Philadelphia City Hall

In the heart of Center City Philadelphia is a landmark that stands out in all skyline views of the city.  With the top of the building adorned with a 27-ton bronze statue of William Penn, City Hall is probably the most recognizable building in the city.  The statue itself is the tallest statue at the top of any building in the world.  Also of note, is that the building itself is the tallest masonry building in the world today.  The construction of the building was started in 1871 and wasn't completed until 30 years later in 1901 at a cost of approximately $24 million, which was over 3 times the original estimated cost.

Today, of course, this building is still the center of government for the city.  You can find portraits of all of the mayors in the city's history adorning the building, as well as exquisite architecture throughout.  Tours are offered weekdays at 12:30 PM.  We took this tour this week and after 2 hours, we felt it was well worth it.  Our guide walked is through a good portion of the building, including describing a lot of the architecture on the outside of the building.  We were able to enter various rooms in the building, including the Mayor's Reception Room (Hey, look, I'm Mayor of Philly now!)

At the very end of the tour you'll also have the opportunity to go up to the top of the Tower of the building.  The view from here is magnificent and since you can walk all around it, you can get a 360 degree view of the entire city.

I'd definitely recommend this tour for all residents and visitors to the city.  Be aware though that only a limited amount of people can take the tour each day.  You can make a reservation on the phone (215-686-2840) starting at 9 AM in the morning to guarantee your spot that day.  The tours are also only offered on weekdays.

Also, across the street from City Hall, underneath the Municipal Building is the City Hall Phillie Phanatic, who'll only be there for a few more days, so make sure you check him out ASAP!

Citizens Bank Park

We spent this past Sunday at the Phillies vs. Nationals game at Citizens Bank Park.  For anyone who hasn't been to this stadium yet, you're truly missing out.  The Phillies' home turf is one of the top venues to view a baseball game in the country.  The stadium is clean, provides good viewing angles from all the seats, and has plenty of food and entertainment.

The promenade located behind the outfield has various food vendors, including the famous Tony Luke's (some of the best cheesesteaks in Philly!) and Chickies and Pete's (a long line just for their Crab Fries!).  There's plenty of shops around to get your Phillies' paraphernalia, including a Build-A-Bear directly in the stadium.  It's great that when planning this stadium, that the designers thought about the entire ball-park experience and didn't just make a "cookie-cutter" stadium like the old Veterans Stadium this replaced.

Also, inside the stadium is one of the Phillie Phanatic statues that have been placed around town.  This is the only one we've seen thus far inside of a glass enclosure, but it's still allows for photos to be taken.

A final statue that caught our eye is the Mickey Mouse one.  Apparently all of the MLB stadiums have one of these this season for their teams as part of a promotion by Disney from the All-Star game.

Phillie Phanatic Press Conference

At a press conference today, the future of the 20 Phillie Phanatic statues that have been part of the Phanatic Around Town summer promotion have been decided.  The statues will be removed from their current locations around the city on August 30 and moved to Citizens Bank Park through the end of 2010 Philadelphia Phillies regular season.

The statues will be at the “Phanatic Walk” at the Third Base Gate through Sep. 30.  On Sep. 11, Citizen’s Bank Park will be open to the public, with FREE admission for the public to see all of the Phanatics. On Aug. 27, online at http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/fan_forum/y2010/phanatic_around_town.jsp, the Phanatics will go up for auction, four Phanatics at a time, with bids starting at $1,000. All profits from the sales will go to Phillies Charities, which donates grant monies to local Philadelphia charities.

So, here’s your chance to catch all of the Phanatics all in one place in case you missed them this summer. And if you have a favorite, you can own one and make it part of your family.

For a video of David Buck, Philadelphia Phillies Vice President of Marketing and Advertising Sales making the announcement, please click here.