See the first Philadelphia post here.

My apologies for taking forever to post the rest of our Philadelphia trip. I get so behind sometimes with my photos. On our next day in Philadelphia we visited Independence Hall and Congress Hall, the buildings where the Declaration of Independence was written and signed, and where the first House of Representatives and Senate met.

We also stopped in at another small museum right around the corner: The American Philosophical Society, who had a very beautiful exhibit going on called Through the Looking Lens, with the landscape and microscopic drawings of Cornelius Varley.

In the afternoon we rode around Philadelphia on the Philadelphia Sightseeing Tours bus. We saw a lot of the various historical buildings and streets, as well as museums and other iconic Philadelphia landmarks.

We got off at the Eastern State Penitentiary and toured the prison. It was very interesting, as it was the first of a penitentiary style that spread: where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement and silence in order to garner repentance for their crimes. In the end, it was a failed system, but it was interesting to learn about. After that stage, the prison was built bigger and bigger, and housed many criminals – including Al Capone and a dog who was arrested (who does that?).

See the first Philadelphia post here.