It turns out that I’m going to Philly this weekend for a wedding. Some friends of mine are driving down from New Jersey, and are going to take me around the city a bit Saturday afternoon.
We’re probably going to have lunch at Dinic’s Roast Pork at the Reading Terminal, and then go see the Liberty Bell. We’re going to wander other random places nearby. The wedding is at 6pm, so I’ll be a bit time limited.
Is there anything else I make sure I see while I’m there?
-D/a
Here, I thought this thread was going to be about the Mercury spacecraft. (I’m watching The Right Stuff right now.)
Sorry to disappoint, Johnny L. A. My life isn’t nearly that interesting. 
But if I do find myself wandering near the Mercury Space Craft, I’ll post another thread…
-D/a
The Franklin Institute. Indoors, incredibly cool stuff. You can walk through a human heart !!! ( if they’ve closed the heart, I will be mighty sad. I grew up in Philly, that was a fave event. )
Enjoy ! Have a pretzel from a street vendor, and use the Goulden’s Spicy Brown, not that wimpy suburban yellow mustard. 
ETA: The Giant Heart. 2nd Floor. AWESOME !!! The renovated version is, well, a bit slicker. The old one, you could tell they’d gobbed it together by hand with plaster of paris, fiberglass strips, what have you.
The smell, the thumping of the heart… and it used to thump hard. No clue if it still does.
Go for it.
I don’t imagine either are open on a Saturday, but for anyone going to Philadelphia…
Go to the Federal Reserve, not the Mint. The Mint is boring and the Federal Reserve is not.
Counterintuitive, but true 
Thank you for providing the title of my autobiography.
mmm
Funny, I would have thought that you’d use this line:
If you’re going to Independence Hall, swing by Ben Franklin’s house, on Market between 3rd and 4th. Oldest post office in the US, still operating (he was first postmaster general), demonstration of olden printing, etc. You’ll love the etc.
A cool place I take all of my out of town guests is the Lobby of the Comcast Center, it is a couple of blocks away from the Reading Terminal market. Why is a lobby so cool? They installed a huge HD LED screen in the lobby behind the security desks. It is very impressive, at times the screen looks just like the rest of the lobby walls and all of a sudden people will drop out of the ceiling or it will suddenly become a panoramic view of the Grand Canyon or something.
The Franklin Institute has already been named, so I’ll suggest The Mutter Museum – a place any Dope would love to see. See the Giant Colon! See the collection of Swallowed Objects! See the Soap Man! Weird and unique medical oddities for your edification.
Also, go see Ben Franklin’s house (or rather the place it used to be). They put a fascinating undergbround museum there.
USS Olympia? Its WW1 design cruiser and very different from the USS-NJ (BB62) Iowa Class design directly across the river from her. The best way I can describe her is to ask you to picture in your mind the ship piece from the board game Monopoly.
Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were crafted and adopted) is the thing to see. There’s a whole big tour. I’m sure it’d be open on Saturdays.
Then basically every building in the surrounding few blocks is of historic import from the founding era: Congress Hall, 1st Bank of the U.S. (and the Second, which is now a Portrait Gallery IIRC), the building where the first Continental Congress met (it’s tiny), the early Quaker meeting houses, the Betsy Ross Home, etc. The Liberty Bell is right in the same area a well. If you’re at all interested in that era, it’s the place to go, no doubt.
–Cliffy
Thanks, everyone!
My host for the day was a history major, so we’ll probably do some of the history based stuff… I’m guessing that he can give me insight that I wouldn’t get at just randomly wandering around.
I did check on the mint - it’s closed on Saturday. Shame, since one of my co-workers was also talking about it.
I may not be able to post until I get back home Monday night, but I’ll report in for what we actually did…so if someone less lazy than I am searches, they’ll see answers.
-D/a
Features many major and minor figures of the Revolution, often at very young ages, with mini-biographies. Many of the paintings are by members of Peale family, who were local.
And it’s do-able in a couple of hours (which is what you seem to have) – a lot of the (fine!) suggestions on this thread deserve a full day.
http://www.nps.gov/inde/second-bank.htm
<bestinshow>Make sure to see the place where they make the cream cheese. Better yet, the place they make the light cream cheese! I don’t think that building is even made of brick.</>
And it’s staffed by beautiful blonde clueless angels. In short robes.
Who are gaily munching away on soft pretzels.
With Goulden’s Spicy Brown mustard.
The soap woman.
I actually came in here to recommend the Mutter.
Re The Franklin Institute
Almost nothing from when I was a kid was there. However, the giant heart is there and impressive as ever (if not moreso).
You can also buy astronaut ice cream. A thread on the Dope determined that while the stuff isn’t cheap, the price reflects the expense of making the stuff and the museum’s profit margin is quite low.
Sadly, I didn’t get to see the angels.
Friday, my Mom and I got into town early enough to wander for a bit. We stayed at the Sheraton Society Hill, which is easily in walking distance to the historic area. We wandered for about an hour, and stopped over at the Carpenter’s Hall.
Saturday, my friends from NJ met us around 11 outside the Liberty Bell. They thoughtfully got tickets to Independence Hall for 2pm.
LOOOONG line at the bell! As much as I wanted to see it, I had better things to do than stand in line for an hour. So we left. Ended up at the Betsy Ross house. We grabbed some food, and walked back. The line was much shorter, and we had half an hour before our tour, so we were able to get in to see the Liberty Bell after all.
Then we did Independence Hall. After that, Mom was tired, so she went back to the hotel to rest before the wedding. My friends and I went to Reading Terminal market. WOW. I don’t know how to describe that place! We just wandered…didn’t eat anything because of the timing.
Thanks for the advice, everyone…I need to get back up there with more free time, so I can see the rest of the fun stuff.
-D/a
D/A, where ya from?
