Handstands Around the World

Philadelphia is a city steeped in history. Founded in 1682, it was not only the largest city in the US for a time, but also the most diverse. It was initially just a port city, but became an important meeting point for the colonial government prior to the Revolutionary War and later served as the national capital.

In short, we had a lot to learn in the day and a half we spent in Philly.  

By the end of the second day, I have a feeling my husband and in-laws were regretting allowing me to be in charge of trip planning because, as usual, I’d put far more things on our to-do list than we could have possibly had time for. I knew we wouldn’t get to it all, but we managed to make a pretty significant dent. I was planning to fit all of it in one post, too, but I clearly underestimated the number of words I would write.

Our first stop upon arriving in the city was the Philadelphia Museum of Art, AKA the location of the “Rocky steps.” If you’ve seen the movie, you know the ones.

We actually watched the first Rocky movie in preparation for this trip and, honestly, neither of us liked it. The storyline was predictable, the characters weren’t relatable, and his relationship with what’s-her-name (you can see how invested I was) made me super uncomfortable.

But my in-laws were very excited to run up the stairs and take photos, so off we went. And while I didn’t care at all about the Rocky aspect of it, it’s a nice view of the city from the top.

Next up was Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. From the name, you’d think Philly was the place he grew up or at least spent a substantial portion of his life, but it’s neither. As an adult, he lived in five different houses in Philadelphia over a period of about six years. This is the only one that still stands. Poe, his wife, and his mother-in-law (who was also his aunt; when Poe was 27, he married his 13 year old cousin) lived here from 1843-1844. Some of his more famous works – though not The Raven – were written here.

Entry to the site is actually through Poe’s neighbor’s house, which is now used as the visitor center and museum. You then cross over into his house, where you can walk through the semi-restored rooms and down into the (very creepy) basement.

By this point it was dinner time (we’d spent most of our day at Valley Forge) and, of course, you can’t visit Philadelphia without eating a Philly cheesesteak. While we probably should have gone to one of the more famous restaurants, we also wanted to sample some local beer, so we ended up killing two birds with one stone and getting both at the same place.

I’ve never been a fan of steak, so while I’m glad I tried a cheesesteak – and it was tasty – it’s not something I’ll probably ever eat again. I would gladly have more of the beer, though. Yards Brewing Company was recommended to me by three people prior to our trip, and it was a solid recommendation!

And now, on to the things that are actually mentioned in the title to this post.

Our first stop the next morning was the Liberty Bell. It’s free to visit but also exceptionally popular, and you can’t book a time slot in advance. The building opens at 9:00am so we arrived at 8:30am and were the second group in line.

Immediately adjacent is what remains of the President’s House, which is where George Washington and later John Adams lived while they served. Unfortunately, when the Liberty Bell site was constructed, the remains of the house were deemed unimportant and buried. However, parts of the basement were left intact and have since been excavated.

Along with the remains of the house, there is an excellent exhibit here on Black history, slavery, and race relations in Philadelphia. By 1800, one out of every six Americans was enslaved, and the legality and morality of slavery would continue to be a source of debate and conflict for more than 60 years.

Since we were half an hour early, two of us stayed in line while the other two walked through the exhibit and then we switched, and it worked out pretty perfectly. We were all back in line by 8:55am and through security within a couple minutes of the gates opening.

The Liberty Bell was constructed – rather poorly, as it turns out – in England in 1752. Accounts differ as to when it first cracked, but it was either during transit or on the first ring. Either way, a cracked bell won’t ring, so it was melted down and remade by local craftsmen. Twice. What we see today is actually the third iteration.

Despite being remade and then remade again, the metal contained the wrong proportion of tin and copper and was therefore brittle, and the bell cracked again sometime in the early-to-mid 1800s.  

Contrary to popular belief, the giant crack you see when you look at the bell is not what ultimately silenced it. The actual crack was small; to repair a crack, it must be enlarged enough that the broken edges of the bell don’t touch each other. Unfortunately, this repair didn’t extend far enough beyond the crack and it eventually spread up into the curve of the bell. This crack was irreparable and thus forever silenced the bell.

While we’re on the topic of Liberty Bell misconceptions, here are a couple more common ones:

• The bell was not actually rung on July 4, 1776 to denote the signing of the Declaration of Independence. However, it was rung four days later to signal the first reading of the document.

