By 
My mom and I had the best time on the East Coast last week! After my dad and I went to Puerto Rico together in March, I knew I wanted to go on a trip with just my mom in the fall. I researched a handful of possible destinations but ultimately landed on Philadelphia because it was a nonstop flight from Denver, I would easily be able to cross off a handful of new states (love that East Coast proximity), and my mom and I are both really interested in historical locations. Even though it’s not necessarily a hot tourist destination, Philly did not disappoint, and I was able to cross off Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland off my list of states.
PART 1: PHILADELPHIA
We started our trip in Philly, landing in the city late at night and heading straight to our hotel, the Hyatt Centric Center City. We had a great stay there, as the hotel was surprisingly quiet and within walking distance of all the places we wanted to visit. I have to admit I was a little nervous for the trip because I read that Philadelphia is the sixth most dangerous city in the U.S., and with it being just my mom and me, I was worried we might feel unsafe and on high alert the whole time. Thankfully, we felt completely comfortable in the more populated and tourists areas. A handful of locals and people we talked to said you definitely shouldn’t go out at night (even as a man) which we adhered to, but otherwise I was pleasantly surprised that we were stress-free the majority of our trip.
This was kind of the first big trip with a family member that I planned mostly by myself, and boy did I pack in a lot of activities. There were just so many sites to see in Philly! In our two and a half days there, this is what we got up to:
We scheduled a tour of Independence Hall (only a buck a person—definitely a must) and got there so early that we got to hear a park ranger give a presentation on Congress Hall just next door. Congress Hall served as a temporary home to the U.S. Congress and is where Presidents Washington and Adams were inaugurated.
When our scheduled time arrived, we went on a twenty-minute tour through Independence Hall, where we got to see the room where the first Supreme Court resided and the Assembly room, which is where the Declaration of Independence was signed! (See above.) It was incredible to stand there and imagine all these men you read about in history books discussing the foundations of our nation.
You do have to go through security to visit Independence Hall, so just keep that in mind when planning your trip—I made sure to pack a small purse for ease. You can reserve tour tickets here.
Just across the street from Independence Hall is the Liberty Bell Center, where the famous cracked bell now resides. I didn’t know that much about the bell, but it was interesting to learn some of its history and symbolism. While there are lots of displays to read (too many), after our Independence Hall tour we really just popped in to see the bell before moving on to our next landmark. Some people say the bell is underwhelming but I still thought it was really cool.
Like Independence Hall, you have to go through security, but we didn’t have to wait in line and reservations weren’t necessary.
Just a little further past the Liberty Bell is the United States Mint, which is free to tour and does not require a reservation. I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but touring the Mint was one of the highlights of the trip for me—I thought the exhibits were SO interesting and well-done. No photos are allowed for obvious reasons (can’t be counterfeiting coins!), but the displays walk you through the coin-making process while you get to look down through huge windows to the warehouse below, where the coins are actually made. So much goes into making these little pieces of metal that you don’t think twice about, so as someone who has always collected quarters and pressed pennies, I was fascinated to learn all about the process. Plus, we got to see stuffed Peter Jefferson, the famous bald eagle that used to live in the Mint in the 1800s!
We quickly wandered through and around Philadelphia City Hall, a huge old building you can’t miss with a massive statue of William Penn on top. Since the building is still the seat of the city government, there wasn’t much to do there as a tourist, but the architecture alone was worth a stop. We also stumbled across a farmer’s market there the next day that we enjoyed meandering through.
Christ Church and Christ Church Burial Ground
Christ Church is where a lot of the founding fathers used to attend services, and lots of famous historical figures—such as Benjamin Franklin—are buried in the Christ Church Burial Ground. Despite the graveyard and the church being affiliated, they are actually about a block apart from each other. Both cost money to enter but it turns out (and we didn’t learn this until after the fact) you can get a discounted ticket if you go to both. I thought the cemetery was more worthwhile than the church, but I’m still glad we went to both.
The Betsy Ross House is where—you guessed it—Betsy Ross lived and where she supposedly made the first American flag. We ultimately didn’t pay to tour it because neither of us had that much interest in it, but it was still cool to see the house from the outside, especially since it’s such a short walk from several other landmarks.
