Just got back from a short vacation in the nation's first capital. I worked there for a couple of summers but this is my first time staying in Center City. It was awesome, and I offer you this List of Things to Do in Philadelphia:
Visit Museums!
The Franklin Institute is a must for children and nerds. There's a Giant Heart exhibit, Machines in Motion, Space!, and all sorts of interactive displays you can get your paws on. This season's special is the Dead Sea Scrolls, but I'm going to spare you the waiting in line with this magical link to the Digital Dead Sea Scrolls, which uses Google mayitliveforever technology.
Meanwhile, the National Constitution Center features tons of super informative multimedia to get you pumped for AMERICA!
Eat, Eat, Eat!
Chatting with my coworkers this morning confirmed that I am not alone in planning activities around food. My travel philosophy is: if I ate good food, the trip was a success. Forget the sights. My stomach has eyes, too!
We fed at Morimoto (<--do not click if you hate Flash!) and did the Omakase ("Leave it to me!" in Japanese), meaning the chefs chose our food for us. Thank you, chef-san.
There's also Parc, a chic brasserie in Rittenhouse Square, where coiffed people and tiny dogs gather.
We waited out a thunderstorm in Old City's newly opened Monkey Bar, so new it has no website yet!, where a man versus woman fight broke out outside and the police were there in under two minutes, I kid you not.
Finally, check out Continental, whose retro decoration sadly does not include 1970's prices. Fortunately, the food is delicious and the portions are actually normal human-sized!
Become a Vegetarian (Briefly)!
My college professor quit smoking by finishing two packs of cigarettes in one sitting. Similarly, if delicious meat has been eating away at your resolve to become vegetarian, Fogo de Chão on Chestnut Street is the place for you!
First, wait 45 minutes to be seated. Once parked, your butt will get assaulted by the noise. Then you have to get up and get yourself a salad from the salad bar. Sit down again, graze, then flip over your card to indicate that you're ready to become vegetarian. The harried waitstaff will instantly materialize to dump slabs of meat on your plate, and you'll never want to eat beef ever again!
For extra fun, the servers whisk away your half-eaten side dishes and replace them with (sparkle) brand new side dishes (sparkle), chucking out the perfectly good food you were still working on. I was so...moved...by my experience here. I give it four barf bags out of five.
Enjoy Nature!
Valley Forge National Historic Park is enormous and would be a terrific bicycle ride, but alas, all we had was mom's Panda Pilot. We strolled around Washington's headquarters, wood cabins with little beds, and statues. Fiancé explained how artillery cannons work. I demonstrate the incorrect way below:
Pennypack Park seems smaller by comparison, but it's so huge that mom and I got lost in there once. We eventually emerged in civilization, so far from where we parked the car that we had to take a bus back. Anyway, here you can run, walk, bike, fish, and feed geese. Yay nature!
In conclusion: Philly is fun.
Now get back to work, you!
Visit Museums!
The Franklin Institute is a must for children and nerds. There's a Giant Heart exhibit, Machines in Motion, Space!, and all sorts of interactive displays you can get your paws on. This season's special is the Dead Sea Scrolls, but I'm going to spare you the waiting in line with this magical link to the Digital Dead Sea Scrolls, which uses Google mayitliveforever technology.
Meanwhile, the National Constitution Center features tons of super informative multimedia to get you pumped for AMERICA!
 |
| America wants YOU! for something. |
Eat, Eat, Eat!
Chatting with my coworkers this morning confirmed that I am not alone in planning activities around food. My travel philosophy is: if I ate good food, the trip was a success. Forget the sights. My stomach has eyes, too!
We fed at Morimoto (<--do not click if you hate Flash!) and did the Omakase ("Leave it to me!" in Japanese), meaning the chefs chose our food for us. Thank you, chef-san.
There's also Parc, a chic brasserie in Rittenhouse Square, where coiffed people and tiny dogs gather.
We waited out a thunderstorm in Old City's newly opened Monkey Bar, so new it has no website yet!, where a man versus woman fight broke out outside and the police were there in under two minutes, I kid you not.
Finally, check out Continental, whose retro decoration sadly does not include 1970's prices. Fortunately, the food is delicious and the portions are actually normal human-sized!
Become a Vegetarian (Briefly)!
My college professor quit smoking by finishing two packs of cigarettes in one sitting. Similarly, if delicious meat has been eating away at your resolve to become vegetarian, Fogo de Chão on Chestnut Street is the place for you!
First, wait 45 minutes to be seated. Once parked, your butt will get assaulted by the noise. Then you have to get up and get yourself a salad from the salad bar. Sit down again, graze, then flip over your card to indicate that you're ready to become vegetarian. The harried waitstaff will instantly materialize to dump slabs of meat on your plate, and you'll never want to eat beef ever again!
For extra fun, the servers whisk away your half-eaten side dishes and replace them with (sparkle) brand new side dishes (sparkle), chucking out the perfectly good food you were still working on. I was so...moved...by my experience here. I give it four barf bags out of five.
Enjoy Nature!
Valley Forge National Historic Park is enormous and would be a terrific bicycle ride, but alas, all we had was mom's Panda Pilot. We strolled around Washington's headquarters, wood cabins with little beds, and statues. Fiancé explained how artillery cannons work. I demonstrate the incorrect way below:
 |
| cannons pew pew pew |
Pennypack Park seems smaller by comparison, but it's so huge that mom and I got lost in there once. We eventually emerged in civilization, so far from where we parked the car that we had to take a bus back. Anyway, here you can run, walk, bike, fish, and feed geese. Yay nature!
In conclusion: Philly is fun.
Now get back to work, you!
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