Whistling Rails ~ From Sea to Shining Sea: Independence Hall ~ Birthplace of the Constitution

Friday, March Thirteenth

Today was a wonderful day. After our interesting dining experience late last night, I managed to get about 9 ½ sound hours of sleep. My Mom brought a huge bagel and cup of orange juice up to me for breakfast while I was getting ready, because we would’ve missed the hotel breakfast otherwise.

We jumped into our rental car after getting ready, and followed my GPS to the Independence Hall Visitors Center.

We were prepared to not get into Independence Hall today after reading online that you have to get free timed tickets in advance during the busier seasons. After going to three different people at the Visitors Center that all directed us to the next person down the desk, we finally found the man who was giving out the timed tickets! They must not have been too busy, because we had no problem getting tickets. We pushed our tickets off to a later time so we could have enough time to get some lunch.

We went to the nearby food court and finally settled on a place to get food- a sandwich shop that was mainly run by a man who definitely enjoyed his job. The sandwiches were really good!

Since we still had a bit of time left, we took a peek in some of the shops and bought a couple of souvenirs, including a really cool mug with the Declaration of Independence on it!

After going through a security tent, we waited at Independence Hall for the tour to begin.

The park ranger led us into a room full of chairs and went over a few things, including historical facts about Independence Hall and the signing of the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution, along with some basic rules (one of which was that all short people got to stand in front whenever we were viewing a room). Thank goodness! I usually don’t get too see much during things like this, with all of the taller people blocking my view.

Wow, it was incredible to be standing in the very rooms where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the Constitution of the United States was first penned. As we’ve visited these many historic sites, I always like to imagine the lives of those who stood in those very same places, and think about the significance of what they were doing. In this case I pictured a whole room full of men, representatives of the thirteen original colonies, sitting at separate tables, and putting all of their thought into creating a form of government that would be strong and just.