Philadelphia
 

Kitsune, Beans and I will be traveling to Pennsylvania for a wedding in July. Our friends are getting married about 45 minutes north of Philadelphia, so I'm thinking I'd like to take a day or two to see the city as it's the first and probably last time I'll ever be in the area.

Logistics are tough, as Beans'll be 11 months old, so there's no telling how good of a traveller she'll be. (We're already dreading the flights.) I'm trying to get some ideas ahead of time so when it's time to book the trip, I'll be well prepared.

Questions:

Philadelphians, what are the must sees in your city? So far I'm interested in checking out the Reading Terminal Market, and taking Beans to either the zoo or the Please Touch Museum.

Also -- how viable is it to have a car in the city? When we went to San Francisco last year we ended up returning our rental car because there was nowhere to park it anyway. Is Philly a "forget it, just walk" kind of city?

And on a scale of "hot" to "hell," how warm is it in July?

All good choices. And the museum is now not far from the zoo (relocated a couple years ago from center city). You might want to include the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Betsy Ross' house. The Kimmel Center is beautiful architecture. The Art museum. The Pawn Shop ;). Franklin Institute is cool, too.

Maybe Blue can fill you in, there. As a suburbanite, I typically drive in, park as close to where ever I'm going as I can, for too much money.

Can be hotter than hell, with 200% humidity. But not always.

Have you heard the advice to let her nurse/bottlefeed during ascent and descent? Tricks her into swallowing to pop her ears.

As someone who lives 45 minutes north of Philadelphia, welcome!

It depends on how history-oriented you are... it is something, to see Independence Mall where the country was founded, that's something. The Liberty Bell is an easy one. Right next to it is the Constitution Center where they have regular shows about the C.

Food oriented? Go to this website and have a cheesesteak from any of the top 20 places that have more local % than tourist %.

You can get an authentic Pennsylvania-oriented breakfast or lunch from the Down Home Diner in the Reading Terminal. Although there are many places to get a meal there. If you want the most amazing meat sammich of your life, go to Hershels East Side Deli there. Pastrami, corned beef, turkey, and I think brisket? Hand carved before your eyes, and just excellent.

There are parking lots downtown, pretty expensive. Getting street parking is unlikely downtown, possible in other locations.

Across the river is the Aquarium which both young tykes and parents enjoy.

I think I'll skip that one! :)

What town is the wedding in?

I think it's near Harleysville? I don't have too many details yet.

http://thejunkfoodtour.com/video.html :haha:

Consider going to the Barnes Foundation. Up until recently it was a private exhibit that the owner set up in his will to be housed in his mansion in the Philadelphia suburbs. A combination of pressure from Philadelphia and his neighbors not enjoying the public attention got them to partially break his will a few years ago and move the exhibit to Philadelphia.

The wiki article correctly deals with the controversy.

I have not been to the new digs, but from the one of the pictures on the website it appears that at least part of the will is in effect in that pictures are grouped on the walls and combined with objects and small pieces of furniture that the original owner set up.

To be clear, the original purpose of the Barnes Foundation was as a school and teaching establishment and not a traditional art museum. It would have been much cooler if you could have seen it before the move to Philadelphia. I went there twice in my life, once in high school and maybe ten years ago with my family.


Check the park service for changes due to sequestration here at http://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/hours.htm

I would have recommended the free underground Franklin Court but it is closed for renovations. The Benjamin Franklin Post office and Postal Museum is still open and they will hand cancel envelopes so you can get a souvenir for the price of a stamp. The printing museum is next door. A few blocks aways is the National Constitution Center (NCC) and Benjamin Franklins grave is catty corner to it http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...id=364&page=gr . The grave is next the to sidewalk behind a fence. People put pennies on his grave for some reason.

The Philadelphia Mint gives free tours http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/?action=philadelphia and is a short walk from the NCC. On the other side of the NCC, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve has a free exhibit about money http://www.philadelphiafed.org/educa...ney-in-motion/ .

Almost everything that I mentioned, except the Franklin Post office, is in or surrounding Independence National Park which is a 4x1 city block rectangle http://www.nps.gov/common/commonspot...e=Independence . Independence Hall is inside the rectangle at one end and the NCC is at the other and the Liberty Bell is near the middle. The Mint and the Fed Reserve are surrounding the NCC on the West and East, with restaurants and the Franklin Post office about a 2-3 block walk. If you park at one of the garages in the park and don't mind walking 5 or 6 miles, you can see all of it while parking your car once.

