August 25, 2021
In Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell has a small building dedicated to it across the street from Independence Hall. Through at least June 2019, visitors were able to walk all the way around the bell, but now you can’t. Exhibits show how the bell and its symbolic meaning have been used throughout U.S. history. Independence Hall has been reconstructed on the inside to look as it was during the time of the Constitutional Convention. Next door to it is Congress Hall, where the legislative branch met while Philadelphia was the national capitol.
Philadelphia was my big trip of the year, booked when I thought COVID rules might be mitigated by late August (LOL). I strategically set things up so I wouldn’t have a car while downtown, but then make it to a roadgeek meet in Cleveland. This trip netted me 33 new counties in seven states, including my first by train and the third of three in Delaware. I also saw my 43rd and 44th state capitols, although Trenton was exterior-only because of both COVID and construction.
The bell and the nation it represents may both be imperfect, but the inscription remains true: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof!”