A guide for attendees of The Quilt's Fall Member Meeting, September 22–25, at the Sheraton Philadelphia University City. Everything here is measured from the hotel's front door at 36th and Chestnut: what's a five-minute walk, what's one subway ride, and what's worth a spare afternoon.
01
Near the hotel
The Sheraton sits on Penn's campus in University City. You can fill every coffee break and evening without crossing the river.
Step out the door and you're on the University of Pennsylvania, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1740. Locust Walk, the brick pedestrian spine one block south of the hotel, runs past College Hall, the Franklin statue on the bench (sit with him), the Button sculpture, and the Fisher Fine Arts Library, a Frank Furness red-sandstone masterpiece worth ducking into. Drexel's campus starts two blocks north.
Best
A 20-minute loop between sessions, or a morning run
The world's first general-purpose electronic computer was built here in secret for the Army between 1943 and 1945, filling a room with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighing thirty tons. Four of its original forty panels are still on the ground floor of the Moore School Building at 33rd and Walnut, three blocks from the hotel — about a tenth of the machine, in the room where it ran. Its first programmers were six women recruited from Penn's human “computers,” a fact the plaques took fifty years to catch up with.
Where
Moore School Building, 200 S 33rd St, ground floor
Access
A building lobby, not a ticketed museum; weekday business hours are the safe bet
One of the great archaeology museums: the 12-ton granite Sphinx of Ramses II in the entrance hall, and the Middle East galleries with the world's oldest wine jar. Quiet on weekday afternoons, and the closest real museum to the hotel.
Address
3260 South St
Hours
Tue–Sun, 10 am–5 pm; closed Mondays
Admission
From $23
Note
The Egypt galleries are closed for renovation until December 12, 2026; Egyptian objects are still on view elsewhere in the museum
Penn's free contemporary art museum at 36th and Sansom, one block from the hotel. Andy Warhol had his first museum show here in 1965. A 30-minute visit; admission is always free.
The 1933 Art Deco rail hall with a 95-foot coffered ceiling, the bronze Angel of Resurrection war memorial, and the split-flap board's modern successor. Worth walking through even if you're not taking a train; the food hall is a good quick lunch.
Nearby
Cira Green, a rooftop park with a skyline view, is across the street
Dinner5–10 min walk
Eating in University City
White Dog Cafe (3420 Sansom) is the neighborhood's farm-to-table institution and the easiest group dinner near the hotel. Han Dynasty (3711 Market) for Sichuan, Louie Louie (3611 Walnut) for a bistro, and the food trucks along Spruce and 38th for lunch. Walnut Street between 34th and 40th has most of the rest.
An Irish pub on Sansom Street that has been Penn's local for decades: a European draft system shipped from Ireland, one of the largest single-malt scotch collections in the city, and a Guinness poured properly. The closest thing to a hotel bar that isn't one.
West of campus the neighborhood turns residential: Victorian twins, Clark Park with its Dickens statue, and Baltimore Avenue's bars and cafés. The trolley from 36th and Sansom runs under campus and surfaces at 40th.
Trolley
Routes 11, 13, 34, 36 from the 36th St underground stop
The oldest college football stadium in the country (1895) and, beside it, the "Cathedral of College Basketball." Both are open to walk past; the Palestra's concourse of Big 5 memorabilia is usually accessible on weekdays.
Where
33rd & South St
02
Historic
Nearly everything from 1776 is within six blocks of each other in Old City. Start here, and start early.
The Georgian assembly room where the Declaration of Independence was debated in 1776 and the Constitution drafted in 1787. Rangers lead the tour; the chairs, the inkstand, and the "rising sun" chair Washington sat in are the real thing.
Tickets
Timed, $1 handling fee. Tours every 20 min, 10 am–4 pm; reserve on recreation.gov. Open house 9–9:50 am needs no ticket.
Plan
45 min, plus security screening. Book ahead in 2026.
Hamilton's bank, chartered in 1791 and in this blue-marble building since 1797 — the oldest bank building in the country, and the oldest known architectural use of the Great Seal, carved in mahogany on the pediment. It reopened to the public on July 1, 2026 after years of renovation and decades closed. New this year, and still uncrowded.
The bell, its crack, and the exhibits on how it became a symbol for abolitionists and suffragists long after 1776. Glass walls frame Independence Hall behind it.