I highly recommend restaurant.com or groupon for restaurants. There are deals everywhere. Philadelphia has a pretty good Chinatown for food, which is about 1/2 mile northwest of the NCC.

The NCC costs some money, as well as the Barnes, but almost everything else I mentioned is free and maintained by the Postal Service, the Park Service, the US Mint, or the Federal Reserve.

Let us know when you get in. I would love to meet you for dinner. It's been about 2 years since I've been to Chinatown.

Heat in the summer is hit and miss. In colonial times, people would sleep on their roofs because of the heat.

BTW, Harleysville might be 45 minutes to Philadelphia at 3am, but during the day add a half hour.

We'll be traveling in twelve short weeks! Temporal and financial logistics mean that "a few days to see Philly" has been reduced to a matter of hours.

We'll be staying in Center City for one night. I have my heart set on dinner at the Marathon Grill the night we get in. The next morning it'll be breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market, then taking Beans to Franklin Square. We might squeeze in a "Hi, Liberty Bell!" before we zip north for the wedding rehearsal. And that'll be that!

It's been very mild, even a little chilly, around here so far. You guys might luck out with the weather this July--I'm crossing my fingers for low 80s.

My two cents on Reading Terminal Market: if you end up there on a Saturday, be prepared for big crowds! Although it might not be too bad for an early breakfast. Molly Malloy's is a cute bistro-type place that opened up where the famous old-man 'beer garden' used to be; they are separate from the fray and would be nice for breakfast. And then there's the Dutch Eating Place that everyone raves about--they say the pancakes there are amazing.

What hotel are you staying in? If it's not too far from RTM, maybe you can leave your car in the hotel garage. After breakfast, Franklin Square would only be about a 5-block walk through Chinatown.

I forgot to say: Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions and advice!

Though we're not booked just yet, it looks like we'll be staying at the Ritz-Carlton. (Somehow the most affordable thanks to my mom's Marriott employee discount.) From what I can tell of the map, that means RTM will be about a block away. We'll be there on a Friday morning, so hopefully that'll help reduce the crowds a bit.

Leaving on a jet plane tomorrow.

Woohoo/AAAAAAAGGGHHHH.

First plane ride for the little one. Currently dealing with the logistics of how to schlep all our crap through the airport!

Flying with little ones is a challenge. The dad ends up carrying a mountain of bags because the mom is busy carrying the little one and a few smaller bags.

(We brought a car seat with us for the flight on one plane and to use at the destination, and it almost didn't fit through the metal detector on the way back, so we almost had to leave it in Innsbruck. But I partially disassembled it so it would fit through.)

With baggage fees now, I wonder if it's worth it to bring half the stuff. Might be cheaper to buy new stuff on the other end.

The weather turned excellent for you - highs around 82, lows around 68.

We don't have TOO much luggage. Two suitcases (one is carry on size, the second a bit bigger), a backpack, a diaper bag, and a camera bag. It's the carseat which is a hassle, but I'm too grossed out by the possibility of other children's bodily fluids to consider renting one.

ETA I realize that sounds like a lot, but I think it's pretty light considering we have two formal events to attend.

That's nothing.

Both flights went really well yesterday -- no crying from Beans! The worst part was being stuck in traffic on the way to the airport.

Checked in at the Ritz-Carlton around 5 pm. Very fancy bathroom.

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They had the crib already set up for us, and inside was a gift bag with baby bath items and first aid supplies. Very thoughtful!

We had dinner at the Marathon Grill at 16th & Sansom. Delicious! I had a grilled chicken dish with basil olive oil; Kitsune had the meatloaf. For dessert, blueberry pie a la mode. Too tired and hungry to take pictures of anything.

This morning we headed to the Reading Terminal Market for breakfast at the Dutch Eating Place. It's set up like a bar, so we got take out to go eat at a table nearby with a high chair.

I had blueberry pancakes with a scrambled egg. Not pictured: enormous scoop of butter that I moved off to the side.

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Kitsune had apple French toast with turkey bacon.

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Here is a very happy baby at breakfast.

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Nice hotel!

After a quick walk around the market, we walked down to the historic area. I had hoped to go see the Liberty Bell, but it did not occur to me there'd be a line. Unfortunately, there was a long line and we were on a time crunch, so we just took a gander at the Old City Hall then headed back to the hotel.

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All checked out and headed north for he wedding rehearsal, now.

How cool! It never even occurred to me to ask a hotel about a crib. We just dragged along the Pack-n-Play everywhere we went. Although now that I think about it, most of those places were relatives' houses anyway, we actually only stayed in a hotel with Minifob one time when he was 9 months old. Still, that's really nice of them to do that for you!