I heard about Elfreth’s Alley while researching things to do in Philadelphia and then again from a local on our flight who said it was a must-see. The Alley is one of the oldest continuously inhabited residential streets in the U.S. and packed with narrow, multi-story homes that are still lived in today. The architecture unsurprisingly felt very European, and it was cool to see how the houses tried to maintain the style and decorations from the early 1700s when the buildings were constructed. There’s not much to do here aside from stroll down the street, but it was still worth it, in my opinion. I also read that they have a market on some Fridays, but we didn’t end up going.
Watch National Treasure
Throughout our time in Philly my mom and I kept commenting, “Remember that scene in National Treasure?” or “Where do they go after that in the movie?” etc. Since we were walking a ton, on one of our breaks back at the hotel we decided it would be fun to rewatch the movie. Only about a third of it takes place in Philly but it was so exciting to see all the locations we had just visited on the big screen!
Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary
Eastern State Penitentiary used to be one of the most famous prisons in the world and was the first true penitentiary, a prison designed to engender penitence, or remorse, in its prisoners. Today, it is a museum with large parts of the prison standing in disrepair—the perfect spooky location for a haunted event! Halloween Nights included five haunted houses, performers, a cellblock light show, refreshments, and much more. I also bought us the VIP tickets so we got to go to a “speakeasy” in one of the cellblocks and see where Al Capone was imprisoned. We finished our evening there with an audio tour about the prison itself, which was really fascinating. Even if you’re not interested in haunted houses, I think the museum would still be very worth visiting in the daytime.
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
We wandered through the Basilica and were in awe of its beautiful architecture. (Look at those Stations of the Cross!) There was a very friendly docent that we got to chatting with, and he told us how the movie The Sixth Sense was filmed in Philly at a different church across town. So of course that night, we had to watch The Sixth Sense! It doesn’t show that much of the city aside from that church (which we didn’t end up visiting) but still fun to rewatch.
Philadelphia is known as the City of Brotherly Love because William Penn named it from the Greek words for love (phileo) and brother (adelphos). There are love-themed things all throughout the city, but the Love sign outside of City Hall is the most popular for a photo-op!
Pronounced Redding, this food market is similar to Pikes Place in Seattle or Quincy Market in Boston. There weren’t really any crafts though, just food. Lots of things looked yummy and we stumbled across an entirely gluten-free place called Fox and Sons, which had corn dogs, onion rings, and funnel cake. Amazing!
Okay, so we didn’t actually go into the Museum of Art (it was really expensive and we were kind of museumed-out at this point), but we did walk all the way over there so we could run up the steps like Rocky at the end of his training. There is even a Rocky statue and gift shop for all the true fans. I love recreating movie scenes and whatnot so the walk was worth it to me, plus there is a great view of the city from the top of the steps. But be careful, there were a handful of people here “offering” to take photos only to demand payment after the fact. It was sad to watch unsuspecting tourists get played.
Of course, you have to eat a Philly cheesesteak in Philly! I got a gluten-free one at Campo’s right in Old City, where all the landmarks are, and it did not disappoint.
We decided to wander a few extra blocks from the heart of Old City to check out the Irish Memorial, which was so worth it. The memorial included this huge statue dedicated to the potato famine which told the whole history in a single piece—from mass death in Ireland, to boarding the ships, to docking in the U.S. with hope for a better life. A really moving piece of art.
PART 2: MARYLAND, DELAWARE, AND NEW JERSEY
The rest of the trip was about seeing Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey. I know different people have different rules about what they have to do in a state to categorize it as “visited” but for me it’s as simple as a non-airport-related activity (eating a meal, seeing a tourist attraction, staying the night, etc.). Originally I imagined taking the train from Philly to Wilmington, Delaware, and then further to Baltimore, Maryland—the trainline with multiple states along it was a big reason I chose these destinations because I didn’t think we would be interested in renting a car. But in the end, the trains just didn’t make sense and we did end up renting a car after all. Had I known this going into the trip, I would have planned this second half differently, but we still had a great time leisurely exploring this little section of the U.S.
