Things To Do: Markets!

Some more info on Philly, stolen from Lonely Planet and some other place I forgot to write down. But Philadelphia has these great markets, we went to one last time we were there, with all kinds of food stands and fresh yummies.

Reading Terminal Market

Location: 12th & Arch Street

The Reading Terminal Market can trace its origins to early Philadelphia when farmers would sell their produce in the middle of East Market Street. By 1857, the street market was closed by the city as a traffic obstruction and an indoor facility built at the present site. In 1889, the Reading Railroad reached an agreement to build its terminal on the site with provision for the market under its viaduct and immense train shed. The market originally extended for several blocks and included a section that was entirely refrigerated---a remarkable feature of the time.

Over the years, a number of changes have taken place. The Reading Terminal ceased to serve trains in 1984 when an underground station was constructed. The train shed above the market became an entrance for the Pennsylvania Convention Hall. The market itself suffered from the general decline of Philadelphia's fortunes and eventually shrank to its present one block area. In recent years, an urban revival has improved economic conditions at the market that now appears to enjoy full tenancy. One modernization regretted by some was the replacement of the curious century-old fixtures in the restrooms.

At present, one will find a bustling market in an antique setting selling a variety of products, some to be eaten on the spot. Some of the long- time tenants are locally famous vendors of ice cream, clam chowder, etc. Of particular interest to visitors are the Amish and Mennonite vendors, but be warned that they do not work on Sundays.



Italian Market

Location: Washington & Ninth

The country's largest outdoor market, it's where butchers and artisans hawk produce and cheese, homemade pastas, incredible pastries and freshly slaughtered fish and meats, from lamb to pheasant.

Down 9th Street in this area are Pat's & Geno's -- the two most famous cheesesteak places in Philadelphia!

Benjamin Franklin Is Everywhere

Benjamin Franklin is everywhere in Philadelphia. Chances are you will see him. He's the happy ghost that haunts Philadelphia.

Matt loves Ben Franklin. And why not? The man is about as interesting as a human being can be. And obviously, he's very much associated with Philadelphia. If you are also a Franklin aficionado, here's some stops:

Franklin Court is where Ben's house once stood. Now it has this frame and evidently you can look through portals. There is also an underground museum.

Franklin's Print Shop recreates his 18th century printing press.

Pennsylvania Hospital -- Hopefully you won't have to go here, but if you do, it's the country's first hospital and was founded by Benjamin Franklin

University of Pennsylvania-- The country's first university, was also founded by Benjamin Franklin. Busy guy. The campus is lovely, their hall is originally where we wanted to have the reception (it looks like the Great Hall in Hogwarts).

Benjamin Franklin, along with some other notable folks, is buried at Christ Church Burial Ground.

Unsurprisingly, they named half the city after him, such as the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It is a major thoroughfare in Philadelphia, you'll probably be on it at some point - since it goes right by the Free Library.

Also, the Franklin Bridge, which was largest suspension bridge when it was built -- it connects Philadelphia to New Jersey.

And of course, the Franklin Institute - which we totally recommend visiting if you have time. It's a pretty awesome science museum. It's located right next to the Free Library in Logan Square.

And among other things, he signed both Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

Philadelphia is definitely Ben Franklin's town!

Things To Do: Philadelphia Nature!

The NY Times recently had an article on Philadelphia Area Gardens.

The article focuses on Jenkins Arboretum and Gardens in Devon, Pa.; Chanticleer Garden in Wayne; Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College; Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia; and Highlands Mansion and Gardens. And links to this very helpful page about Greater Philadelphia Gardens

For the nature lovers, I'll add a couple more. And once again, most of the descriptions are from Lonely Planet, because I am incapable of briefly explaining anything.




John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum

86th Street and Lindberg Boulevard Philadelphia, PA 19113
Tel: +1 215 365 3118
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/heinz/

It's a freshwater tidal marsh right next to the airport. It's visited by 300 different species of birds and has 10 miles of trails. They also have fishing and canoeing.




Fairmount Park
http://www.fairmountpark.org/

The snaking Schuylkill River bisects this 9,200-acre greenspace − bigger than New York's Central Park and, in fact, the largest city park in the country. From the earliest days of spring every corner is thrumming with activity − ball games, runners, picnickers, you name it. The enthusiasm is catchy and you'll certainly want to join them. Runners will love the tree-lined, riverside trails, which range from 2 miles to 10 miles in length.




Morris Arboretum

100 E. Northwestern Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19118
215-247-5777
http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum/index.shtml

The Morris Arboretum is a wonderful place to visit for those who love trees, plants, beautiful landscapes and interesting sculpture. The grounds are laid out as a series of separate areas, with nice views across the grounds. Examples of areas within the grounds include the rose garden (a beautiful, sophisticated planting that is a riot of color in June) and a railroad garden (a miniature train line that runs through a planting that mimic a landscape). Throughout the garden one finds a wide array of pleasing sculptures (see attached photo of the Greenman sculputure that was carved out of a tree trunk). There is also a visitor's center and cafe on site.

One can easily spend the entire day at the arboretum, but enjoy parts of it in just an hour or two if that is all the time one had or wanted to spend. The arboretum is located on the very northern edge of Philadelphia, which is about 20 miles north of downtown Philadelphia. It is easiest to get there by car. A taxi ride from downtown runs about $50 with tip. One can get there via regional rail (either Chestnut Hill station, end of the line), then public bus to a nearby college, then about a 10 minute walk from there. A compromise is to take a taxi there and the bus/train back.




Bartram's Garden

54th St. and Lindbergh Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19143

215.729.5281
info@bartramsgarden.org

They talk about Bartram's Garden in the NY Times article, but here's the description from Lonely Planet:

Bartram's Garden was the first botanical garden and commercial nursery in the United States. The property consists of Bartram's historic home, a central garden area and a series of woodland paths, some of which border the nearby river. There are numerous unusual and old trees on the property. When in the garden property one would have no idea one was in the middle of the city. It is a quiet and scenic property. There is a small gift shop on site. On weekends the garden sometimes has special events, for example talks on the history of greenhouses in America or demonstrations of a potter making flower pots in historical style.

The garden is located near the edge of Philadelphia in a part of the city that is industrialized and also contains residential/businesses and public housing. One can get to the garden via the "trolley", a train car that starts out underground but then emerges away from downtown and acts as a streetcar from there. The garden's website contains directions (http://www.bartramsgarden.org/). It is about one block to the garden from the nearest trolley stop.

Things To Do: Sports!

Philadelphia has a couple great sports teams, so we thought we'd give you the information in case you wanted to take in a game!

The Philadelphia Phillies will be away on our wedding weekend, but they come back on Monday if you're making a trip out of it. Here's their schedule.






The Philadelphia Eagles will be in town, playing the Chiefs at 1:00 on Sunday, September 27th. Tickets go on sale in July. Here's their schedule.

Enjoy!

Things To Do: Philadelphia Hearts Arts!

Philadelphia has a surprising amount of pretty great Art Museums. If you like the pretty pictures, there's some good options. The info below is from the Lonely Planet Guide:

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Address: 26th St & Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, Museum District
Phone: 763 8100
Website: www.philamuseum.org
Transport: bus: 32, 38, 43, 76
Hours: Tue, Thu, Sat & Sun 10:00 - 17:00 ; Wed, Fri 10:00 - 20:45

Modeled after the Champs Elysées in Paris, the parkway is a center of museums and other landmarks, of which the Philadelphia Museum of Art is a highlight. It's one of the nation's largest and most important museums, with excellent collections of Asian art, Renaissance masterpieces, post-impressionist works and modern pieces by Picasso, Duchamp and Matisse.

The grand stairway at its entrance was immortalized when Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps in the 1976 flick Rocky .




Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Address: 118 N Broad St, Museum District
Phone: 972 7600
Website: www.pafa.org
Transport: SEPTA Race-Vine

Pennsylvania has many fine museums. One of the most interesting is the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, a prestigious Philadelphia academy that has a museum with works by American painters, including Charles Willson Peale and Thomas Eakins. The museum lives in an oddball Victorian building designed by Frank Furness.




Institute of Contemporary Art

Address: 118 S 36th St, University City
Phone: 215 898 5911
Website: www.icaphila.org

On the campus of U Penn, the heralded Institute of Contemporary Art is an excellent place to catch fresh shows by folks making a big splash at the cutting-edge of the art world.




Barnes Foundation Gallery

Address: 300 N Lodges Lane, Fairmount Pk
Phone: 667 0290
Website: www.barnesfoundation.org
Transport: SEPTA R5 Merion Station

The Barnes Foundation Gallery houses an exceptionally fine collection of impressionist, post-impressionist and early French modern paintings, including works by Cézanne, Degas, Matisse, Monet, Picasso, Renoir and Van Gogh.

Things To Do: Pennsylvania Wineries

Evidently the state of Pennsylvania has like 100 wineries -- who knew? Several of them have won all kinds of National and International awards -- who knew? There is a comprehensive website: http://www.pennsylvaniawine.com/ -- that has information on each of the wineries and a map of their locations. There's a gaggle within an easy drive of Philadelphia.

