philly in february?

I am taking my youngest son on a four day trip for his 10th birthday and he has chosen Philadelphia as our destination. He loves history and doesn%26#39;t get bored easily. I%26#39;m looking for suggestions for things to do that will be interesting and memorable for both of us. We won%26#39;t have a car and don%26#39;t mind cabs/public transportation. Also I%26#39;d like to spend one day doing something fun and less academic (when I took his brother to Colonial Williamsburg we spent one day at Busch Gardens).

Is February a bad time to go because of weather and things not being open? If so we can probably go in March or even April.

Thanks for any help.

philly in february?

Of course April is nicer than February or March. May is the best, actually. Unless there is a really bad snow, things don%26#39;t close. Our bad snow is less than your- I%26#39;d say around 8'; is when we start having closings. He might like the Mutter Museum (of Medical Oddities) or The Franklin Institute as well as the usual historical sites.

philly in february?

My kids love the historic sites, Academy of Natural Sciences, Franklin Institute, Art Museum, Mutter Museum, UPenn Archaeology Museum, the Zoo (yes, even in winter), Reading Terminal Market and I could go on and on. If your son loves history, this is the place to visit. For something fun, take him to Dave and Buster%26#39;s and ice skating outside at the River Rink (very close to one another).

Check out the underground museum at Franklin Court, its free, warm and kinda cool, if a little bit beat up (it%26#39;s a park service museum with the concurrent funding issues: www.nps.gov/archive/inde/franklin-court.html

For a 10 year old, also check out the Please Touch Museum for some fun things to do.

http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/

And of course all the historical stuff (Independence hall, the liberty bell, Betsy ross house, constitution center).

If you stay near the historical district, all except the please touch are walking distance. With kids, I might suggest the Residence Inn Center city for the extra space and kitchen.

Given that your son is very into history I%26#39;d skip some of the more touristy attractions (Betsy Ross House, Christ Church Burial Ground) and focus on meatier stuff. Take a look at:

Atwater Kent Museum (History of Philadelphia)

Arch Street Meetinghouse at 4th and Arch Streets (Philly%26#39;s Quaker roots. The building is from 1804 but the Quaker community that meets there dates back to the1600%26#39;s and William Penn)

Elfreth%26#39;s Alley for a look at life of the Colonial working class

National Constitution Center

Franklin Court, as previously mentioned

Any of the numerous ethnic/religious institutions that date to Colonial Era or early US. Particularly Mother Bethel AME Church, National Jewish Museum and Temple Mikveh Isreal, and Christ Church. There are more and if you have a particular interest let me know.

If your son is interested in the Civil War then you might want to go to the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum and tour the Union League.

If you are willing to go out of Center City then I highly recommend visiting Cliveden on Germantown Avenue. It%26#39;s were the battle of Germantown (American Revolution) was fought. The house was owned by the same family almost continuously from the Colonial Era through 1972, when it and its contents were given to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Lynn

Please Touch Museum is for the 5 and under crowd, not for a 10 year old.