Philly Day 2!!

We went back to Philly yesterday. We started our day by picking up our tickets to Independence Hall. We went to Congress Hall first where we had a personal tour which took about 15 minutes. Congress Hall is where Congress met when Philadelphia was the Capitol of America. There is still original furniture that was used here during the 10 years the hall was used. Afterwards, we went to Independence Hall which houses original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and the Bill of Rights. From there, we had brunch at the Continental. This was a diner on Restaurant Row that was trendy and delicious. We both had omelettes. It was really good and had a neat atmosphere. From there, we went to the Liberty Center to see the Liberty Bell. It was interesting to read about the life of the Liberty Bell and how the crack first occurred. We went to the National Constitutional Center next. This is an interactive museum and has a great Theatrical presentation about the meaning of "We the People." I was able to take an oath of office as if I were the President of the US. It was a fun museum. We then went to the Christ Church Burial Ground. 5 signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried there including Ben Franklin. Ben's grave earns 3000$ a year in pennies placed on his grave. This is done in honor of his quote "a penny saved is a penny earned." After this, we went to the Tomb of the Unknown soldier in Washington Square where we also visited the Moon Tree. This tree is the only seed that has been taken to the moon and back and then planted on US soil. We then got on a double decker bus which tours the city. Our plan was to go to the Eastern State Penitentiary, the first in the US. Tours were given when the penitentiary was still active in the 70's b/c it was such a new concept. It was closed so we are planning to go back one day. Instead, we went to the famous "Rocky Steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We ran the steps and then laughed as others did the same each displaying their own version of the rocky pose. We went into the Museum of Art. We were pretty disappointed at this museum especially since many exhibits were closed before the museum closing time. Following the museum, we went to the city tavern. This tavern has been around since colonial times and the beer, food, and servers all represent this time. We had a couple of colonial beers and then went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. We plan to also go back to go to the Franklin Center Museum. That and the Penitentiary should have been done on day 1 but we didn't know how great they were supposed to be until they were both closed.