Hours
Daily 9 am–5 pm
Tickets
Free, no ticket. Expect a security line at midday.
Elfreth's Alley is the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in the country, 32 houses from 1703 onward. Two blocks away, the Betsy Ross House tells the flag story with a costumed Betsy in the upholstery shop.
Alley
Free to walk any time; museum house open seasonally
Washington, Franklin, and Betsy Ross worshipped here. Franklin's grave is in the burial ground at 5th and Arch, where visitors toss pennies on the slab ("a penny saved…").
Church
2nd St above Market
Burial ground
Small fee; the grave is visible through the fence for free
A crumbling 1829 prison with a wagon-wheel plan that was copied worldwide. Al Capone's cell is here. The audio tour, narrated by Steve Buscemi, is excellent.
Address
2027 Fairmount Ave
Note
Fall brings the "Halloween Nights" event; book early
The largest masonry building in the world when it opened in 1901, topped by a 37-foot bronze William Penn. Take the elevator to the observation deck beneath his hat for a view down every street of Penn's 1682 grid.
Where
Broad & Market
Tower
Tower tours every 15 min, four people at a time; book ahead
Visitor centre
Room 121, east portal. Mon–Fri 10 am–4 pm, closed weekends
The city's semiquincentennial program: one Philadelphia first celebrated every week of 2026, with a free “Firstival” each Saturday from 11 am to 1 pm in a different neighborhood, an artist-made sculpture for each milestone, and a podcast episode to match. Forty-five-odd firsts, from the first hospital and the first medical school to the first zoo and the Mummers.
When
Saturdays, 11 am–1 pm, through the end of 2026
Cost
Free
Check
The schedule names the neighborhood each week
03
Food & Drink
The cheesesteak gets its own chapter. This one is for everything else the city eats, from the market to Chinatown, which is most of the point of visiting.
Eighty-odd stalls under the old train shed since 1893. Come hungry: DiNic's roast pork with broccoli rabe (the true Philly sandwich, locals will tell you), Beiler's doughnuts, Pennsylvania Dutch pretzels and scrapple, Bassetts ice cream from 1861.
Hours
Daily, roughly 8 am–6 pm; Amish vendors close Sun–Mon
Tip
Before noon on a weekday is the calm window
Neighborhood10th & Arch · one block from Reading Terminal
Walk out of Reading Terminal's east door and you're under the Friendship Gate, the 40-foot arch built in 1984 by artisans from Philadelphia's sister city, Tianjin. Behind it is one of the country's oldest Chinatowns, dense with dim sum halls, hand-pulled-noodle counters, Cantonese roast duck in the windows, hot pot, bubble tea, and late hours; it's also the easiest place near the hotel to eat well after 10 pm. Regulars go to Dim Sum Garden for soup dumplings, Nan Zhou for hand-drawn noodles, and Sang Kee for Peking duck; ask and every local will add three more.
From the hotel
Market–Frankford Line to 11th St, then two blocks north
Best
Weekend dim sum brunch, or a late dinner on a meeting night
The soup dumplings to beat. Chef Shizhou Da is the fifth generation of the family credited with inventing xiao long bao, and the Shanghai-style baskets come out thin-skinned and full of broth. Order the pork and crab, eat them over a spoon, and don't rush the first bite.
Ten blocks of 9th Street with open-air produce stands, Di Bruno Bros. cheese, Isgro's pastries, and the Mexican taquerias that keep the market alive. Rocky ran through here.
Weekend open-air market in FDR Park where Lao, Khmer, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian vendors have been cooking since the 1980s: grilled meats, papaya salad pounded to order, noodle soups, and produce you won't find in a supermarket. Bring cash and an appetite.
When
Saturdays and Sundays, through October 31
Where
FDR Park, 1500 Pattison Ave
Transit
Broad Street Line to NRG, the same stop as the ballpark
SandwichCitywide
Roast pork, the local's choice
Slow-roasted pork, sharp provolone, and broccoli rabe or spinach on a seeded roll. John's Roast Pork on Snyder Avenue has made it since 1930 and won a James Beard award for it; DiNic's at Reading Terminal is the Center City stop.
John's
14 E Snyder Ave, lunch only, closed Sun
SnacksEverywhere
Soft pretzels, water ice, tomato pie
The pretzel is figure-eight shaped, comes from a street cart or the Philly Pretzel Factory, and is eaten with yellow mustard before 10 am. Water ice (say "wooder ice") is the summer dessert; John's on 7th Street and Rita's are the names. Tomato pie is a cold square of thick crust and sauce, no cheese, from an Italian bakery.
