Philadelphia - Independence National Historic Park, Visitors Center

There is a lot to the park itself, so I am going to break it down into three sections, starting with the easiest, with the visitors center.

It was an important part of our tour. We started the day with one full bus tour around the city, and by then we were hungry and thirsty - especially thirsty. Later on when we got to the tour (part 3), we were talking with some of the park rangers, and they referred to the TV series "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and told us that actually it's always humid in Philadelphia. I'm sure it can't always be as hot and humid as it was while we were there, but it was pretty bad. Hydration was very important.

One thing I want to stress is that all of the employees there were wonderful. Many of them were park rangers, and some were not, but all of them were friendly and helpful.

Our first stop was to get some food and drink and the visitors center is the only place in the park for that, though you are in the middle of a city with many options.

There are also options for selfies. You can take your picture with Rocky or the Philly Phanatic, for whom they have statues, but as everyone was getting excited about the Pope's visit, there was also a cardboard cutout of him.

We were especially grateful for the air condition, but there was also an arbor with some shade and a statue that seemed to me like a reference to the statue in Love Park, but it might not have been. Philadelphia is still the City of Brotherly Love, so any references to love can stand on their own.

The gift shop was also there. There were some really cool things, including Ben Franklin dolls that had attached kites with keys, and were wearing cute little glasses, but they were very expensive.

One thing that was interesting was that in connection with the Pope's visit they had many rosaries available, and I believe some Catholic themed books. In addition they had some posters up for observances at local churches. Without having been at the visitors center at any other time, I suspect this means that they keep in touch with things going on in the community and respond to that.

I value that, but this picture is primarily because I thought St. John Neumann looked so much like Martin Sheen.

We also took advantage of their theaters to watch two movies: Independence and Choosing Sides: Young Voices of the Revolution.

I have seen some great movies at national parks, especially Pearl Harbor. I didn't like these as much. Independence seemed a little stodgy, and Choosing Sides seemed to be trying a little too hard to appeal to the young people. My interest grew when I saw that the young Quakeress was being portrayed by Kristen Bell, but what really amazed me was how much I hated Mireille Enos' character. She was playing a Tory, so it was probably that.

If you are in Philadelphia, you absolutely should visit Independence National Historic Park, and the visitors center can be a good part of that visit.

You may love it.

http://www.nps.gov/inde/index.htm