Things to do in philly?

[Naynay99]

Hey. So in my attempts to make lemonade from lemons and all that shat, my friend and I have turned my latest tx evaluation appt into a wekend road trip.  Am going to U Penn for appt, so will be in philly next Sat-Monday.  Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of stuff to do while we r there?  I think a lot of the history crap is closed bc of the govt shutdown. 
Rite now all we have is chicken cheese steaks and “ running” up the rocky steps and swimming in the hotel pool on the docket.

Oh, and apparently it is also super bowl weekend, which I was not aware of as I do not follow football.  So our coworkers r gonna think we called out on Monday bc we were hungover from super bowl parties.  Which is pretty funny.
But if anyone has any ideas of stuff to do in the area, let me know.  I haven’t actually been to Philly since college.  And don’t really have the energy to look stuff up.  So would appreciate any ideas.  Otherwise we will probably just play it by ear once we get there.  It’s only around a 3 1/2 drive from me I think. 

Anyway, take it easy.  I must say that my oft failed attempts at a new and better attitude towards all this kidney crap has led me to plan some fun random expensive shiit lately, so perhaps all is not so bad.  Luckily my best friend is happily going along for the ride. 

[Riki]

The shut down is over, so it's possible some of those history things might be open.  I'm going to Philly in July, and I've never been there.  One of the places I want to go is Reading Market.  I'm told you can eat your way through it, so I'm going to make the attempt.  The zoo is probably open, but it would be freakin' cold this time of year

I'm currently looking into hotels and a dialysis unit for while I'm there, so if you have any tips after you're back, let me know

[iolaire]

DiNic's sandwich at Reading Market is a must do:
http://tommydinics.com/
The two "original' cheese steak places are probably also a must see. Otherwise the main sites are all good to see.  We have been up a few times but don't really have recommendations beyond the normal stuff.  There is lots of good dinning and drinking in the city.  Newer in the last 10 years or so are a/some in city casinos.  There are a lot of craft brewery's and distilleries if you are in to that (also Bucks County nearby has wineries and a beer trail).

Philadelphia is also known for public art.  Something like 1% of construction costs for new buildings has to be public art so there is a lot of it, like the original LOVE letters artwork that we have now seen in similar pieces in Charlottesville Virginia and Tokyo.

You should be good shutdown wise for your trip, but any later it is a worry as I think the current open status was only for three weeks.

There are some public (pay) observation decks which might be good if the view is clear in the cold weather:
https://www.visitphilly.com/articles/philadelphia/top-five-sky-high-vantage-points-in-philadelphia/#vp-article-section--item-3

Also the good news is its warming up for the weekend so you will have high tempatures in the 40* or 50*'s after very cold mornings.

[Naynay99]

Hey. Thanks for the ideas.  We will definitely be eating some cheesesteaks!  And I think my friend wants to go to a museum. Otherwise besides going out at nite not sure what we r doing yet.   Good to hear it won’t be as cold out as it is atm. 
Will update when I come back with what we ended up doing.  Take care.

[Alexysis]

I'd suggest taking a streetcar somewhere. Also, you really need to see Independence Hall and the rest of that area. Many places dating from the formation of our nation are open to the public.

[lulu836]

Most of the touristy things are very worthwhile. The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall......it's been a good while since I was there but I really enjoyed the week in Philly.  IIRC there are "local, open-air street" (not city) busses with ride along tour guides.  It's just a neat place to go.

[Naynay99]

Hey. Thanks everybody for all the ideas.  We ended up visiting Eastern State Penitentiary, which my friend wanted to do. Cool walking tour but it was really cold outside that day!  Brr.  I wouldn’t have made made it locked up!
 We split 2 cheese steaks so we could compare them, from Both Genos and Pats, and decided we like pats better.  Went out to dinner. 
Sunday we visited independence hall and the liberty bell.  Found the clothespin and love sign. 
Then ended up at the franklin institute museum (im a science teacher so I love that kind of stuff- so fun!).  We were gonna visit the art museum and run up the rocky steps but the science museum totally wore me out.   Sunday evening we semi watched the super bowl and got dinner.  I have to go back at least one more time before being listed so maybe will try to be a tourist again!

It’s a fun city but driving to the hospital and parking was very stressful.  The tx center seemed very good.  They have tx housing so I wouldn’t have to commute back and forth after first being discharged which is good.

[Simon Dog]

Mutter Museum

Among other things, you will get to see the world's largest colon.  It is a scholarly place, not a circus sideshow.

[Riki]

Mutter Museum

Among other things, you will get to see the world's largest colon.  It is a scholarly place, not a circus sideshow.

Is that the one you can walk through?

[Simon Dog]

Mutter Museum

Among other things, you will get to see the world's largest colon.  It is a scholarly place, not a circus sideshow.

Is that the one you can walk through?

You can walk through the museum, but not through the colon.   It's a real preserved colon, not an exhibit simulating a colon.

When I was a kid my father told me the meanest animal in the world was the Rangoon, since it was born without a bunghole.  It turns out suffers of Hirshsprung's disease have the same problem - the colon nerves used to signal time for a #2 are missing, so the stool backs up, and up, and up.    The donor of the colon on display in a case at the Mutter crapped once a month, and there was 40 pounds of shit in his pipe when he died.  It was 30" in diameter at the largest, which is probably why this disease is also called Megacolon.

[kristina]

Mutter Museum

Among other things, you will get to see the world's largest colon.  It is a scholarly place, not a circus sideshow.

.... Mutter Museum  .... as in .... Mother Museum ?

[Cupcake]

medical oddities--I have never been but would love to. Not for the squeamish

[Simon Dog]

.... Mutter Museum  .... as in .... Mother Museum ?

Nope, Mutter is the actual name, although when not font constrained the u is shown with an umlaut.

http://muttermuseum.org/

[PrimeTimer]

Megacolons, bungholes and 40 pounds of doo doo. Boy, you could say this conversation went ahem, "south" very quickly!            

[Simon Dog]

Probably worth skipping the Liberty Bell ... that thing is a defective product and cracked on first use.