Funky, Quirky, Off-Beat, Laid Back?

Hey Philly!

We%26#39;re going to be visiting over the weekend, just for a fun ';get out of New York'; trip. We%26#39;ve been a to Philly a few times before, and tend to like laid back and/or quirky stuff. We tend to prefer ';odd'; to ';historic.'; We really have liked the Mutter Museum, South Street, the Pennetentiary, Elfreth%26#39;s Alley ... but we%26#39;ve done all these things more than once already.We%26#39;re staying City Center area.

Any suggestions?

Funky, Quirky, Off-Beat, Laid Back?

There%26#39;s the Mummers Museum (2nd 7 Washington), Edgar Allen Poe house (around 7th %26amp; Spring Garden), Art Museum (for quirky check out the armor collection and the Dada collection. There%26#39;s also the ';Ride The Ducks'; tour, and Tony Luke%26#39;s.

Funky, Quirky, Off-Beat, Laid Back?

Good suggestions from Owlyn. A few more thoughts:

take any of the food-related guided walking tours: the Italian Market, Reading Terminal Market, or Chinatown

browse Antiques Row (Pine Street in Washington Square West)

visit the old Philadelphia Water Works in Fairmount Park and then enjoy the Park.

guided walking tour of Laurel Hill Cemetary

visit the contemporary art galleries in Old City

I suggest you look at gophila.com, which has a very comprehensive listing of what%26#39;s happening in the City, both ongoing and special events. I took a look and saw kayaking to Bartram%26#39;s Gardens.

Lynn

Mural Arts Tour: http://www.muralarts.org/tours/

Mural Arts Tour is a great idea!

Another vote for the mural arts tours - did one of South Philly this summer, and it was great. We stopped at Pat%26#39;s and Geno%26#39;s too.

For some interesting shopping %26amp; dining, you could head up to Northern Liberties. The Poe House is on the way, and there are a lot of cute shops now in the area of Liberties Walk, plus Standard Tap (wonderful gastro pub) is up there along with a bunch of other good restaurants.

It may be more historic than truly ';odd';, but the Fireman%26#39;s Hall National Firehouse and Museum in a former Philadelphia fire house, will be on your way if walking north of Market Street on 2nd Street (near Race). Link is www.firemanshall.org.

For odd, try the Insectarium (museum of bugs), the Shoe Museum and the Dental Museum (both at Temple University) and, though I haven%26#39;t been there, I heard there is a vast collection of InSinkErator garbage disposers somewhere in the city.

I had the pleasure of taking the Mural Arts tour back in June. LOVED it! I can%26#39;t recommend this enough. The tour that I took explored West Philly. The tour alternated areas of the city each week. You get to see parts of the city that most tourists do not venture. The murals were stunning. One of the best things I did during a week long visit to the city.

Fireman%26#39;s Hall is a great little museum. Owned and operated by the City, it is the museum of the history of Philadelphia firefighting and is staffed by members of the Fire Department. If you go you%26#39;ll learn the true signifigance of those fire insurance placques on buildings around the City.

Lynn