tupacboy

So I"m going to philly for the first time this weekend... never been... what are the must see's and do's?

speedracer120

Not much. Run up and down the Art Museum steps like a tourist imitating Rocky. Talk a leisurely walk along the Schuylkill River. There's the Independence Mall with Independence Hall, the US Mint, the Constitution Center. You'll probably want to eat at either Pat's or Geno's for a cheesesteak. Lot's of highly rated restaurants, like Le Bec Fin, Morimoto's, POD and such if you want to drop some major dough. You might also like to drop by the Reading Terminal Market, which is a tourist trap more than anything else but "noted" for the food. Visit UPenn campus and surrounding area. Walking around Center City can be fun too. But really after that, not many remarkable places to go or touristy things to do. When I have visitors over who just want to chill out, I get most of that out of the way in about three hours or less and after that we just hang out at home or go to the movies.
If you're a history buff, you can travel out to Valley Forge, which is just a park, travel up to Washington's Crossing near Trenton, NJ where George Washington crossed the Delaware River. Gettysburg is much further out to the west.
If you want tax free retail shopping, you can drive down to the State of Delaware. If you want to just shop, King of Prussia mall is a pretty large mall. I always think of it as about the size of South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, but it might be larger.
Most of the times I've had people over, I actually spend more time down in DC or NYC which are well within driving distance from Philly.

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Off in La La Land

attgig

if you want a real cheesesteak, avoid pat's or genos. they get most hype, but not the best.
tony luke's, or perhaps georges are arguably the best. both are definitely better than pats/genos.
also, hit up the the italian market/southside for even more good cheap eats.

otherwise speedracer hit most of the big stuff.
history stuff is most of the must sees, like the bell and constitition places. bunch of rev/civil war stuff in driving distance (couple hours or less)

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speedracer120

Yeah, I forgot to mention, the mass produced cheesesteaks at Wawa are probably better than Pat's or Geno's. But if you really want to get one from the famous corner, most people I know, including myself enjoy Pat's over Geno's, plus a little bit nicer to boot. Though Geno's does look cleaner and is more well lit.

Another second for South Street and Italian Market. Also hit up a Rita's Water Ice stand. Weird at first, but it is a must have, along with a Philly Soft Pretzel, though that really is off the deep-end Philly deal.

It took me several years to finally start craving "Philly" things. But take my word for it, I'd take and burger from In-n-Out, and some real good Korean food from any K-town in SoCal over whatever Philly has to offer. That's from someone who's lived in SoCal for most his life and is now stuck in the Philadelphia area for the foreseeable future.

If you want to make some people back home really jealous. I might actually suggest you drive out to Hershey and enjoy their chocolaty goodness. It's a bit far, but if you're a chocoaholic, it's a must.

tupacboy

i'm flying to nyc from lax and driving there... friend has a art gallery there and i promised to visit... direct flights was like $700!!! while to jfk it only ran me around $260...

whenever i leave la.. i miss in-n-out, good mexican food, and korean food (for some odd reason its always either kalbi jjim or gam ja tang)

thanks for the 411

tupacboy

here is my friends gallery

http://www.tandpfineart.com/

speedracer120

Dude, that's like a block away from the infamous cheesesteak corner. Anyways have to hunker back down to study.

attgig

that's pretty ridiculous prices... 700 bucks?!?! baltimore is also pretty close if you don't wanna fly directly to philly. I'm pretty sure you can get better prices than 700 bucks though. I always get flights 300 bucks or less from baltimore to west coast.

attgig

oh, and you guys could always make the short trip to AC if you guys are gamblers at all. you can check out an east coast boardwalk. very different from west coast beaches. you'd probably hate it, but it has its charm

tupacboy

forgot to post... went to philly.. yea... sadly not much to do there... and man downtown parking is more expensive then LA!!!

made sure i went to pat, geno's and tony luke's...

i felt that tony luke was best by far... i went back twice for tony luke's... delicious!... and i caught a phillies game that sat too fun stadium...

speedracer120

Yeah, basketball and baseball game prices are real accessible for the cheap seats.

Honestly I have yet to try Tony Luke's. I hear good stuff about them, Pudges, *****'s (despite the name), Five Guys, and such. I need to drive around and gain weight when I get some free time.