My parents are going to visit some of the wineries on their way up north in June, to choose the best wine for the wedding! Matt and I went to a tasting at Crossing Vineyards over Christmas, I think they may actually be the most expensive winery in Pennsylvania, but it was really good. Let me qualify that -- to Matt and I, who can probably count on two hands the amount of wine we've drank in our lives -- it was really good.

We considered having our reception at a winery, but we wanted to stay pretty close to the airport for the ease of our guests and we're not super into wine. We are rather into books though, hence the Library won out!

But if you like wine, and have the time, this could be a fun thing to do. And scenic, since most of the wineries are in very pretty areas.

Things To Do: The Liberty Bell & Independence Hall

The Liberty Bell is certainly a must see, and Independence Hall would be high on most lists. And if our Liberty Bell Forever stamps and Liberty Bell icon on the side of the website hasn't subconsciously drawn you to see the Liberty Bell, I don't know what will.

The Liberty Bell used to be in Independence Hall, but now it contains the "Centennial Bell" and the Liberty Bell has it's own digs across the street.



Independence Hall is where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. Every time I think of it, songs from the musical '1776' start playing in my head ("Someone outta open up a window....").



Tickets are required for tours of Independence Hall. You can get them there, the day of, but they recommend doing it early, or you can order them in advance -- the information is on the website.

They are both open 9 to 5.

http://www.independencevisitorcenter.com/

Things To Do: The Philadelphia Zoo

We actually toured the Philadelphia Zoo as a possible reception location. And it would have been awesome, but none of the possible reception spaces were right for us. But we definitely recommend that you check out the zoo!

Evidently it's America's First Zoo. It actually opened in 1874 (after a 15 year delay due to the Civil War).

Matt went to the zoo often as a child. His most enduring memory is that it would always be the time of year when the Giant Tortoises were mating. His parents told him they were wrestling.

When we toured, they mentioned having a cocktail hour at Big Cat Falls, but you can only eat in parts where the Big Cats can't see you. Because, y'know, they like eating. This sounded a little potentially dangerous for our guests.

You could also have your event at the Primate Reserve -- which we were interested in, since we love monkeys. But being monkeys and all, they seemed to enjoy peeing and playing with themselves, at least when we visited.

This is turning into a very dirty blog post all of a sudden.

My favorite when we went, were actually the elephants. They blended into their home so well I had walked almost all the way by them without noticing, despite the fact that they are really really really huge.

They have lots and lots of peacocks that roam freely throughout the zoo. Sometimes they'll take you by surprise when they're up in the trees.

In September, both the Swan Boats and the Zoo Balloon are open. The Balloon gives you a bird's eye view of the zoo.

My parents and I only saw half the zoo when we went, because we had other reception locations to look at and it was a really hot day, but what we saw was very impressive. They had a really wide array of animals. Definitely recommended!

Brandywine Valley

The Brandywine Valley is an area along the Brandywine River in Northern Delaware and Southern Pennsylvania. It's about an hour from Center City Philadelphia and 45 minutes from the airport. It's a great day trip or would be a great place to stay if you have the extra time.

You can check out thebrandywine.com for great information on the adorable bed and breakfasts, quaint restaurants and neat attractions in the Brandywine Valley.

But we'd also like to recommend a few:

~ Longwood Gardens ~

I've never been here! But Matt has. And so have my parents. And everyone says it's absolute must.

Longwood, like a lot of the attractions in Brandywine Valley, is a former property of the Du Pont family. You can also visit their former residences at Winterthur & Nemours Mansion.

~ The Brandywine Museum ~

The other famous family of the Brandywine Valley is the Wyeth family of artists. And this museum showcases their work.

I went here several years ago with my family. And anyone who ever visited our Weymouth house and used our downstairs bathroom will almost certainly never forget that print of the fat hairy pig with all the utters. Well, you can see where Mom bought that! The Brandywine Museum!

~ Faunbrook B&B ~

There are many very cute B&B's in the area, and you can read about them on thebrandywine.com, but Matt & I stayed at Faunbrook and it was super lovely. Lori and Steve are super nice and accommodating. Steve makes breakfast in the morning and I still remember the cheese and onion quiche we had, it was really good.

~ Simon Pearce ~

I had never even heard of Simon Pearce before last year, but Mom and Dad had been to their flagship store and restaurant in Vermont and so we stopped off here when we were in town. The minute we walked in I was in love. They have all handmade glass and pottery. But they also have a restaurant that is super super yummy. I can still remember the polenta fries that came with my chicken. And warm apple cider. Yum. It's a pretty swanky restaurant but they recently instituted a new less expensive bistro menu. They also occasionally have glassblowing demonstrations.