Gentle Tourists,
To you I offer the following advice when visiting Philadelphia: skip the tour of Independence Hall.
No matter how “free” it is, it’s not worth the hour that you will spend waiting in line(s), going through “security” (ahem! my mace made it through totally unquestioned, I can’t even get into the Troc with that stuff), and then enduring the “tour” (haha! jokes about the genocide of Native Americans is funny — woohoo! [yes, that's sarcasm]).
I went this week with my wonderful & patient friend who was visiting from San Diego. It was TERRIBLE! I’m lucky I still have a friend.
So don’t do it. Walk by, take pictures from all sides, and move along. You’ll thank me. I swear.
however, dear tour guide, never forget the undying power of the “brainstorming/cluster room” and the “signing room.” i mean, those sorts of things just can’t be summed up in under forty minues…right?
you’re absolutely right. anything less than 40 minutes would not allow enough time to harass the foreign tourists. and we just couldn’t have that.