Rule
It is a hoagie, never a sub
DiningFishtown & East Passyunk
The restaurant neighborhoods
Frankford Avenue in Fishtown and East Passyunk Avenue in South Philly carry the city's chef-driven scene: Zahav's Israeli cooking in Society Hill won the country's Outstanding Restaurant award, and both avenues are lined with the BYOBs Philadelphia is known for.
BYOB
Many restaurants have no liquor license; bring a bottle from a state Fine Wine & Good Spirits store
The seasonal bar on top of Cira Green, the park built on a parking garage roof by 30th Street Station: frozen cocktails, casual food, lawn games and a skyline across the river. The closest good sunset to the hotel, and close enough to walk back from.
Address
129 S 30th St, up on Cira Green
Season
Seasonal; the park itself is open 7 am–10 pm daily
Best
An hour before sunset, between the last session and dinner
A 1900s-style soda fountain and, next door, the oldest continuously operating candy shop in the country (1863), both on Market Street below 2nd. Egg creams, hand-scooped sundaes, and clear-toy candy.
The Belgian beer bar that taught the city Belgian beer, run by Tom Peters since the 1980s: 25 taps, more than 200 bottles, and a James Beard–nominated beverage program. Brewers make a point of stopping in. Sit at the back bar and ask what's good today.
Philadelphia's first Black-owned brewery, started by brothers Richard and Mengistu Samuels after a decade of home brewing and collaborations with breweries around the city. LOFA Lager is the one to start with, and the taproom is the closest brewery to the hotel.
Philadelphia's first craft brewery, opened in 1985 and among the first in the country, named for the seaport district that brewed most of the young nation's beer. The Bohemian Pilsner and the Man Full of Trouble Porter are the ones with the medals.
A West Philly corner bar with a rotating draft list, a bottle shop next door, and weekend brunch. Twenty minutes west of the hotel on Spruce, and the most neighborhood-feeling stop on this list.
Address
4333 Spruce St
Hours
Mon–Fri noon–midnight; weekends from 11 am
Sunday
Quizzo at 10 pm, happy hour until close
04
Cheesesteaks
Thinly sliced ribeye, griddled, on a long roll, with cheese. Everything past that sentence is an argument, and this city has been having it since 1930.
Pat Olivieri sold the first steak sandwich from his hot dog cart here in 1930, or so the family says. Sliced meat, a neon-lit window, open 24 hours. Order "whiz wit" and eat at the counter outside.
Across the intersection since 1966, brighter and louder, with the same sliced-meat style and the same all-night hours. Most visitors try both and pick a side; that's the tradition.
A cinder-block shack by the rail yards that many Philadelphians call the best cheesesteak in the city: seeded roll, sharp provolone, meat chopped fine and cooked to order. Lunch hours only.
A tiny South Philly shop that bakes its own rolls and has a line out the door from the moment it opens. The cheesesteak here is the one food writers now send people to first.
A neighborhood counter in Northwest Philly with finely chopped meat, a heap of onions, and hot peppers on the side. Worth the trip if you're hiking the Wissahickon.
Where
600 Wendover St
For the adventurousReading Terminal Market · Stall C8
Chef Bill Beck's Creole collision with the cheesesteak: chopped steak, andouille sausage, and salami griddled together with caramelized onions and American cheese, on a baguette smeared with Creole mayo. Philadelphia Magazine put it in the same breath as DiNic's roast pork. Ten minutes from the hotel by subway, and open for lunch every day of the meeting.
Art deco tile, a cafeteria line, and steaks since 1976, a block from Magic Gardens. Rebuilt and reopened after a 2022 fire. The convenient stop on a South Street afternoon.
Where
400 South St
05
Music
Two big shows at the Mann fall on meeting nights, and WXPN's festival is the weekend before. After that: the Orchestra, the Sound of Philadelphia, and Fishtown's rooms.
This week · Thu Sept 24Highmark Mann · Fairmount Park · 15 min by cab
A surprise co-headlining stop announced in August: Willie at 93 with the Family band, and Neil Young with the Chrome Hearts (Micah Nelson, Corey McCormick, Anthony Logerfo, Spooner Oldham), plus opener Ty Myers. The TD Pavilion is the Mann's 14,000-capacity amphitheater with a lawn and a view of the skyline. The rare chance to see both on one bill, in the city's park, on a September night.
