Friday, August 6, 2010

Various Philly Phanatics

We've collected a few more Philly Phanatic statues from around the city this past weekend. We kicked it off at the Please Touch Museum, located in Fairmount Park.  Dressed up as the Mad Hatter from Alice In Wonderland, I think this was my favorite of them.


To follow up this one, we saw the statue standing right in front of the Franklin Institute, which was of course painted up as Ben Franklin.


Our final Phanatic was in the trendy area of Rittenhouse Square.  This guy had various baseball cards of Phillies greats over the years painted on him.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

FREE Weekend

Did you know that the first full weekend of the month means FREE entrance into certain museums in the Philadelphia area? If you have a Bank of America card, show it at the ticket counter and get free entrance at the following museums in Philadelphia:

Philadelphia Museum of Art
National Constitution Center
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Please Touch Museum
Africa American Museum of Philadelphia

So, go out and enjoy this weekend at one of these museums, or any of the FREE museums around the country.  Please be aware that you get one free entry per Bank of America card you have.  So if two of you are going, bring two cards with you!

For more information, please go to www.bankofamerica.com/museums, where you can also see what other museums are free in other cities.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Logan Square

Located in the heart of the Museum District of Philadelphia, Logan Square's original purpose was to be used as a burial ground.  In later years, it was used as a pasture for various farm animals and then evolved into a place for public executions.  With the construction of the Benjamin Franklin parkway in 1920, it was turned into a widely used traffic circle (which is why it is also referred to as Logan Circle).

At the very center of the square is an enormous fountain called the Swann Memorial Fountain, built in 1924.  The three statues are there to represent Philly's three main waterway: the Delaware River, the Schuykill River and the Wissahickon Creek.

Today you'll also find various people taking a soak in the fountain to cool off in the summer.  Surrounding the fountain are the Franklin Institute, the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Free Library of Philadelphia.


Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Kimmel Center For The Performing Arts

This massive building opened in December 2001 and is the centerpiece of Philadelphia's performing arts district. Two separate venues are inside this structure that are perfect for plays, musicals, orchestras and other performances.  Tours are offered on a regular basis from Tuesday to Sunday at 1 PM.  On this particular trip, we weren't able to take the tour, but we plan to in the not-too-distant future (and of course we'll be reporting on it).

At the top of the atrium of the building is the Dorrance H. Hamilton Garden, which is a simple garden with various trees.  It's something you won't really see at other performing arts centers, so it's a nice sight to see.  Be prepared though...it's EXTREMELY warm in the garden.


We also bought tickets to see the Blue Man Group in January 2011 while we were there.  This is a show I saw in Vegas a few years ago, and I can't wait to check it out again.  It's an excellent show that I'd recommend everyone in the area to go see!

Also, located in the main lobby, is one of the 20 Philly Phanatics that have been placed around the city.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Free Library of Philadelphia

Located right across from Logan Square in the Museum District of Philadelphia is the "Free Library of Philadelphia".  This massive building still functions as a regular library for the area.  However, there is a great amount of historic value to it as well.  While it was originally located in a few rooms inside of city hall, it now resides in the current gorgeous structure of today and has been there since 1927.

The rare book department held inside is one of the largest in the country, which is always bringing academics to the area for research.  Tours are offered of the rare book department for anyone that is interested, and should be scheduled in advance.  There is also a plan to expand the library structure in 2012 with an atrium-style addendum on the back side.


At the entrance to the building is also one of the 20 Philly Phanatics around town that we've been photographing this summer.  This one is "dressed up" like an astronaut.


Right across the street from the library is a Shakespeare Memorial.  For anyone that has been a fan of this Englishman's plays, you should probably give it a look-see if you're in the area.