We spent two weeks at Oak Grove RV Park in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. This park is a combination of permanent residents in park models and transient RVers. We chose this spot because it was centrally located to all that we wanted to do in the area, including taking a day trip to Philadelphia.

Getting to Philadelphia the easy way

We chose to take the SEPTA train from Lansdale to Philadelphia, getting off at Center City. This brought us in the heart of the historic district.

Exploring the Historic District

Since we only had one day, we focused our time on exploring the Historic District. The Rocky Steps would have to wait for another time. We made our way to the Independence National Historical Park Visitors Center to get the lay of the land. If you have a National Parks Passport, this is also where to get stickers and stamps.

The Liberty Bell

The main item on my bucket list was a visit to The Liberty Bell. We took the short walk from the Visitors Center to Liberty Bell Center. After walking through a display detailing the importance of freedom and liberty to our country, we got in line to get our picture taken with the main attraction.

We loved how Independence Hall is in the background.

Pro tip: Get to this one early. There is a park ranger there making sure everyone gets their shot and then keeps moving. We were fortunate that the line wasn’t too long.

Independence Hall

As you can see, Independence Hall is a short walk from Liberty Bell Center. If you want to tour Independence Hall, you will need tickets. They are available online the day before, or you can take a chance on them being available at the Visitors Center. However, they go very quickly during the summer months.

We missed out on the tickets, but a nice park ranger took pity on us when we walked over to where the tours start and allowed us to join a tour that had cancellations. However, here is all the information to make your experience a little less stressful!

Hours and Fees

• 9 am–10:30 am, Open house (no tickets required)
• 10:40 am–4:20 pm, Tour tickets required
  • Learn how to obtain tickets on the park’s ticketing web page.

No tickets are required in January and February (except holiday weekends).
The security screening area closes 15 minutes prior to the building closure time, or earlier if all tours are full.

Ticketing

Tickets are required between 10:40 am to 4:20 pm. There is a $1.00 per ticket handling fee for tickets. Learn how to obtain tickets on the ticketing web page. Obtain your tickets on recreation.gov. Tickets can be printed in advance or shown on a mobile device for scanning at the time of entry. 

Tickets are not required to enter Independence Hall between 9 am to 10:30 am.

• During this time, the Independence Hall experience is self-guided. Park rangers will be available to answer questions.
• All non-ticketed visitors must exit the building at 10:30 am.
• Plan to arrive early—due to building capacity limitations, not all visitors are guaranteed entry. 

Tickets are not required in January or February, except for holiday weekends.

Time to Eat

After our tour it was time to find some lunch. We had wanted to go to the famous steak and cheese places, but it was hot and that was a long walk. Instead, we found a great restaurant in the historic district with inside seating. Oh Brother Philly didn’t disappoint. The steak and cheese sub was delicious and large enough for us to split.

Betsy Ross’ Home and Museum

After lunch we walked a short distance to the Betsy Ross House to tour the home where Betsy Ross lived and had an upholstery shop. Of course this is also where she made the first American flag at the request of George Washington. There is a self-guided tour of the home and also a small gift shop.

NOTE: This tour is not ADA accessible, however, I believe the gift shop is.

Ben Franklin

A short walk from Betsy’s place took us to Ben’s place. We found the original passage where he walked from his house to his office daily. His museum is at this location, however, we had seen so much already and we still had one more place to go.

Reading Terminal Market

Our last stop of the day before catching the train back home was to Reading Terminal Market. Philly’s oldest market is home to over 75 food and craft vendors. Of course, we were in search of dessert after our lunch, so it was Bassetts Ice Cream for us. Bassetts is known for being America’s oldest ice cream company, established in 1861. It did not disappoint!

Conclusion

While we didn’t see a lot of Philadelphia, we feel we covered a lot of this historic district. We’ll have to run the Rocky steps another time!

We’re Mike & Jennifer Skinnell, and together we are The Rambling Quilter. We travel the country full-time in our 42 ft. fifth-wheel pulled by our F-350. Jennifer writes our blog, travel articles, contemporary romance, cozy mysteries, and “Don’t Wait – Our Full-Time Journey Through Breast Cancer”. Our blog is purely for information and entertainment purposes. However, if you’d like to support Jennifer’s writing career, her author link to her books is below.