#AtoZChallenge 2025 – Philadelphia – This is Another Story

To be honest, I feel like I didn’t explore Philadelphia enough during my east coast road trip of 2022, even though there were 2 days spent in the city. In Philadelphia, my mom and I visited the Reading Terminal Market, the Independence Hall, City Hall, and the National Constitution Museum, all on foot because my mom refused to drive in the city.

For those who are not familiar, Pennsylvania is one of the 13 original colonies of the US with Philadelphia being a former Capitol of the US. Walking in Philly, I felt like there was either some kind of colonial architecture or a museum on every block.

On our first day, we crossed the Ben Franklin bridge from New Jersey into Philadelphia after spending a night in the worst motel in the history of motels. I remember not feeling well that day and after checking into the hotel in the afternoon, I had to shower twice to feel all right again. Before those showers though, it was exploration time.

It was my mom’s second time and my first time to visit Independence Hall. After watching National Treasure multiple times, I had longed to visit it and it wasn’t what I’ve imagined it to be, smaller than I thought.

After Independence Hall, we walked around the city, searching for food. I know there are lots of food in the city but with my mom’s nip-picky taste-buds, there’s no way she would try anything new and different. We wound up in Chinatown and sat down with a plate of steamed rice and duck.

Later in the afternoon, after getting settled in the hotel, we made our way to the City Hall. Along the way, I spied more museums. So many museums in this city. So much history.

The Philadelphia City Hall was probably one of the most interesting building I’ve seen for city hall. In case you didn’t notice, there’s an actual walking path leading up to the building. The building is also a walk-through, meaning you can walk through the building via this path and you would end up on the other side of the building. I think people use it as a shortcut.

We spent the next day in the National Constitution Center, located across from the Independence Hall. My mom said it’s new because it wasn’t there when she last visited over 20 years ago. That was pretty much the exploration in Philadelphia. After the National Constitution Center, we crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge back to New Jersey spent the night there before heading to Gettysburg in the morning.