As with every major city, the variety of places to visit in and around Philadelphia is as extensive as the interests of its visitors. Your hotel’s concierge is supplied with tour information for sites close by the Philadelphia Marriott as well as in the surrounding countryside. But when you come to Philadelphia—the cradle of our country’s freedom and independence—there is hallowed ground of which you should be able to say "I was there."

Many of the sites are within Independence National Historical Park, a short walk from the Philadelphia Marriott. Most of the park extends from Second to Sixth streets between Walnut and Market streets, where you can see a historical film, ask questions, and get a map for a walking tour.

A good place to start is the Visitors’ Center, at Third and Chestnut streets. From the Visitors’ Center, proceed to 320 Chestnut Street, Carpenters’ Hall, which was lent by the Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia to the First Continental Congress for its debate on taxation without representation. Also on Chestnut Street between Third and Fourth streets is the Marine Corps Memorial Museum, commemorating the history of the Marine Corps from 1775 to 1805, and also the Army-Navy Museum.

As you proceed west, at 420 Chestnut Street is the Second Bank of the United States, with the portrait collection of Independence National Historical Park. At the southwest corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets is Old City Hall, occupied by the U.S. Supreme Court from 1791 to 1800.

Now you are at the center of it all—Independence Hall, built in 1732. It is between Fifth and Sixth streets on Chestnut Street. In Independence Hall, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, and George Washington accepted appointment as commander-in-chief. The Liberty Bell was housed in Independence Hall for many years. However, in 1976 the bell was relocated to a specially built glass pavilion across from Independence Hall on Chestnut Street. And at the corner of Sixth and Chestnut streets is Congress Hall. From 1790 to 1800, this was the home of the U.S. Congress and also the site of George Washington’s second inauguration and that of John Adams.

Additional sites pertinent to our country’s beginnings include the following: The Graff House at the southwest corner of Seventh and Market streets is a reconstruction of the building in which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. At Fourth and Walnut streets, the Todd House was home to Dolly Payne Todd prior to her marriage to James Madison. The Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial is at Third and Pine streets (four blocks south of Chestnut) and has presentations of Kosciuszko’s contributions to the Revolution. At 239 Arch Street (two blocks north of Chestnut) is the Betsy Ross House, which needs no further description.

Three houses of worship are close by. Fifteen signers of the Declaration of Independence attended services at Christ Church on Second Street (between Market and Arch streets), and the pews occupied by Washington, Franklin, and Betsy Ross are marked. The church’s burial ground at Fifth and Arch streets holds the graves of Franklin and four other signers of the Declaration, including the father of American psychiatry, Benjamin Rush. Old St. Joseph’s Church at 321 Willings Alley (Fourth Street, south of Walnut Street) was the first Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia, attended by Lafayette and Rochambeau. St. Peter’s Church (Episcopal), located at 313 Pine Street, was attended by four signers of the Declaration.

Another spot harkening back to the earliest days of the city is Elfreth’s Alley, located north of Arch Street between Front and Second streets. While most of the homes are not open to visitors except on special occasions since they are private dwellings, the Elfreth’s Alley Museum at 126 Elfreth’s Alley is open.

There are several museums worth visiting within walking distance of the Marriott. The Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum on the northwest corner of Seventh and Arch streets documents the history of black culture in America. The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies is at 18 South Seventh Street, close to the Liberty Bell, and traces the history of immigration to the U.S. The National Museum of American Jewish History, at 55 North Fifth Street, documents Jewish participation in American history. The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, at 118 North Broad Street, houses major collections of American art. Toward the late 1800s Thomas Eakins was a senior faculty member. The Curtis Center, on Walnut between Fifth and Sixth streets, has a spectacular lobby with a Maxfield Parrish painting titled "The Dream Garden," done in tiles by Tiffany.

I’ll finish with two other places to visit. The United States Mint, at Fifth and Arch streets, offers an interesting tour, and on the waterfront at Penn’s Landing, near Delaware Avenue (Columbus Boulevard) and Walnut Street, you can tour Admiral Dewey’s flagship, as well as a very small W.W. II submarine, the U.S.S. Becuna.

Enjoy the city and have a wonderful meeting.