A free place to visit in Philly that is easily accessible is the Liberty Bell Center. It's located just north of Independence Hall in the same Mall area as the Independence Hall Visitor's Center and the Constitution Center. A few times we saw a long line, but when we were there it was fairly short. It seems the only reason for the line was the security checkpoint.
Speaking of security...I learned from the misadventures of the non-U.S. guests in front of me that backpacks are not allowed in the Center. That probably goes for Independence Hall also, but I never saw a sign stating this anywhere. These guests had very, very large backpacks and were being told they had to have one of their party wait outside with their packs because they cannot be left unattended. The language barrier was causing some confusion and the frustration of the guests at not being admitted together was becoming apparent.
Back to the Center itself. It is beautiful (and can I mention again...free!) and if you wanted to read everything, you could easily spend an hour there. By the time we arrived around 2 p.m, we'd been walking for a few hours and the kids were ready to buzz right through everything and get to the main event...
The bell itself.
There is no queue up to the Liberty Bell, so it's sort of a free-for-all to wait and get your photo with it. In general, it was a fun place to visit and was Leah's highlight of Philadelphia. The next day was one she dreaded (heading out to New York City), so after seeing the Liberty Bell, she was ready to go home because it was really all she wanted to see.
But there was more to come...
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