From Philly we drove less than an hour to Wilmington, Delaware, where we checked into our hotel before driving two additional hours to Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Fort McHenry is where “The Star Spangled Banner” was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, during the War of 1812. The British had already burned Washington D.C., so it was critical for the newly-formed United States to protect Baltimore, an important port city. Key wrote the poem on a ship in the harbor, looking back at the fort to see which flag—British or American—would be raised in the dawn’s early light. You know the rest of the story…
The fort was really cool and we spent a few hours exploring. It was eerie to go into some of the bunkers and feel the presence of all the soldiers who had lived and died there. I’d hate to be there at night! We drove back to Wilmington afterwards and grabbed a yummy dinner at Iron Hill Brewery before calling it a night.
The next morning, we crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge into New Jersey to check off another state. My mom saw on a map that there was a lighthouse, national cemetery, and state park just across the river that might be interesting to check out. The lighthouse turned out to be nothing noteworthy, but we discovered after driving what felt very far into the middle of nowhere that Finn’s Point National Cemetery is actually a burial ground for Confederate prisoners of war. There weren’t many tombstones—just two memorials, a couple of plaques, and an old house—with the whole cemetery surrounded by tall marshy grass. The place was so creepy and secluded that we decided not to get out of the car.
Just down the way was Fort Mott State Park, where we got to explore some of the structures and learn a little bit about the three-fort coastal defense system on the Delaware River. These weren’t the most tourist-y things to do in New Jersey, but they were close to where we were staying and fit the spooky theme of our October adventure.
Wilmington and Western Railroad
Aside from a leisurely drive through the beautiful Brandywine Valley at sunset, our main activity in Delaware was riding the 2.5 hour leaf-peeping Wilmington and Western Railroad train ride. I read online that this is one of Delaware’s top tourist attractions… which makes it even funnier that it was such a bust. To start, the leaves were still mostly green, which isn’t the fault of the train obviously but still a little disappointing. I was imagining a visually open train ride that meandered through scenic rolling hills, but instead, the view was very closed off pretty much the whole ride—we were surrounded by rock walls and trees so there wasn’t much to see. But the real kicker was the stop halfway, as the train took an out-and-back route. Online it said there would be enough time during this stop to grab lunch, explore, etc., so my mom and I were both picturing a cute little town with some restaurants and shopping. Not so. There was nothing to do in the town except go to the gas station, so for an hour the 50 or so of us on the train were just mindlessly wandering down the streets. It looked like something from a zombie apocalypse movie. My mom and I couldn’t stop laughing! So overall, the train was not what we expected, but the laughs alone made it worthwhile.
We stayed at the cutest bed and breakfast just across the border, the Inn at Whitewing Farm, and the owners did a great job accommodating for my gluten-free needs and recommending restaurants in the area (Harvest Seasonal Grill was fantastic). While the Brandywine Valley of Pennsylvania and Delaware was beautiful, there didn’t seem to be a lot to do there as a tourist, and we weren’t able to find any cute gift stores. The one thing we didn’t get to that I think would have been fun was going to one of the local wineries for a tasting.
All in all, it was an amazing trip. We crammed so much into the 4.5 days we were on the East Coast! Like I said, if I had known from the start we would rent a car I probably would have chosen a different location in Delaware or different activities in New Jersey, but we still had such a great time. It was warmer than I expected for early October (I forgot to account for the humidity!), so light layers ended up being my best friend on this trip. I had packed a few sweaters but never wore them. And of course, comfortable walking shoes are always a must—especially in a city like Philly where it’s so easy to walk everywhere. We only Ubered once to the Penitentiary, and only rented the car for the second half of the trip (you definitely don’t need a car in Philadelphia).
I know this post is longgg, but I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if you have any questions about the trip or these locations. It was so much fun going with just my mom, and I hope we get to go on another vacation together soon.
Miles of smiles,
Grace
Sounds like you had a great trip! I’ve only been to the Philly zoo and that was years ago!
Yes, it was so much fun! Thanks for reading.