Yeah, most hotels have a pack n play available upon request at no charge. The Ritz had a proper crib, but it was too tall for me, so we ended up pulling out its little mattress and laying it on the floor. It worked out well!

good work!

And less far to fall. that alone would help me sleep better. :)

I don't know why I am constantly surprised at how beautiful you are, Choc, or how happy a baby Beans is.
But it's a lovely surprise every time.

Now have a cheesesteak so you can take a picture!
[pleeeeease?]

Thanks Sundae!

Unfortunately that's about it for the trip. Not much of a travelogue, I know.

The rest of the trip was spent in a whirlwind of wedding events, so no reason to go into detail there. It was a very fast trip and we are safely back home.

Quick informal pic of some of the bridal party. There's me on the left in the red and white! Bride's in the middle in the white skirt. Veeeery casual wedding.
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Thanks again for the suggestions, native Philadelphians! I wish I'd had enough time to meet up!

Y'alls good people up there. Everyone in the city was very friendly. No Jersey accents, either -- thanks for that.

Very pretty!

Glad y'all had a good time (and nice to hear from Kitsune; hiya Kitsune!)

I wouldn't say it was an especially informal wedding... but then I have been watching the US version of Four Weddings, and my general impression is that American weddings do seem to be more structured than UK ones. Wedding rehearsal/ rehearsal dinner? Never ever been to one.

Regardless, it looks beautiful.
I can't get over your dress. I know I should be looking at the bride, but I don't know her.
Sitting on the step it has even more impact as it looks like it's actually growing up around you.

American weddings are insane. A friend of mine has loaded parents, and they shelled out $50,000 for her wedding a few years ago. It was nice, but nowhere near $50,000 worth of nice, that's for damn sure.

In addition to wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, other pre-events that are commonplace are an engagement party/wedding shower (used to be called a bridal shower, but we're all equitable about it now,) bridesmaids' luncheon... and of course baby shower if it's a shotgun wedding. :)

That reminds me. It's been a few years since I've been to a wedding.

I guess it's those in between years. All my contemporaries have already tied the knot, and the next generation isn't quite there yet.

The national average for an American wedding is $25,000. I can't even wrap my head around spending that much money on a single day!

My friend's wedding was on a working farm. She wore a skirt and blouse instead of a bridal gown, and simply asked that her bridesmaids wear floral, summery dresses. It was a far cry from the "typical" American wedding, in a very welcome way.

My wife and I spent ~$2k. Caterers, booze, rented a cool old house on a ranch. Just a weekend of fun.

A few years ago, I went to a wedding for the daughter of some close family friends. They spent north of $150,000 (or was it $250k?). It was stupid but awesome, in the stricter sense of the word, in a way too.

I forget what we spent 20 years ago, but I bet it was around $3-4k. This was in northern New Jersey, so nothing there was cheap.

I think it was something like this:
Dress: $800
flowers: $600
Rented house: $1200 (awesome place)
caterer: $2000
beer and wine: $500
Photographer: $600
Rehearsal dinner was probably about $1500 for the tent and food.

so that's $7,200. More than I thought. And maybe the caterer was a little more than that, so it could have been more like $8,500 total. Jeez.

From about the age of 5, we told each of our 3 daughters that
when it came to time for their wedding, they were to elope.








(we ended up with 2 church- and 1 home-weddings.)

We seriously cheaped out, and I actually regret it a tiny bit. I do mean seriously cheap:

Dress: $99 (still quite happy with this, it really was the exact dress I wanted)
Flowers: $500 (mother-in-law bought them for us)
Cake: $175 (my aunt bought this for us)
Church rental: maybe $400?
Pianist: $150
Reception rental: $175 (this was the "business party room" at the apartment complex next to the church, but it was nicer than it sounds)
Photographer: $300 (I paid a friend of a friend cash in exchange for her giving me all the negatives, so I could order reprints as I saw fit. I thought the whole wedding photography crap of "we give you just the 45 best shots, and you can order reprints from us at $5 each" was complete bullshit. Mine was her first wedding and she is now a very expensive wedding photographer in town, so having my wedding pictures in her portfolio definitely helped her out as well.)

Catering: Ah... yeah. I think we had like one fruit tray and one tray of cocktail shrimp. This is the part I am most embarrassed about--the reception was just a bunch of people milling about with all the food gone in about ten minutes. I was so sick of the planning process by the time I got around to thinking about food that I completely punted it. It was mid-afternoon, I rationalized, they would have cake and that would be enough...

