Let Freedom Ring: Visiting The Liberty Bell 1960's Style

Last week my family and I drove to Philadelphia, PA for a mini family trip. This trip marks the first time we have traveled and stayed in a hotel as a family of five. We were there for just three days but we filled them up and enjoyed every moment.

Let me start with getting there. It is supposed to be a two hour drive but it turned into a six hour drive due to the rain and bummer to bummer traffic (gah!). I can say though that thank goodness we had a dvd player for the car ride and also that our babies were huge sports through it all. We didn't do much the first day besides relax. It was so joyful to see the kids go bonkers at the hotel. I think if I told them that staying at the hotel was the vacation they would have been pleased as punch, truly.

Our second day was massively jammed packed with activities, so much so that I split it into three posts. For the first part of our day, my hubby (with our children) drove me to see Celeste Giuliano for a extra special photo shoot. I had the pleasure of working with Celeste when I first began my vintage journey. You can see the photos here.

I should be getting my photos soon and I cannot wait to share them with you all. I did this shoot because of something I love dearly and find joy in and I needed to capture it. When you see the photos, you will know why. I can give you this teaser....no one else has ever done this theme in a pinup photo shoot...ever! Yikes! Lots of pressure...nah! It was so much fun to see Celeste and work with her Muah (Raina Clarke). The shoot was so creative and oodles of fun. I couldn't ask for a better morning spent with two such lovely women.

Since I already has some fabulous 1960's hair and makeup done, I decided to work it into the rest of my day. And boy did I! I paired up my look with this wonderful 1950's dress that I scored on Ebay. I just love the buttons, don't you?

Even my babies joined in the fun and all decided to pose and ham it up for the camera! hehe You should have seen them when they saw me dressed up with full 60's hair and makeup. They were so happy and they kept telling me how beautiful I looked. Oh my-I am blessed.

It was a HOT and I mean HOT day in Philly and even though I was practically melting away we decided to treat the kiddies to some old fashioned ice cream. And I truly mean old fashioned! Bassett's has been around since 1861 and is a fifth-generation family owned business. How neat is that!

The ice cream was creamy and delicious! From there, while the babies ate their ice cream (we had our double stroller with us) we walked over to see if we could see the Liberty Bell and other historical sites. And we did!

We found out that to view the Liberty Bell was free, which was neat to find out. The line moved rather swiftly also. What I liked about going inside (aside from the air conditioner) was that they had various exhibits of how the Liberty Bell inspired others to pursue freedom and equality. They had a section on slavery as well as a section on women, which you can see in the photo below.

It was such a moving exhibit and to see it in person was marvelous. Being that close to American History was just so neat. If you click on the link I attached above about the Liberty Bell you can find out how it cracked. It an interesting story. After we left we passed by the Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were debated and adopted.

We loved every minute being in Philly and decided we will defiantly return again. Its just like a small quaint city and to have so much history around you is just so lovely. Its one of the reasons why I adore Europe so much-the history. Being at these sites reminded me again how young our country really is and also how precious our history is. That all American should really know its  history and feel proud of it.

After we left the Liberty Bell, we walked over to visit the Betsy Ross House. Stay tuned tomorrow for a post about one heck of an inspirational woman!