When
Thursday, September 24 · doors 5:30 pm, show 7:00 pm
Where
TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann, 5201 Parkside Ave
Tickets
Ticketmaster; lawn is the cheapest, bring a blanket
Getting there
15 min by cab from the hotel; expect a slow exit, so book the ride back before the encore
This week · Wed Sept 23Highmark Mann · Skyline Stage
Tucker Pillsbury's pop project, with Samia opening, on the Mann's smaller open-air Skyline Stage. All ages, and a good pick for anyone bringing a younger colleague or family member along.
When
Wednesday, September 23 · doors 6:30 pm, show 7:30 pm
Tickets
Ticketmaster
The Sunday after · Sept 27Freedom Mortgage Pavilion · Camden
Damon Albarn's band brings The Mountain Tour to the Camden waterfront on the Sunday after the meeting ends, with Little Simz and Deltron 3030 opening. Worth a changed flight if you were already thinking about it: the venue sits on the Delaware with the Philadelphia skyline directly across the water.
WXPN's three-day festival on the Camden side of the Delaware, with the skyline across the water. 2026 headliners: Dawes, Cyril Neville Plays the Dead, and the Budos Band on Friday; Portugal. The Man and St. Paul & the Broken Bones on Saturday; Little Feat and Rebirth Brass Band on Sunday. Worth arriving early for.
Tickets
3-day $300, single day $98–$108, at xpnfest.org
Getting there
RiverLink Ferry from Penn's Landing, or PATCO from 8th & Market to City Hall (Camden)
One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, famous for the lush "Philadelphia Sound" it developed under Stokowski and Ormandy. It plays in Marian Anderson Hall, a cello-shaped room inside the Kimmel Center's glass vault on South Broad Street. Cheap rush tickets are often released the day of a concert.
Address
300 S Broad St
Season
September–May; summers at the Mann Center in Fairmount Park
HeritageBroad Street
The Sound of Philadelphia
Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International Records, at 309 S Broad, produced the O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and the strings-and-groove sound that led to disco. A historical marker stands where Sigma Sound Studios was, at 212 N 12th St, where Bowie cut Young Americans.
The best karaoke in Philadelphia, and it isn't close. An izakaya downstairs for skewers and highballs, five private rooms upstairs for the part of the night nobody planned, plus a main lounge with a dance floor. A safe bet for a group that has run out of conference small talk.
Address
211 N 11th St, Chinatown
Hours
From 4 pm; to 1 am on weekends
Book
Reserve a private room ahead for more than four people
VenuesFishtown
Fishtown's rooms
Johnny Brenda's (a 250-capacity room above a bar), the Fillmore Philadelphia (2,500, in a former metal factory), and its small club, the Foundry, are all within a few blocks of the Girard El stop. Union Transfer, in a converted 1889 baggage depot on Spring Garden, is a short walk away and the best mid-size room in the city.
The Penn public radio station whose World Cafe program is heard nationwide, and whose Friday Free at Noon concerts are a Philadelphia institution. The station still broadcasts from 3025 Walnut, but the venue downstairs — World Cafe Live — filed for bankruptcy in March 2026, was renamed World Stage, and was shut down that April; its future is unsettled. Free at Noon has been playing other rooms, including Ardmore Music Hall. Check the schedule before walking over.
Schedule
xpn.org lists the current Free at Noon venue each week
The Mann is a 14,000-capacity amphitheater with a lawn and a skyline view; the Dell Music Center in Strawberry Mansion is the city's summer home for R&B and jazz. Both run May through September.
This week
See the Role Model and Nelson/Young shows above
LandmarkCenter City
The Wanamaker Organ
The largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world, 28,750 pipes in the Grand Court at 13th and Market, played free twice a day since 1911. You cannot hear it this week. The Macy's in the Wanamaker Building closed in March 2025 and the Grand Court has been shut to the public since; the final recitals were that March. The landlord has committed to keeping the organ in the building through the renovation, but there is no public schedule and no way in. Listed here so you don't walk to 13th and Market expecting one.
Status
Closed to the public; no recitals scheduled
Where
1300 Market St, the Wanamaker Building
06
Sports
Four major teams, one stadium complex at the bottom of Broad Street, and the loudest fans in America. A game is the fastest way to understand the place.