Rehearsal dinner: I can't even remember. It was at a low-key Italian place, and I am 99% sure we didn't pay for it, but I can't think of who did. My mom, probably. Would have been about $10-$12 a plate, for about 30 people, I think.

That "average wedding" price figure is artifically high. It's based on the 'reported cost' from frequenters of wedding-planning websites / magazines. Very few Clodfobbles contribute to their dataset. Also, I think it's the mean average, not the median -- so Sean Parker's $5 gazillion dollar wedding nudges the figure up more than it should.

A few months ago I skimmed this article on the subject, so my recollection could be hazy.

Interesting read, gvidas. The article states that the typical wedding is more in the realm of $15,000, so I stand corrected!

We spent about $2K bitd. Dress, tux, hall, church, flowers, blue grass band, and pot luck. Pete went to a Texas wedding this Summer and was pretty much appalled, but the girl has had the princess treatment her whole life, they weren't about to stop on her wedding day despite a money confrontation with the new in-laws.

I honestly cannot remember what we spent on my wedding, but I do remember that my parents took out a £1k loan to cover their side of things, and were still paying it off when we separated. I felt horrible about that. But the more times it was mentioned the less I began to care. You can only beat your daughter up so many times... That was spent on their clothes, travel, accommodation and drinks at the bar (for the guests as well as the 'rents!)

His Mum bought the cake, which was custom made by Choccywoccydoodah.
We borrowed the money for flowers, which did not turn up due to a personal emergency/ poor communication at the florists; they actually paid us the same amount we were supposed to pay them for the flowers. And that paid back the friend we borrowed it from and gave us some spending money for the honeymoon!
And I got my dress on sale. £625. Cheapest wedding dress of anyone I knew, but the most talked about. The shop I bought it in was going into administrative receivership.

We printed our own stationery - J was an artist and I did the words and put in much time on the sticking and assembling front. My sister spent something like £500 just having her stationery printed and matching and formal. I doubt we spent more than £100 on the raw materials. Then again I can't be smug; she's still married and I'm not.

Our two big expenses were the location and the photos.
Civil ceremonies were in their infancy. I was NOT going to be married in church and I did NOT want anyone looking down their nose at me because it was "only" in a Registry office. So we went to a desanctified priory. And it was gorgeous.

And both J & I were very camera shy.
So I went to about five different photographers before settling on the one I did. Everyone else I knew just went to the one in the town centre. We went all the way to Marlow.
We had a formal set and two informal ones (one black & white and one sepia) to capture the day.
Left 99.9% of them behind when we separated, but I love the ones I still have - the ones with family in them.

We spent $12,827 on our wedding -- I still have the spreadsheet on my computer.

If I could do it all over again, I'd do things a lot differently and probably save a lot of money. There was a pall over our wedding because my grandmother passed away three weeks before, and then all sorts of things went wrong the day of. If I ever win the lottery, I'm definitely springing for a vow renewal.

I have an oddly strong aversion to vow renewals. Just about everyone I know who has done it has gotten divorced just a year or two later. Like they knew things were getting shaky, and they were trying too hard to prove otherwise. Plus, I feel like there's an implication that the vows weren't really serious the first time around.

However, I'm thinking I might do a big party for Mr. Clod's 40th birthday, which would pretty much amount to the same thing in terms of friends, family, food, cake, and general revelry, just without the repeat ceremony.

Me too !

My wife (just before our 50th anniversary) wanted to go down this road,
and it set off a squabble that still re-surfaces from time to time.

But, at least now she smiles and begins with "I know you won't do it, but it would be nice if..."
I then smile and begin my reply with "I meant it the first time..."

You guys were just 3 blocks away from me! I was either trying to wake up or working around that time, though, depending how early it was. Judging from the shadows on Commodore Barry, it looks like it was pretty early.

Glad you got see at least one historic site, and on such a beautiful day. Two days later, it was practically the Apocalypse.

;)

We got some of those things! No Stay Puft marshmallow man though, he was melted by the 8" of rain. :(

I heard about the rain! We flew out that Sunday and apparently the storms shut down the airport not long after we left.

Major sadness - I had to look up 8"
Despite only understanding feet and inches when it comes to height, I can't really picture anything below person height.
And worse, when I start work on the Deli counter I'm going to have to be properly bilingual in both weight and size...

But holy guacamole, 8" is 20cm!!!
I'd ask someone else to grab the steering wheel in that kinda weather, rapture or no.

We were walking toward a street fair when it hit. Even though it was like swimming trying to get back home, I was glad we weren't driving!

Not only 8.02 inches for the day, over 7 inches in just four hours. :eek: