We Might Not Be Back: Philadelphia Was Neither Sunny Nor Hot As Hell

I agonized over how to fit in as many cities as possible on this tour of the northeast. Philadelphia made the cut, but we were there for less than 24 hours. My dream was to walk through the city singing songs from the musical 1776, but the weather didn’t quite cooperate. Getting from DC to Philly was our first leg on Amtrak. If I could never get on a plane again and only take trains I’d do it in a heartbeat. Trains are FAR less hassle. They have more room. Sadly trains out of and into Cincinnati are ridiculously inconvenient.
After a quick two hours on Amtrak we hopped on a Philadelphia commuter train into the city. We then walked with our excessive amount of luggage to the wrong location because I trusted my smart phone instead of looking at my paperwork for the hotel address. We were dressed for the 80 degree weather we’d had in DC. Philadelphia was cold and windy. Right as we made it to our hotel with our 10 bags and two kids it started to pour and trees were losing branches. We were too early to check in, but the Alexander Inn graciously stored our bags and let us play cards in the lobby until the rain died down enough to go explore.
We headed straight to the Betsy Ross House because Gabby had been dying to see it after reading a book about Betsy. Gabby essentially provided us with a guided tour. We spent way too long talking to the Betsy Ross reenactor. I think she confused the girls because she was young Betsy and so when they asked questions about Betsy’s later life she acted like she didn’t know what would happen in the “future.”
Right next door to the Betsy Ross house was the Philadelphia Mint. They have free self guided tours and also provided shelter from the weather, so we walked through and learned all about making money. The girls may yet be numismatists.
It was finally warming up a little when we went to the NPS visitor center to get badges. There was thankfully no line at the Liberty Bell so we were able to get in and out quickly. We looked at Independence Hall from across the street because we would’ve had to get into Philly earlier in the morning to get tickets for a tour.
Finally it was check in time so we could dig jackets out of our luggage before heading off for Philly Cheesesteaks and ice cream. We then had to be up at 4:30 am to walk once again with all of our luggage to the train. This time we had an Amtrak to catch at 6:45am. The next leg from Philly to Boston was 6 hours and then we had a 4 hours drive in a rental car to get to our rental in Maine.