The easiest ticket in town and the best introduction to the city: 81 home games, an open concourse with a skyline view, Ashburn Alley's food stands (Tony Luke's, crab fries, Federal Donuts), the Phanatic on the dugout, and the Liberty Bell in right-center that swings after every home run. During the meeting the Phillies are home every night: the Brewers Sept 22–24 and the Rays Sept 25–27, the last regular-season series of the year.
From the hotel
Market–Frankford Line to City Hall, then Broad Street Line south to NRG (last stop); or a 15-min cab
Seats
Standing-room and upper-deck tickets are cheap; the 300 level behind home plate is the value
Super Bowl champions after the 2024 season, and the team the city organizes its autumn around. Tickets are scarce and expensive; the tailgate in the parking lots is its own event. "The Linc" also hosted FIFA World Cup matches this summer.
Season
September–January; Sunday afternoons
Tip
Watch a road game in a neighborhood bar instead; it's nearly as loud
Neither regular season has started — the 76ers and Flyers both open in October, so there is no NBA or NHL game to catch this week. What there is: the Flyers close their preseason at home, against Boston on the Thursday night of the meeting and against Washington on the Saturday after. Preseason tickets are the cheapest seats of the year, the arena is the one next to the Linc, and the Broad Street Line drops you at the door.
Thu Sept 24
Flyers vs Boston Bruins, 7:00 pm
Sat Sept 26
Flyers vs Washington Capitals, 5:00 pm
Note
Thursday collides with Nelson and Young at the Mann; pick one
The MLS club plays in an 18,500-seat riverside stadium under the Commodore Barry Bridge, 20 minutes south by car or Regional Rail to Chester. The Sons of Ben supporters' section sings the whole match.
Penn's 1927 gym is "the Cathedral of College Basketball," home to the Big 5 city series among Penn, Villanova, Temple, La Salle, and St. Joseph's. Next door, Franklin Field hosts the Penn Relays every April, the oldest and largest track meet in the country.
The Schuylkill is the busiest rowing river in the country; regattas run most spring and fall weekends, watched from the Kelly Drive banks. The Broad Street Run in May, ten miles straight down Broad, is the city's mass-participation race; the Philadelphia Marathon runs in November.
Seventy-two steps up to the Art Museum, run by a fictional boxer in 1976 and by a few thousand real visitors every day since. The bronze Rocky statue stands at the bottom right. Free, open all hours, best at sunrise.
Where
2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy
07
Museums & Parks
The Parkway museums, the murals on every other block, and the river park.
One of the largest art museums in the country: Cézanne's Large Bathers, Duchamp, a full Japanese teahouse, medieval cloisters, and the Rocky Steps out front.
Hours
Mon, Thu, Sat, Sun 10 am–5 pm; Fri to 8:45 pm. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tip
Pay what you wish on Friday nights, confirmed through spring 2027
The College of Physicians' museum of medical history: skulls, specimens, the Soap Lady, the tumor removed from Grover Cleveland's jaw, and a wall of swallowed objects. Not for everyone and not for kids, but nothing else in the city is remotely like it. Timed tickets; book ahead.
Address
19 S 22nd St
Hours
Wed–Mon 10 am–5 pm; Tuesdays 3–8 pm through October 27
Tickets
Timed entry, 50 guests per half hour; book online, especially for a weekend
The largest collection of Rodin outside Paris, in a small Beaux-Arts building and garden on the Parkway: The Thinker at the gate, The Burghers of Calais, and a cast of The Gates of Hell. Forty-five minutes, and the garden is free to sit in.
Address
2151 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy
Hours
Mon and Fri–Sun, 10 am–5 pm. Closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Admission
Suggested $15 adults; the garden is free
Best
Friday, with the Barnes two blocks away
Public artCitywide · this one at Broad & Spring Garden
Philadelphia calls itself the Mural Capital of the World, and it's not a stretch: Mural Arts has put more than 4,000 works on the city's walls since 1984, most of them painted with the neighborhoods they sit in. Pictured is Meg Saligman's five-story Common Threads (1997), across from the Met on North Broad, which recasts local high-school students as figures from the artist's grandmother's figurine collection. You'll pass murals without trying; to see them on purpose, Mural Arts runs walking and trolley tours from Center City, and the self-guided "Mural Mile" loop starts near Reading Terminal Market.
