Philly Phavorites: Part I

So one of my favorite bloggers, Sarah, is visiting Philly soon and I offered to put together a list of my favorite places in the city. I figure I'll just share it with the whole blogging community in an attempt to lure more of you to the city of brotherly love. Keep in mind, Philly is a pretty big place and I've only lived here for two years so there's probably a bunch of stuff missing. I also can't help out on good places to grab an adult beverage since I am not yet of the legal age. Another side note: I'm a stereotypical broke college kid so a lot of this stuff is cheap/free/so awesome it's worth spending money on despite the fact that i have none. Imma break this jawn down into a few posts so consider this part uno. Here we go!

phavorite things to do in philthy:

1. The Wagner Free Institute of Science
   why it's baller: this place is a museum of a musuem. some dude in the late 1800's opened a museum full of his taxidermy animals/bug collection and the place has stayed the exact same since it opened. it's full of creepy stuffed seals and birds and handwritten captions. my favorite part? a pile of bones in the corner, marked off with velvet ropes and a small sign that read 'dinosaur bones'. this place is beautiful in a creepy Victorian way AND it happens to be free. double score.
   neighborhood: north philly (right near Temple University!)
   cost on a scale of annie to daddy warbucks: 100% annie
2. The Mutter's Museum
   why it's baller: the mutter's museum is full of medical oddities- Siamese babies in a jar, books bound in human flesh, freakishly tall skeletons- it's pretty creepy. but that's it's charm. it was originally established as a physician's museum but these days it's mostly just average joes mucking around getting grossed out. again, it kind of has an old-timey feel and i always end up slack-jawed at some point during my visit.
   neighborhood: in between center city and west philly (right near trader joe's and a decent salvation army!)
   cost on a scale of oliver to richie rich: theodore "beaver" cleaver. it's pretty average- something like ten bucks. well worth it in my book.
3. Rittenhouse Square
   why it's baller: it's the ideal spot for baby and puppy watching. there are always some random musicians playing and if the weather's nice, there's nothing better than laying in the grass and people watching. just a really nice park overall.
   neighborhood: center city
   cost on a scale of aladdin to the sultan: totally aladdin. maybe even abu the monkey.
4. clark park
   why it's baller: pretty much every saturday there's a flea market or farmer's market in the park. you can check the schedule here. on most saturdays, a giant herd of kids show up at the park and play this crazy game with massive foam swords. pretty entertaining to watch but i get a little jealous of their cool games. again, just a really nice park in a pretty area of west philly.
   neighborhood: west philly
   cost on a scale of newsies to pulitzer: newsies. even crutchy. it's a park- it's totz fo' free.
5. WXPN Free at Noon Concerts
   why it's baller: durr- free music! every friday at noon WXPN hosts a free concert. a lot of really cool bands come in- they've had dr. dog, spinto band, the hold steady, etc. in the past . and even if you don't know the band that's playing just go! it's free and you get to hear a new band! they band is only guarenteed to play thirty minutes but they almost always do an encore so you get a solid 45-60 minutes of jams. there's also usually a meet and greet afterwards. all you have to do is sign up on the website- signups begin a week in advance. it's totally free and takes like two seconds to sign up for. this friday it's truth & salvage co and next friday gogol bordello is coming! so good!
   neighborhood: west philly
   
   cost on a scale of hot dogs to filet mignon: a fresh frank from the t-ball snack bar
   

other stuff to check out:

• UWishUNu - great site to check for upcoming events in philly. also lists good deals around the city. I check this site religiously.
• Philadelphia Weekly and Philadelphia City Paper also have good events listings- check 'em regularly! They list everything from upcoming concerts to bizarre karaoke contests to comic conventions to mr. america pageants to block parties- seriously, everything.
• R5Productions is a great place to look for concerts if you're in a musical mode. Most shows run in the $10-15 range which ain't too shabby. The shows are held in different venues all over the city but my favorite is the First Unitarian Church- the basement shows remind me of seeing local bands in high school and the santuary shows are especially intimate.
  

Up Next: stuff to eat. wear your spandex pants.