along close to the shore as we rode by Penn’s Landing and saw Adventure Aquarium (our next destination) across the river. After a brief ride, we turned around and went back to shore. All in all it was a unique way for the kids to see the city but probably not something they would want to do again. The land portion was too long for them and the water portion was not nearly as exciting as they expected after the initial splash. But it still allowed us to see more of the city than we would have on foot and was worthwhile from that perspective.
After the tour, we headed back to the visitor center where we took advantage of their cafe area to cool down and enjoy a picnic lunch we had packed. When we were done recharging, we headed across the street to the Liberty Bell. Tickets are not required – just hop on the end of the line. We waited for a little bit outside and then went through security screening before continuing indoors. There are some interesting exhibits about the construction and history of the bell, as well as a 10 minute video. At the end of the exhibit hall, the Liberty Bell is displayed against a backdrop of tall glass windows. With a light shining down on it from above and the natural light pouring through the windows, it is a dramatic and beautiful display.
While we only scratched the surface of all that Philadelphia has to offer, this was a good introduction for the kids to a city rich with history. We will definitely come back when the kids are older and ready to dive deeper into the history of our nation’s independence.
