My Trip To Philadelphia

I am on a family trip to Philadelphia. We wanted to walk around the waterfront but there wasn't any parking left so we decided to go to the Independence National Historical Park. We parked underground and as we emerged on the road using an elevator, we climbed onto a grassy clearing, from there we saw the Independence Hall!

My grandmother was with us on this trip and told me all the things she knew about the Independence Hall and more. The Independence Hall is where the United States declared its independence. Philadelphia was the first the capital of the United States, the capital was moved to Washington DC later.

My dad booked tickets for us to tour the Independence Hall at three o'clock. While we waited, we went to a museum next to the clearing. We saw the Independence Bell which was big and cracked. 

An early hand printing press was impressive. It was not mechanical: two leather balls with wooden handles were used to press writing on paper. 

We saw pictures of important people that lived long ago and a basket of clothes that they wore which we could try on. That was fun! After 

that we saw a couple of halls where documentaries on the history of the Independence hall were playing. We took a photo with a Benjamin Franklin statue.

It was time to go to the Independence Hall. There was a guide to take us into the building. She was very friendly. The building looked pretty big from the outside with three floors, a clock and a huge bell at the top which rang loudly every hour. We were in a room where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln were among the people who worked here to launch democracy. 

We visited the supreme court. This room was big and there were multiple chairs at the top for judges, tables for officials at the bottom, tables for courthouse staves and a witness stand. The guide explained to us what the room was for and how it was used.

The other room had a seat for the president of the United States (George Washington) at the top, and chairs and tables for the states at the bottom like Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts and many more.

After we finished the tour, we walked around the park outside. I tried to feed acorns to the squirrels and I can’t believe one took them from me, I was so excited. This was the first time, a squirrel had taken something from my hand!

We walked here and there. My sister, Dad and I went to buy stuff, explore the streets and had fun! We walked back to our car when we saw an ice cream shop…. Tell me, WHO DOESN'T LIKE ICE CREAM? Hajurmua, Dad, Mom, my sister, and I all happily chose special and different flavors of which pecan was my favorite. The ice cream was really special, I hope to go back there again for more, it was very expensive though. 

Then we visited a very local Philly Sandwich place and enjoyed the food and drinks. The sandwiches were huge and super tasty. 

Because all of us were tired from walking and walking, we went somewhere where we could sit. My dad found out that the riverfront was not far from us so we went there. The river was huge! WOW there were so many ships, I mean the big ones. 

At the sides of the sidewalk were fun things like swings, huge sculptures, hammocks and there were 2 huge swans shaped like a boat so we went in them and took pictures. There was also an enormous chair, maybe like 30 people could fit on it.

Behind all of that, there were old ships, warships of different kinds, and submarines and parts like the ship propellers and canons were on the sidewalk. Well, though we couldn't touch them, it was still very cool. Now this was also a museum area. One of the ships had been converted into a restaurant but, sadly, we did not go in, because we had already eaten.

People, if you are going to Philly, that’s what they call Philadelphia, go to the Independence Hall, walk around and around like we did, go to the park, eat the special ice-cream, go to the riverfront, enjoy looking at the ships, and HAVE FUN!

I think the best part of this trip was… EVERYTHING!

(Grade V, Windy Hill Elementary.)