After we left the area of the art museum, we got back on the tour bus heading for the Philadelphia Zoo. The zoo came recommended by several people, but after having been to the National Zoo in D.C. a dozen times or more, I wasn’t expecting to be overly impressed. We were, however, very impressed with the Philadelphia Zoo. It was awesome! Knowing what we know now, I would have left more time to leisurely go through the zoo. The animal exhibits may not have been as extensive as D.C., but we enjoyed the more intimate feel of the exhibits, all the natural tree growth, and it really was an experience much different than the National Zoo. I’m so glad we went!
After leaving the zoo, we rode the double decker back to Center City. It was suprising how much we learned about the history in Philadelphia from riding the tour bus! Our hotel was right next to the City Hall buildings, and there were some rhythmical fountains there that the girls had fun playing in after a long, hot day touring around the city.
After getting back to our hotel for dinner and a freshen up, we went back out to One Liberty Observation Deck or Philly From the Top. We took the elevator over 880 feet up to the very top of the building which was all glass and a neat way to view the city at night.
When we finished at the observation deck, we called it a night and took the short walk back to our hotel.
After a great breakfast in the hotel “club” we walked over to see the Liberty Bell. I have heard about the Liberty Bell through our nation’s history, but being there to see it in person and understanding the significance of the bell in some of our country’s darkest hours made the experience so much more for me than I anticipated.
This little shop caught our eye on the way to the Liberty Bell. :)
After the Liberty Bell we went to the Franklin Institute. It’s a science museum that came highly recommended to us as a great place to take kids. It was pretty cool, but it was also quite crowded. I think we’d have been better off to be there on a week day, but originally the weather was supposed to be rainy on Saturday, so we thought it would be a good indoor activity. It ended up being a nice, sunny day, so we saw what we wanted to see and then made our way back out to enjoy the remainder of our time.
One of the things the Franklin Institute is famous for is their enormous human heart that you can walk through as if following the path of the blood. Lyla wasn’t so sure about it (as you can see by her face). :)
After leaving the Franklin Institute, we went across the street to the fountain at Logan Square. From our bus tour, we learned that the fountain had quite a history with the city in regards to people getting in it. Evidently, during warm months, swimming in the fountain was a Philly tradition until 2006 when the city tried to enforce a swimming ban in the fountain. They even had security presence there to ensure it didn’t happen. However, the ban was lifted in 2009, and people were legally allowed in the fountain again. Consequently, Nina and Lyla were dying to get in the fountain!
Our trip wouldn’t be complete without getting a Philly cheesesteak, so the last item on our list before we headed home was to stop off for cheesesteaks. I did a search for the best cheesesteaks in the area we were at, and sadly, several of them had already closed for the day, but we did hear that Reading Terminal had good cheesesteaks, so we went there. Reading Terminal is also a cool place in the city to see, so we knocked off two things at once. With cheesesteaks checked off the list, we gathered our bags from where they were being held for us at the hotel, got our car, and headed back home. I have to say, I was disappointed at first when the weather wasn’t cooperating for the beach, but I’m actually glad it happened that way, otherwise I know we wouldn’t have had this great trip to Philly. It made us rethink the girls’ trip as well - not making it a beach trip every year but maybe a new adventure place every year. I guess we’ll have to see!
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