Walk or bike from the Art Museum past the Water Works to the fifteen Victorian boathouses, outlined in lights after dark. The view from the West River Drive side is the postcard.
Hammocks, floating gardens, and food stands strung with lights on the Delaware, a short walk from Old City. Seasonal, through early fall; the RiverRink takes over in winter.
An 1,800-acre gorge inside city limits, with Forbidden Drive, a gravel carriage road along the creek, covered bridges, and stone ruins. Twenty-five minutes from Center City.
Trailhead
Valley Green Inn
08
Free time
Three plans sized to the gaps in a conference schedule.
An evening · 3 hours
After the last session
Market–Frankford Line from 34th St to City Hall or 2nd St
Dinner in Chinatown, Old City, or on 13th Street in Midtown Village
Walk past Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell lit up at night
Or: subway south for a Phillies game, first pitch usually 6:40
Nightcap back in University City at the White Dog bar
A free afternoon · 4 hours
The Parkway, 10 min by cab
Cab or Regional Rail to the Art Museum; run the Rocky Steps
The Barnes or the Art Museum, not both — but check the day first: both are closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Rodin is closed Tuesday through Thursday. On a Wednesday afternoon the Parkway museums are shut; go to the Mütter or Eastern State instead
Walk Kelly Drive to Boathouse Row
Back along the Schuylkill River Trail: it runs straight to the hotel's side of the river in 30 minutes
A spare day · arrive Monday or stay Saturday
The founding, properly
Independence Hall on a reserved morning tour, then the Liberty Bell
Franklin's grave, Christ Church, Elfreth's Alley
Reading Terminal Market for lunch (Saturday is the full market)
Museum of the American Revolution, or the Italian Market and a cheesesteak
Saturday: the Phillies' last home series, or Spruce Street Harbor Park
09
Getting around
Practical notes for the first visit.
From the Sheraton
The 34th Street stop of the Market–Frankford Line is two blocks east on Market; 13th Street (Reading Terminal) is 8 minutes, 15th/City Hall 10, 2nd Street (Old City) 18. The trolley entrance at 36th and Sansom is right beside the hotel. Center City is a 15-minute walk across the Walnut or Chestnut Street bridge; 30th Street Station, for the airport and Amtrak, is 12 minutes on foot. Cabs and rideshares are plentiful on Chestnut.
The grid is your friend
Penn laid out Center City as a grid in 1682 and it still works: numbered streets run north–south from the Delaware, tree-named streets east–west. City Hall sits at the center of Broad and Market. Most of this guide is within a 40-minute walk of it.
SEPTA and the PHLASH
Two SEPTA lines cover the essentials: the Market–Frankford Line (east–west, to Old City and Fishtown) and the Broad Street Line (north–south, to South Philly and the stadiums). Tap a contactless card or phone at the turnstile. Regional Rail reaches the airport, Chestnut Hill, and Manayunk.
The purple PHLASH bus loops the tourist sites from Penn’s Landing to the Art Museum, every 15 minutes, 10 am to 6 pm. After Labor Day it runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only, so during the meeting the Friday is your one day for it. A day pass is $5; SEPTA Key holders and over-65s ride free.
Book the free things
Independence Hall is free but ticketed, and in the 250th year the tours fill. Reserve at recreation.gov as soon as your dates are set. The Liberty Bell needs no ticket, but the line is shortest before 10 am or after 3 pm.
Weather in late September
Late September is the city's best week: highs in the 70s, cool evenings, and the humidity gone. Bring a light layer for the walk back after dark and an umbrella just in case; an evening game at the ballpark gets breezy.
Go Birds
Said in Philadelphia, “Go Birds” is a greeting, a goodbye, a toast, and a way of acknowledging a stranger at a crosswalk. The Eagles are the reason, but the phrase stopped needing a game to justify it a long time ago: you will hear it in elevators, in line at Wawa, and at the end of work emails. It is said flatly, not shouted, and the correct reply is to say it back. Try it on a cashier and see for yourself. Go Birds.
The 250th, this fall
Ring It On! — the citywide series of street festivals, culinary and cultural events marking the semiquincentennial, continues through December 5.
Bells Across PA — painted fiberglass Liberty Bells installed across the state through December; 27 of them are in Philadelphia, and finding them makes a good walking game.
250th exhibitions — Declaration-focused and "A Nation of Artists" shows at the city's museums run through the end of the year.
