This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Vacation Recap, PA/NY, Part II
Oct
17
2017
We took a week to visit famous places in Pennsylvania and New York (specifically Philadelphia and Manhattan).
Day 3
Woke up and went down to the main floor for breakfast. The breakfast had a lot of options, including a few microwaves so you could heat things to your own satisfaction.
Then we got ready for the day. The plan was to spend the day taking in the historic district: the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the US Mint, and Ben Franklin’s grave.
The historic district was several blocks from the hotel. There wasn’t a good public transportation option, and I didn’t want to have to deal with traffic and parking, so we walked. It was good for the kids after spending all that time in the van the previous two days.
On the way there, we happened to pass another district:
Being part Asian, the family wanted to make a quick detour down that road and see what we could see.
It was mostly a bunch of signs we couldn’t read and pictures of things we wouldn’t eat. Plus bubble tea.
But it was an interesting detour and increased the kids’ cultural experience.
We made it to the historic district and started with the visitor’s center. I knew that you could visit Independence Hall for free, but you have to get tickets. Not knowing how busy the place would be, I wanted to stop and get tickets first. That way we could plan the other things around that. But they had openings right away, so we took the tickets and headed over to the start of the tour.
The tour is surprisingly short. There are only two rooms – the courtroom and the other room. The other room is where the declaration of independence was signed.
After that, we went across the street to the Liberty Bell. It was mildly interesting. The kids kept moving past the displays rather quickly, in order to get to the bell itself. But the bell is at the end of everything, so once you see it, you’re done and you exit.
Then we walked to the north side of the area to go to the US Mint. This was the longest stop of anything there, because there’s a little more to see and stuff is happening (you can watch the pennies going down the conveyor belt) so the kids were more into it.
The plan was to visit Ben Franklin’s grave after the mint, since it’s right across the street. I hadn’t read the details though, since I was unprepared (and unwilling) to pay to enter the cemetery. So I told the boys that Ben Franklin’s grave was just on the other side of that wall. Then we started heading back. My wife asked what was next on the agenda, as it was lunchtime. I replied that was all I had planned. I expected tours of the hall and the bell to take a lot longer than they did, so we were done with the historic district before lunch. I’m sure other families might be able to make that last all day, but it was getting hot and humid and everyone was done. So we headed back to the hotel, which happened to be right across the street from the Reading Terminal Market. It is a giant food court. It was crazy, because it is so packed with people, but we eventually got everyone something to eat and then everyone was happy.
But then we had a problem. The kids were not getting along the best on this trip, and I had nothing else planned for the day. It was around 2:00 when we got back to the hotel. What to do for the next 7 hours until bedtime? The small pool would not keep anyone’s interest that long. Sitting in the hotel room would only compound the kids’ unrest. And no one wanted to resume walking around the city, since we just did that.
Battleship New Jersey to the rescue.
I decided it was worth it to fight traffic in order to fill the afternoon with something. If this had been, say, Custer South Dakota, I wouldn’t have minded an afternoon with nothing to do. There, one has room to roam. Kids can play outside, take a walk, whatever. Downtown Philly, I’m not letting the kids wander. I found the city made me a little tense.
So we piled in the van and headed across the border to New Jersey, probably about a 20 minute drive.
Camden, New Jersey, is not the nicest place – we drove through some sketchy areas to get to the battleship. But the battleship area itself is fine once you’re past the gates.
I asked for tickets for 2 adults and 4 kids. The nice lady at the desk started to ring that up, but then she informed me that I could save a decent amount (something like $40, I think) if I bought a membership. I didn’t quite need a year-long membership, but I didn’t argue.
It’s a self-guided tour, with audio devices if you want to listen to official descriptions of things. The younger kids didn’t care for that though.
Here’s the view from the deck of battleship New Jersey (AKA BB62)
The main guns are pointed at the bridge between PA and NJ, so if one of them ever wants to separate from the other, it should be a quick job.
They did fire one of the smaller side guns. They used the side that was facing Philly, but it was only a blank. Still very loud and got a number of echoes off the tall buildings.
We got to go up a few levels. Not quite all the way to the top, but close.
There was some historical information listed at some of the stopping points on the tour, like how the BB62 was where General Pershing commanded the fleet during WWII.
We came back to the hotel, had leftovers for dinner I think, swam in the pool, and caught some HGTV.
To Be Continued …
And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.
Psalm 119:45
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:39 am and has been carefully placed in the Travel category.
