Nielsons in Philly

We had an absolutely fantastic day in Philadelphia. In the morning Bret and Dan ran over to the Art Museum. Alison and I stayed back at the apartment with Skylee. She loved playing hide and go seek with her toys and watching the BFG on my iPad.

When everyone got back to the apartment we made breakfast. It was tough with the limited pans that we had, but we had bacon, sausage, eggs (fried and scrambled), and pancakes. It was great!

After breakfast, we headed over to Independence Hall. We hopped on a Septa trolley, which turned into a subway. We made one transfer and we had arrived. We picked up our tickets and headed over to Liberty hall.

We had a few minutes to wait so we walked around the building. Skylee had a lot of fun collecting sticks and taking pictures with my camera. There was a memorial on the spot Lincoln raised a flag and at the spot where JFK gave a speech. There was also a statue of George Washington.

Our reservation was at 1:15. When it was time we all lined up. Inside the building, they showed us two rooms - the judicial room and the legislative room. Our tour guide was great. He was very passionate about US history. In the judicial room, he told us a story about how the colonial citizens when they heard the Declaration of Independence for the first time stormed into the Judicial room and tore down the British seal and burned it. He also emphasized that it is easy to think that the events that led to this country were fatalistic, or could not have happened another way. The reality is that the outcome was never assured. The men who signed their names to the Declaration of Independence really put everything on the line. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their courage as we now live in this great nation that they helped to create.

In the legislative room, we saw the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was created. I loved how our guide would point out where famous individuals - Ben Franklin, George Washington, etc. would have been sitting as he told the story. He talked about the process of creating a Constitution and focused on the compromises, some of which are good and some of which were very bad. He pointed out that the founders could never have foreseen all of the challenges and blessings we experience today, but what they did was lay a foundation for a republic. He tempered that by telling us that a republic demands a lot of its people. We need to be active in holding our representatives responsible and that we are an important check on our government.

After Independence Hall, we walked over to get in line to see the Liberty Bell. During the presentation, Skylee fell asleep. Dan calculated that if we each held Skylee for 5 minutes we would only have to hold her once every 40 minutes. We all took a shift and held her as we waited in line.

Once we were in line Debbie wanted to get a picture of the whole family at the Liberty Bell. We patiently waited our turn and found someone to take our picture. As we all lined up someone said, "where's Bret?" (this is a running joke in the family because Debbie always seems to be saying, where's Bret). This time he wasn't actually there. Somehow we got separated. We got a picture and jumped out of the way and waited our turn again so that Bret would be in the picture.

Next, we walked down to Penn landing by the water. It was a nice area with live music, food venues, and a beautiful waterfront. We took some pictures and hung out. One of the cutest things was Skylee singing primary songs at the top of her lungs as we walked down the streets of Philadelphia toward Penn landing. By the end of the trip, I am sure we all had, "we are children holding hands around the world..." stuck in our heads.

We were getting hungry. We had reservations at some restaurant but we all really wanted Cheesesteaks (they aren't called Philly Cheesesteaks when you are in Philly). We found a place nearby and headed over. The place we chose was Sonny's Famous Cheesesteaks. It was great. Alison and I both got loaded cheesesteaks with onions, peppers, and mushrooms plus we got some cheese fries to share. It was everything I hoped for from a cheesesteak from Philly.

After dinner, we got back on the Septa and headed over to city hall. Philly has a really unique city hall. Inside the building is this beautiful square area. In one of the arches leading to a street, there was a steer head. Blake mentioned that his dad would have pointed it out and said that it was a steer.

Right across from city hall was a historical marker denoting the location where mother's day was invented. It was pretty awesome given that we were visiting on mother's day. Of course, we had to have Debbie get a picture by the sign with all her kids. She is such a wonderful mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother. We all love her so much. I don't know what we would ever do without her.

We walked into the Macy's in downtown Philly. It is a really unique Macy's because it has a giant pipe organ inside. We wandered around and enjoyed the beauty of the building.

Our next stop was the Philadelphia temple. It was dedicated in 2016 so it is a relatively new temple. It was really a pretty temple. Alison loved the way that the architecture of the building fits perfectly with the city around it. We spent a few quiet minutes here. While we were at the temple we noticed that the visitors center was open, but the lights were off and no one was there. Kristin called temple security and they told her they were aware the doors were open, and that the lights should be on, but they were having a problem with their system. Not to worry though, they were watching us on camera and making sure the building was protected.

Then we got an uber back to our apartment. We were pretty ready to call it a night. Most of us took naps or just relaxed. Blake, Alison, and I all watched the ceremony to retire Derek Jeter's number 2 - it was a great ceremony, and kind of watching the game (the Yankees lost badly). Skylee and I also finished watching the BFG. It really was a wonderful day in Philly.