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Image of Philadelphia
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Image of The Franklin Institute
Philadelphia has a sense of place and culture all its own.
By Chris King
St. Louis understands the “second city” complex, ranking second in the Midwest to a metropolis that is itself known as the Second City, so we can appreciate Philadelphia, a world-class travel destination located in the shadow of the 700-pound gorilla called New York City.
Philadelphia has what Midwesterners love about Manhattan—fabulous cultural offerings in a walkable city—but it also has a genuine sense of place you won’t find in the great city of transplants. That sense is gritty but cultured, homey but international—like the city father, Benjamin Franklin. This year marks the 300th anniversary of his birth, so the city is celebrating with a long round of concerts and festivals, and all are welcome.
The Franklin Institute (www.fi.edu) is a hands-on place where kids can burn off energy and learn about science at every tumble. Next, remember the steps Rocky Balboa ran up as part of his training regimen? They lead to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (www.philamuseum.org), with its pillared temple hall from Madura, India. Just walk briskly until you see something big enough to live in.
The other museum you can’t miss is the Mutter Museum (www.collphyphil.org), which originated in the teaching collections of surgery professors. The wall of skulls keeps visitors’ mouths gaping like empty eye sockets. And don’t overlook the Chevalier Jackson Collection, a collection of items that Dr. Jackson dislodged from the windpipes of people who were in the process of choking on them.
The Walt Whitman House (856-964-5383) is directly across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge from downtown Philly, home to the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site (www.nps.gov/edal), where the writer lived from 1842 to 1844. Poe wrote “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” here, and curators made the bold decision to preserve the three-story brick house in a state of bare disrepair. Walking the empty, ravaged rooms imparts a feeling that, if you’ve ever read Poe, you’ll recognize immediately.
After all that thinking, drinking is in order. Right in the city sits Yards Brewing Co. (www.yardsbrewing.com), making “historically accurate ales of the Revolution”: a porter brewed from molasses, based on a recipe in George Washington’s field journals, and an amber ale brewed for Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Ease the ale’s effects at the Reading Terminal Market, nibbling on cheese steaks and Amish apple dumplings, or visit Joseph Poon Chef Kitchen (www.josephpoon.com). On his “Wok & Walk” tour of Chinatown, Chef Joe will take you to see a Chinese jeweler, a fishmonger and a fortune-cookie baker. Do you know how to choose a fresh water chestnut or how to keep an herbalist from cheating you? Philly can teach you these things, and so much more.
When you're looking for a place to stay in Philly, try a last-minute Web search at www.gophila.com, the city tourism site, for inventive hotel packages.
