Philadelphia is an old city with a rich historical background and significance. I made a short half day trip to Phily from New York, it’s a two hour drive form NYC. Phily is the home city of Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of USA. The places that I visited were the Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the National Constitution Center. The Liberty Bell is a must-see tourist attraction at Phily. The Liberty Bell also called the Independence Bell is associated with the American Revolutionary War and is also a symbol used to signify the abolitionist movement by the American Anti-Slavery Society.
According to tradition, the bell’s famous ringing occurred to summon the citizens of Philadelphia for the reading of the Declaration of Independence and also was rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774.
The bell which weights about 2080 pounds has a big crack from the lip to a few inches below the crown. The answer to the question as to how the Liberty Bell cracked is much debated and there are several stories for the same. The following link lists the various renditions of when the Liberty Bell cracked: http://www.libertybellmuseum.com/faqs.htm
Souvenirs of the Liberty Bell can be purchased from the Independence Hall Visitor Center.
The Independence Hall is also a U.S national landmark and is the place where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were signed. The building is open throughout the year for visitors, though the tours are operated on a first come first serve basis. Tourists generally need to get a free timed ticket to visit the building from March through December. Tickets can be obtained at the Independence Visitor Center on the day of the visit. They can also be purchased online at http://www.recreation.gov/ or by phone using the toll free number: 1-877-444-6777.
For more information refer the link http://www.nps.gov/inde/independence-hall.htm
The National Constitution Center also is a good tourist spot and it basically tells the story of the US Constitution through multimedia exhibits, photographs and artifacts.
I would also highly recommend the duck tour of Philadelphia which is one of the best Phily sight-seeing tours. The vehicle (DUKW) used for sight-seeing is an amphibian truck which can go on land as well as water. The tour takes the tourists to important historical places in Phily(like Betsy Ross House, South Street and others).It’s a great experience when the truck plunges into the Delaware River at Penns Landing to show you a view of the city from the water. For information about purchase of tickets, timings and tour durations refer to http://www.phillyducks.com/
