what is a must-see in Philly...

[The Mermaid Queen]

We may have the chance to go to Philly for about a week at the end of June, and may even be able to stay for Independence Day!

If we get to go, we will be in an historic hotel near Temple U.

Any suggestions of what to see/how to strategize/how to economize?? :?

tia!

 

[SeanB]

I've never been but a true Philly Cheesesteak Sandwhich would have to be one of my stops! Three are two restaurants that are known to have the best ones but I can't remember their names at the moment.

You were probably looking for something a little more cultural. :lol:

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Culture is fairly easy to find, though I was looking for that also... if you remember the names of the cheesesteak places, let me know!

My family doesn't eat to live, we live to eat!!!

 

[RAA]

Gino's and Pat's. They are on the same street and both are soo good... There are other hole in the wall type of places that have very good roast beef sandiwches as well. I was there in 2000 for the Republican Convention (I was working) and we ventured out a lot.
Good Luck...

Gino's and Pat's

 

[SeanB]

Those are the one's I was thinking of.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Lunch... check!!

Thanks!

 

[divnkd101]

Well by all means, you have to see Independence Hall, Franklin Square, Franklin Court. You definitely have to take in all of the historical part of the town.... Liberty Bell. If you are up there for a week and have never been to D.C. then I would suggest a drive down there as well. Have fun.... Got any room for a stowaway?????

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

I doubt if DC would be an option... this is a family tag-along to a non-essential work-related trip for DH... Most of the time it will just be DD and myself doing the fun stuff, as DH will have to be working.
We are not even sure it will work out... the hotel is paid by DH's work, but we aould still have meals, and if gas gets much pricier, well, DH says we have to do some serious calculations.

 

[JSHILLING]

Remember that the US Mint is in Philly also - They use to have a nice tour

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Hey, maybe we could go to the mint and make some extra cash to subsidize our trip!

I went to Philly when I was about 7 or 8, and remember seeing the Liberty Bell and the Mint. We got to mint out some kind of commemorative coin. The rest was just boring stuff. However, in our homeschool, we have been studying some Am History (Thanks to the movie National Treasure, which gave my dd10 an interest) and she is SO pumped. She is searching for cool things for us to do, and haws found lots of things. Too much history, too little time!!

I really hope this will work out!

 

[tpg]

Philadelphia.....hmmm,

"Welcome to the city of Brotherly Love! Lock and load upon entry!" It is the only place where I have ever been robbed...well attempted robbery actually. I was in uniform and had my wallet in my sock. Ok, so that is not what you wanted to hear and I know that. I have been there several times since and have had a great time each visit.

to give you a helping hand, take a look at their tourism site: Go Philadelphia

Also King Tut is there until September. Would be a great time to visit.

TPG

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Thanks for the link, tpg. Having grown up near New Orleans, and now living near Cincinnati, I am full aware of the crime potential of big cities. Though, as you pointed out, awareness really doesn't really mean a thing when somebody is determined to do you wrong/harm.

Our hotel is right near Temple U. I have no idea exactly where that is, or if it is a 'safe' area. Most days it will just be myself and dd, as DH will be working. :? I am also unsure of how dd and I will get around... we may have to do public transportation, and I have never in my life taken a bus! Does Philly have an L or a subway or anything? It should be an interesting trip from many different angles!!

DD loves ancient Egypt from our history studies, and when the King Tut exhibit was in New Orleans a couple years ago we took it all in... very cool! Didn't think I would get her out of the museum!! :lol:

 

[tpg]

Which campus do you plan on being near? You can review the campus maps here: Temple Maps

Most of the tourist site are near city center, or downtown Phila. If you want to visit that area, I reccomend Phlash which you can read about here:
Philly Phlash

If you are familiar with the Grey Line Tours, it is very similar. It is only $1.

Yes Philadelphia does have subways and buses. The last time I heard it was $5.00 for unlimited rides per day. Might be a little more now. You can find it on the above link as well.

If you ever make it to DC...let me know, I know it better.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

I'm pretty sure it is the main campus.

Thanks for all the great info. We would like to get to DC, but not this trip.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

In case anyone was curious, We did indeed make it to Philly weekend before last. We had great fun. The hotel was just on the edge of, well, um, a not so great part of town, but mostly there were students where we were.

I was the official "Put your nose down, don't make eye contact, act like you know what you are doing, and the subway will be perfectly safe" person! I have never used public transportation (except with parents when we visited DC a zillion years ago.... I think it was the Roosevelt administration (actually Carter)) and I was a pro on the subway! had to transfer trains and everything!! We also used the Philly Phlash a couple times, and that was fun! smelled better, too!

We did the Historical stuff. Missed the mint, as the lines were long and DH wanted to leave. (We saved it for the last day so he could go with us, since he is a bean counter!) Saw the Franklin Institute Science museum (where Tut was) but skipped the Tut part since we had already seen it.

We ate at Pat's... were gonna do a comparison, but did not have a chance to get back to Gino's! Of course, everybody at Pat's said it was the best! I did hear one brave soul say (softly!) that Gino's had better fries, but he was quickly admonished by his friends! It was really good... Provolone pepper steak wit; cheese fries.

We also ate with our whole group at a Moroccan restaurant... that was an experience! You eat with your hands for the most part, using pita bread when possible. There was one germ-o-phobic lady with us, and I thought she was gonna die!! (The subway nearly did her in... she needed a vat of purell, and knew the kids were going to contract some horrible disease!) I think had it just been she and her hubby, she still would not have enjoyed it too much. My family loved it!

Dh also discovered he liked Vietnamese food, although I think that day dd and I were having s'barro or Wendy's for lunch... what an injustice!

All in all a wonderful trip! DD wanted to "Ride the Ducks" but that was very expensive. Hope we get to go back sometime.

I think next year's non-essential work-related trip might be to DC, so I may be asking more q's, tpg!

 

[joenj]

Having been born and raised in Philly, I am glad to hear your trip went well. Did you catch any of the fireworks that weekend?

Joe

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

no fireworks... We ended up leaving on the afternoon of the 3rd, figuring the 4th would be crazy! (not to mention we would have had to pick up the extra 2 nights of lodging ourselves, and it just was not in the budget.)

So, Joe... which is it? Gino's or Pat's??
(part of out thought process in choosing was that Gino's was so covered in neon and Pat's was plain... Pat's must be better because they didn't have to use all that flash!)

 

[mbar]

I'm heading to Philly to see the King Tut exhibitions next Tuesday. Philly is a beautiful city

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Here's a preview:

(My daughter is the sullen-looking one on the left -- didn't want to be in the photo )

 

[mbar]

Hee, Hee, that is the normal expression for her age I am looking forward to seeing the exhibit. Three of my children live in the Philly area, and I'm only about 2 hrs away 8)