I feel like I need to preface this post by saying a good amount of what we did in Philadelphia was eat. If it seems like this itinerary is missing chunks, its because we were probably just eating. And you can see everything we ate during the 4 days we were in Philly in this post.
Thursday
I flew into Philadelphia Thursday morning so I had almost 4 full days of fun! After dropping off my things and settling in a little, we took a ride into the Rittenhouse area for some shopping and exploring. The cherry blossom trees had just started to bloom! I could not stop taking pictures – they’re just so pretty.
We went to an insane Anthropologie (4 stories) and picked out our favorite BHLDN wedding dresses. And the biggest Nordstrom Rack I’ve ever seen, where I found Tory Burch espadrille wedges ($50, down from $300!).
We stopped for lunch at Parc, sat outside overlooking Rittenhouse Square. The best view of the park – I’m normally a huge people watcher but this time I was a dog watcher! And also possibly a lion watcher?
We then made our way through the city stopping in little local boutiques along the way. And visited Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest residential street in the US. This street is a designated national historic landmark. I’m glad we came on a weekday because it can get pretty busy with tourists. Just imagine living on a street with such history, but also constantly packed with tourists.
That night we had dinner at Mission Taqueria. I highly recommend the choco taco with homemade avocado ice cream!
Friday
Started our morning with breakfast at OCF Coffee House, a great place to grab a bite / caffeine fix if you’re visiting Eastern State Penitentiary. (Also, make sure to take the audio tour – narrated by Steve Buscemi).
Then time for mani pedis at Polish. (Also I always read it as Polish like my people, instead of polish like nail polish because its a capital P).
We originally planned on spending the day at Longwood Gardens, but due to weather made a change of plans.
We drove out to Glen Mills and spent the afternoon at Terrain. Its about a 40 minute drive from Philadelphia and the only part of our trip that we couldn’t get to by walking and/or uber.
Terrain is URBN brand’s garden, home, and outdoor lifestyle brand. We went for lunch and then spent a good amount of time shopping, relaxing, exploring.
We made our way back to Philly to regroup and wait for another friend to arrive. Then we put on our rain jackets and walked to a casual but delicious dinner and Rice and Mix.
Then we picked Jon up at the airport. SO happy he joined me on this trip – it was his first time in Philly! We originally planned on doing a Pat’s vs. Geno’s cheese steak taste test. But it was cold and rainy so we opted for a closer, not touristy cheese steak spot and ate it at home.
Also how cool is this giant scrabble board in my friends apt building gym?
Saturday
Jon and I had an early start and power walked over to Whole Foods to get our Michael Solomonv fix – federal donuts for breakfast!
My girlfriends and I took a walking mural arts tour. There are about 4,000 murals in Philadelphia!
Then we hopped in an uber to Fishtown for lunch at Suraya. Their brunch goes til 2, so we booked their last reservation at 1:45 and made it right on time. (We originally didn’t think brunch was going to happen – our mural tour was 11-1, perfect brunching hours).
Fishtown is basically Philly’s Brooklyn. All. The. Hipsters.
After lunch, we spent some time in the little courtyard behind Suraya. SO beautiful and peaceful. And a great spot for some pictures. Can you believe I’ve been friends with these gorgeous girls (pictured above) since high school. Or at least I’ve known them since then haha!
We then took a little break to rest our feet (we walked 7 miles that day) and get dolled up for my birthday dinner.
It was so special to spend such a big day (my 30th birthday) with so many important people in my life.
My birthday dinner was at Sampan (yum!) and then we went to Tiki, a rooftop bar, for drinks. And what’s a 30th birthday without a giant bowl of sugar and alcohol? LOVED this fun surprise!
Sunday
Sunday was the day I really wanted to dedicate to Jon. Because it was his first time in Philly, we tried to fit in as many historical (/tourist) spots as possible.
We got up bright and early and walked over to the art museum.
I highly recommend getting there early! When I went with my parents a few years ago, we waited at least a half hour to take a picture with the Rocky statue. This time we were the only ones there and walked right up, snap some pics and then had the steps to ourselves. We of course had to race to the top singing the Rocky theme song. And then just enjoyed the view of Philadelphia.
We met back up with our friends and headed to an early brunch at Bud & Marilyn’s. We made our reservations for 10am right when they opened to have a full day of exploring the city. I loved their decor – feels like you’re in the 50s!
We visited the Liberty Bell – its free and no tickets needed. There was a little line but it moved quickly. As you walk through, you can read about the history of the liberty bell and then just get a little aggressive (or be patient) for a picture.
And then we met back up with my friends for our tour of Independence Hall. You have to get tickets ahead of time. You can either go early in the morning, day of OR you can reserve tickets ahead of time online for $1 per ticket. And all tickets are picked up at the Independence Visitor Center (across the street from the liberty bell).
Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and passionate about the history she was speaking on.
And then we walked over to Yards Brewing Company for the brewery tour. The tours are $10 per person and comes with a beer (you drink during the tour) and a souvenir.
The brewery does serve food, but we went across the street to a diner, Silk City, for a quick meal before we needed to head to the airport.
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