Interp Week ‼️

Spent my week with Interpretation. Sadly, This was the last division that I had to visit for a week. They were amazing and very honest in the way that they proceeded to do things. I had the pleasure of shadowing two regular interp rangers, who go from post to post answering questions and guarding the buildings. Being able to be on the inside looking in has helped me gain knowledge on all they have to deal with. For the first two days I went and helped guard the Liberty Bell, Second Bank, Independence Hall, West Wing & The Benjamin Franklin Museum. They explained in detail how every building works, what they look for and exactly what to say to the visitors.

A life size Benjamin Franklin

Standing next to the “Rising Sun Chair” where they signed the Declaration of Independence  

In the Benjamin Franklin Museum it is kid friendly and instead of the usual DO NOT TOUCH it says PLEAS TOUCH, I found that pretty cool. 

As the week went on I worked with a Tour guide Interp, they told the visitors the history behind each building on the tour and it was truly amazing hearing them speak so passionately about the buildings. The tours consisted of Congress Hall, where they explained the importance of the court and how it functioned. The popular tour is the Independence Hall tour and that’s where they signed the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. I even went on the Ben Franklin walking tour; where guide walk around the park talking about the history behind his work. Lastly, I was able to to help out at the Visitor’s Center where I helped give out tickets and boy does those tickets run out fast. It’s given out on a first come first serve basis and by 10am the desk can be either sold out or on the 3:00 tickets already, with the line wrapped around the hall and people waiting for tickets. Some can make reservations and others just come with hopes they get an early ticket. They also hold these Junior Rangers books where little kids can visit each building and fill out the booklet for each building and at the end of it come back to the visitors center to earn their Junior Rangers Badge. I had a fun time explaining to people the different things they can do around the park and guiding them to the things to see. 

I enjoyed my time with Interpretation and once again I was left wanting to spend more time with them. They were very joyful and it definitely showed on the visitors who thanks them and complimented how great they made their experience.