Pennsylvania Vacation 2023 - Day 4 (Philly & Atlantic City)

Day 4 - we woke up to SUNSHINE!!! Praise the Lord for sunshine! After dealing with rain, rain & lots more rain on Day 3, we were so thankful for the sun! 

We packed up our van and hit the road for Philadelphia. We drove a bit northwest first though, to visit Washington Crossing. This town in Pennsylvania and State Park in New Jersey are located at the (general) location of where General George Washington and his troops across the Delaware River on December 25, 1776.

I came across this monument while researching the area - it was super impressive! Located in front of Washington Crossing Inn on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River.

We drove across Washington Crossing Bridge - wow, this was SUPER NARROW and pretty scary. We tucked in our side mirrors and prayed that the vehicles coming towards us were compact! There was no wiggle room.

We were now on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. We parked near the bridge and river and walked around the park a bit. 

Matt went to take a picture of the information board (below) and discovered that it was no longer in "picture" mode. I have watched this short video clip over a dozen times (all the while, calling the kids in to watch too) and I have yet to stop laughing!

Thanks to a detour on I-95 as well as a pit stop (who knew that trying to find a bathroom would be so complicated and maddening!), we arrived in Philly 90 minutes later. 

Crossing the Benjamin Franklin Bridge into Philly...

We found a parking garage (centrally located to our walking tour) and started out on foot, towards our first stop. 

I had taken a picture of this map and knew that our phones would help us locate the stops as well. Yeah, not so much. We got completely turned around and the cell phones weren't getting reception, thanks to the tall buildings surrounding us. After a while, we got on the right path - only to find out that Love Park was literally next to our parking garage (where we started)! Once we found the park, we were good to go for the day.

Philadelphia City Hall - What a beautiful building! 

Will - looking at the street map, hoping for some guidance.

Next stop - The Franklin Institute. We had one mission here - to see the large statue of Benjamin Franklin (just inside the main door in the large rotunda). 

We continued walking along Benjamin Franklin Parkway towards the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We were looking forward to running up the steps that Rocky Balboa trained on in the movie "Rocky"

At the base of the steps, we located the Rocky statue and stood in line to take our pictures.

The weather was perfect - low 80s and sunny. The walk along Benjamin Franklin Pkwy was great! The Pkwy was inspired by Champes-Elysees in Paris. It is wide and beautifully tree-lined with city parks and many cultural institutions along the way. Starting at City Hall (near our parking garage), it ends at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Rocky Steps). 

We stopped outside the Rodin Museum to see The Thinker.

We stopped at the Parkway Central Library to use the restroom. While inside, Maddie & Kaitee explored a bit. Very impressive!

Notice Maddie & Kaitee at the top level balcony.

While Kaitee & I were walking out of the library, she noticed a machine by the door and stopped to take a closer look. I kept walking but she caught up with me a minute later - SUPER EXCITED. The machine was a short story dispenser (Short Edition). With just over 300 dispensers worldwide, Kaitee (who had heard about them through Tumblr) was thrilled to find one! She printed up a short story - it made for a great storytime on the drive to Atlantic City.

We walked through Logan Square - enjoying the fountain and flowers.

Time for Lunch! We headed to Reading Terminal Market to find some food. I had read about this market online and added it to our agenda as a stop, possibly eat there if the timing was right. The historic-ness of the building and market alone (since 1893) were worth the stop. The food and shops were fun, colorful and pretty cool!

Once inside, we split into groups of 2 and headed off in separate directions - we told everyone to meet back at the front doors at 2:00. This allowed time for some shopping, exploring and lunch. 

Will & Kaitee found a burger shop and enjoyed some cheeseburgers.

They sent these pictures to us as they walked around the market...

Matt & I went in search of a Philly Cheesesteak . We found this diner and put in our order. I ended up getting a cheeseburger and fries while Matt ordered his cheesesteak. 

Maddie & Alex walked around a bit then ended up at the same diner as us. 

After lunch, Maddie & I walked around, checking out the shops. She was looking for some earrings to purchase (which she found).  I wish I had taken more  pictures of the bakery & donut shops. Wow! Even after eating our lunch, we wanted to hand over our credit card and buy one of everything!! I did end up purchasing cookies for everyone from Famous 4th Street Cookie Co. Totally worth every penny!

We met up at 2:00 and continued our walking tour of Philly - heading towards the historic district to tour Independence Hall and see the Liberty Bell.

