Philadelphia Tourists Caught By Surprise As Historic Sites Close
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The National Park Service says that at this time of year, 10,000 visitors a day make their way through Philadelphia's historic sites.
Today, many tourist were disappointed, as sites run by the federal government were closed due to the government shutdown.
A group of Chinese tourists were laughing and taking photos of the sign on the door of the Liberty Bell Center. The sign said, "Because of the federal government shutdown, this National Park service facility is closed."
"It is interesting to see this sign anyway," said one woman visiting from China. "It's not usual in my own country that the federal government would shut down."
"I feel bad for the people that are furloughed from their jobs and all of the people who came from all around to this spot," said Herschel Johnson, visiting from San Diego, "but we've got a bunch of knuckleheads in Washington who seem to have a different agenda and they don't care about this."
Other sites closed include Independence Hall, the Franklin museum in Franklin Court, the Edgar Allan Poe House.
And perhaps because of the difficulty of making last-minute changes to National Park Service web sites, the NPS has replaced information about its sites with a message saying simply, "Because of the federal government shutdown, all national parks are closed and National Park Service webpages are not operating. For more information, go to www.doi.gov."