• It was also not originally called the Liberty Bell. It was simply a bell that hung in the state house (and was sometimes called the State House Bell). The name ‘Liberty Bell’ was coined long after it was removed from the belltower. It was abolitionists who adopted the name in the 1830s, noting the irony of the bell’s inscription – proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof – as all inhabitants of the US were, in fact, not free. Over the years, additional groups have used the Liberty Bell as their symbol in their fight for equality.

Unlike the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall can only be visited with a timed-entry ticket that must be reserved in advance. The free ticket includes entry into Independence Square, a 25-minute guided tour of the east wing of Independence Hall, and an optional 20-minute guided tour of Congress Hall.

Independence Hall was originally the central government building for the colony of Pennsylvania, and later the Pennsylvania State House. Despite its relatively mundane origins, it was one of the largest buildings in the US at the time it was built, with its bell tower standing 68 feet (21 m) tall.

At this point in time, the colonies were very much separate entities and many of them wanted nothing to do with each other. However, tensions were rising as the colonists became increasingly displeased with the new taxation and trade policies being implemented by the British. Things boiled over in 1774 when the British took over the government of the Massachusetts colony, bringing it back under their rule.

At this point, the other colonies realized the same thing could happen to them and were suddenly much more willing to band together. Delegates from each colony converged in Philadelphia in a meeting known as the First Continental Congress.

Over the next 13 years, multiple important government gatherings took place in Philadelphia – many of them at Independence Hall. The Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution were all signed here. These original copies are on display in the west wing of Independence Hall.

(You may be looking at these documents and thinking, wait a minute, aren’t the originals of these documents in the National Archives in Washington DC? It turns out there are two “original copies” of each. Independence Hall is home to the original print copies, which were printed the night the documents were finalized so they could be signed. DC is home to the original embossed copies, which were printed a few days later.)

By the 1820s, the building had garnered the name Independence Hall due to its importance in US history. The building you see today is almost all original, though it has undergone routine maintenance. The furniture inside is from the 1700s, but most is not original to the building.

After our tour of Independence Hall, we lined up for the tour of Congress Hall. We ended up with the same tour guide for both, and he was great! Congress Hall is not technically a “capitol building” since the US didn’t officially have one at the time, but it’s where the branches of the newly-created government met for the ten years Philadelphia was the capitol, so it’s unofficially the oldest US capitol building. We entered on the ground floor in the chambers of the House of Representatives, and then climbed the stairs to the Senate Chambers.

After exiting Independence Square, we poked our heads into the Old City Hall, which was used as the US Supreme Court Chambers.

The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall were the main two items on our schedule for the morning; we now had about 3 hours to wander around the other historic sites within a few block radius. This includes Benjamin Franklin’s Grave, Franklin Court, the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, and the Walnut Street Rose Garden.

There’s also just a lot of lovely old architecture.

The fact that we could leave our car at our hotel and walk to all of these locations was very convenient. That being said, I’d estimate we covered at least 3-4 miles, and we were on our feet for hours; be sure to wear good shoes.

Alright, I’m going to leave off here for now. The final stop in our Philadelphia adventures will be posted soon. Stay tuned!

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The Important Stuff:

• Edgar Allan Poe House
  • Open Fri-Sun 9:00am-5:00pm
  • Free
  • We spent about an hour here
  • Here is more information
    
• Liberty Bell
  • Open daily, 9:00am-5:00pm (7:00pm in the summer)
  • Free, but entry cannot be reserved in advance. Arrive prior to the 9:00am opening, or plan to wait in line for at least 20-30 minutes
  • Passage through an airport-style security is required prior to entry, though food and beverages are allowed
  • Including lines and security, we spent about an hour here
  • Here is more information
    
• Independence Hall
  • Open daily, 9:00am-5:00pm (7:00pm in the summer)
  • Free, but timed-entry must be reserved in advance; I booked 3 months in advance and there was plenty of availability, but all tours for the day did eventually sell out
  • Passage through an airport-style security is required prior to entry, though food and beverages are allowed
  • Including lines, security, and the optional Congress Hall tour, we spent about 90 minutes here
  • Here is more information
    
• Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
  • Open Sat/Sun 12:00-4:00pm only
  • Free
  • Here is more information

Here is a complete list of attractions and information on how to visit.