If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that recently I went on my first venture stateside, and ticked off 2 states of my 'to visit' list; Philadelphia and New York. I've already posted about my experience seeing Mean Girls on Broadway, and hope to post about my NY trip soon so keep your eyes peeled!
My lovely mum and I arrived in Philadelphia on the evening of the 29th November, and after a quick drop-off at the hotel, we ventured out to explore the city of brotherly love! We had a quick scout around in Macy's (it was Black Friday after all) and watched a light show at City Hall before heading to 'Love Park' where the infamous LOVE statue is located, and also was home to a Christmas Village market especially for the festive period. We explored in this area and enjoyed a hot chocolate amidst the freezing temperatures before we decided to get an early night ready for all the exploring we had planned for the following day!
We started Day 2 in much the same, by checking out City Hall (and its incredibly large Christmas tree before we made our way back to the LOVE statue to snap some photos before it got too busy - this would be a top tip if you do plan to visit and take some photos as we were there just before 9am and it was so quiet! After this, we navigated to Reading Terminal Market, a dedicated market with over 100 vendors ranging from cheese to flowers and everything in between! If like me, you're a National Treasure enthusiast (oh boy you're in luck with this post!) you may also recognise the space from Abigail and Riley's hiding from Ian sequence, where Abigail dodges behind a meat counter to escape his huntsmen. We purchased cookies from Famous 4th Street Cookie Company - a 'Black and White' (a double-dipped sugar cookie), and a peanut butter chocolate - both of which I can recommend highly!
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After this we headed across the street to acquire tickets for a tour around Independence Hall, I'd recommend as a top tip to do this before the Liberty Bell, and as early as possible as the tours book up fast! We were there around 10am, but the next available tour wasn't until around 2pm. We utilised this time by visiting the Hard Rock Cafe, doing some shopping and eating the earlier mentioned cookies. Then came the tour of Independence Hall, which if you're unfamiliar is the place where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and signed. It is also the original home of the Liberty Bell. The Declaration of Independence was approved here on July 4th 1776 and was read aloud in an area known as Independence Square. Historical facts like this are provided by a National Park ranger during your tour, and it was actually SUPER interesting, American history fascinates me!
After this we ventured to a nearby pub, we ventured to 'old city' to visit Elfreth's Alley, which is a collection of early American structures built between 1720 and 1830. It houses homes, and shops and residents began preservation efforts in 1934 to conserve that 'old timeless' feel, it was so sweet there and there was also a couple having their wedding pictures taken, so it's a truly picturesque spot. After this we stumbled upon Betsy Ross' house, who's the lady credited with making the first stars and stripes flag. She was actually an upholsterer who produced flags for the government for over 50 years!
We then visited Franklin Square Park (we actually stumbled upon it by accident on our way back into the city centre) and it was beautifully lit up for Christmas, and there were timed light shows and a carousel - it was like a scene from a movie!
After this, it was time for dinner (the restaurant we went to was not great!) and a long sleep ahead of the next day!
Check out my next post for what else we got up to...
Kisses,
Chlo
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