*Huge shoutout to Will, who volunteered to run (10 minutes each way) to the van to grab an external battery/charger for Matt's phone. Without the charger, Matt's phone would've died before even getting to Independence Hall. What a life saver!

When we arrived at Independence Visitor Center, we did some shopping at the gift shop then used the restrooms before heading over to Liberty Bell Center. 

President's House Site

We left the Liberty Bell Center and headed to Independence Hall for our tour. At this point, it was 3:30, so we had 30 minutes before our tour. We were hoping to hop in with the 3:40 group, unfortunately all of the tours were sold out so we found a spot to sit and wait for our 4:00 tour. 

While we waited, we enjoyed the delicious cookies from Famous 4th Street Cookie Co. 

Independence Hall is known as The Birthplace of America. Both the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were discussed and signed by our forefathers in this building. It is truly hard to imagine.

The tour was divided into 2 sections/rooms - the first room we saw was a court room. This court room was where the Pennsylvania Supreme Court began hearing cases in 1743. 

This is the Pennsylvania Coat of Arms - placed in 1785. This replaced the Coat of Arms of King George III (England) which was removed on July 8, 1776 and later destroyed.

The craftsmanship of Independence Hall was beyond impressive. Honestly, it was absolutely breathtaking! To think that this building was built 270 years ago - pre computers, calculators and power tools. The building was beautiful!

Assembly Room in Independence Hall - where it all happened!

Even the staircase and railing were exquisite!

We left Independence Hall and headed north to Arch Street to visit Christ Church Burial Ground, to see Benjamin Franklin's grave. The cemetery was closed for the day - we were thankful that the grave was visible from the street. It was a very nice monument to Franklin.

Matt & Will headed across the street to see the Philadelphia US Mint. We missed the last tour of the day by 30 minutes, they were bummed by that, but happy to see the building at least. 

We started heading back to the parking garage (@ 20 minute walk), walking by Independence Hall along the way.

Arriving back at our van, we got snacks and water and got comfortable for the hour drive from Philadelphia to Atlantic City - our hotel for the night.

We made a quick stop in Margate City, just outside of Atlantic City, to see Lucy the Elephant. Lucy is 6 stories tall and was built in 1881. She is the longest surviving "roadside tourist attraction" in America. PLUS she is featured as a postcard in the opening montage of one of our favorite movies: National Lampoon's Vacation. 

As we drove from Margate City to Atlantic City, we were shocked by the "change in scenery". Atlantic City definitely had a much (much!) different feel to it than Margate City. Literally night and day! Margate City was pristine and high class - the yards were immaculate and the houses were beyond impressive, downright beautiful! As soon as we reached Atlantic City, we could see (and feel) a huge difference (again night and day). 

We made a quick stop along the Boardwalk to find where the Miss America Pageant is held every year. I had heard that there was a fun photo op there. Didn't disappoint!

We checked in to our hotel, unloaded the van then decided to eat at Johnny Rockets on the Boardwalk.

We were surprised to find that the Boardwalk wasn't very busy. We were able to get a table for dinner without a wait and enjoyed the diner style food.

After dinner, we split into groups of 2 again (just how it worked out). Maddie & Alex went shopping while Kaitee & Will found a Go-Kart track. Matt & I went in to the casino to use the restrooms and bet $1 - yeah, we are pretty dumb when it comes to betting - I couldn't even figure out the machine and somehow lost the dollar without even getting to play! HaHa!

Matt and I bought tickets to go on the ferris wheel. The view was beautiful and the company was even better!

The kids found us as we were exiting the ferris wheel and we quickly found out that most of the shops and rides were closing for the night (it was almost 10:00). We had no clue that everything closed so early. We are guessing that things stay open later as the summer goes on. Most of the rides on Steel Pier weren't operating yet. We could only imagine the buzz of the summer night life in Atlantic City.

We headed back to the van and settled in for the night at the hotel - showers and bed! We were beat. What a great day - but boy, were we tired! My fitbit showed over 25,000 steps, 12+ miles walked. We were so blessed by the beautiful weather! We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Favorites from Day 4

Matt - Quiet of Morning at Washington Crossing, Market, Ferris Wheel

Becki - Walking the Boardwalk, Reading Terminal Market

Kaitee - Rocky Steps, Market, Library (Free Book - Sizzle), Atlantic City at night

Alex - Narrow Bridge, Rocky Steps, Word of Day "Bird", Liberty Bell, Boardwalk

Will - Sizzle (free story), Rocky Steps, Market, Getting Charger for Matt's Phone

Maddie - Market, Rocky Steps, Boardwalk Shopping