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Attractions
Franklin Institute
Please Touch Museum
National Constitution Center
US Mint
Adventure Aquarium (just across the river in Camden, NJ)
Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA (about 45 minutes south-west of the city)
Eastern State Penitentiary
National Museum of American Jewish History
Philadelphia Zoo
Independence Seaport Museum
Smith Playground
Philadelphia's Magic Gardens
One Liberty Observation Deck
Liberty Bell (plus a bunch of other historical sites nearby)
Independence Hall
Trolley tour bus

For discounts on admission, consider the Philadelphia Pass or the Philadelphia City Pass (if your visiting enough attractions), or buy the Entertainment book for the coupons. If you order it online, you should be able to print out all of the coupons you need immediately.

Hotels
The Ritz-Carlton located near City Center was originally a Bank and worth a visit.
Sheraton Society Hill is near the Liberty Bell area and the River. (probably the best place to stay for shabbos)
the Westin is by Rittenhouse Sq and City Center is North of City Hall area closer to Museum Row.
The Westin on 17th & Liberty. has some Old World charm to it
Sheraton City Center - was fine. clean, neat, pool and fitness but nothing special
Le Meridian across from city hall
Hyatt at the Bellevue on Walnut and Broad st.
Hyatt Penn's Landing
Homewood Suites City Avenue

Westin a plain hotel over the River in Mt Laurel , NJ
Aloft - Mt Laurel. (Aloft is  not your typical hotel. Very young crowd. Relaxed staff. Place is nice and new).

Restaurants

Center City:
Burger.org - 1901 Chesnut Street CLOSED
Mama's Vegetarian CLOSED
Center City Soft Pretzel Co. - unusual hours

University City:
Kosher Dining at the University of Pennsylvania - check hours/dates, only open during academic year

Lower Merion (20-25 min from center city, but up to 45 in traffic):
Shalom Pizzeria
Citron and Rose - more upscale. Make reservations in advance. Closed but recently reopened (as of May 17, 2017)
The Dairy - very nice dairy restaurant. CLOSED

Star of David Kosher grill- 942 Montgomery Ave, Narberth, PA 19072. Cheaper option for meat, Chinese, sushi
Nana's kitchen in the JCC-Address: 45 Haverford Rd, Wynnewood, PA 19096 Phone:(703) 586-3103- Call before, but usually open in the daytime with seating. Don't have to be a member to attend. Excellent dairy food options and very reasonably priced.

Northeast (35 min from downtown):
Holy Land Grill-permanently closed
Espresso Cafe

Cherry Grill in Cherry Hill, NJ is just across the Delaware River (via Ben Franklin Bridge.). Fairly classy ambience, better than decent food. 3/5 stars. Hechsher by the O-K and the Cherry K Vaad Hakashruth.

This is a pretty good list of the generally accepted kosher restaurants in Philly.
This is the website for the generally accepted community hechsher: http://www.keystone-k.info/

Shuls
Orthodox Jewish Philadelphia Directory
www.phillyshul.com (actually 2 shuls which they alternate between). Run by a very nice chabad rabbi.
Sephardi shul (www.mikvehisrael.org)
Mekor Habracha

Lower Merion (15 min drive from downtown):
Lower Merion Synagogue
Young Israel of the Main Line
Philadelphia Community Kollel - next door to Citron and Rose

Northeast (35 min drive from downtown):
Congregation Ahavas Torah

Bensalem (10 min drive from Sesame Place)
http://www.bensalemoutreach.org/

Eruv Maps
http://www.philly-direct.com/frum/eruv.html


Author Topic: Philadelphia Master Thread  (Read 181826 times)

Online mochjas

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #580 on: May 03, 2018, 11:06:08 AM »
Best dairy choice for lunch? Somewhere nice but not too nice. Tia
The dairy

Offline churnbabychurn

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #581 on: June 22, 2018, 06:41:07 PM »
Are there any outdoor parks for kids near chop?

Offline G11600

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #582 on: June 23, 2018, 01:57:23 PM »
Are there any hotels near LMS that is in walking distance?
Hilton City Avenue (and Homewood Suites next door)

Offline churnbabychurn

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #583 on: June 24, 2018, 03:11:14 PM »
Are there any outdoor parks for kids near chop?
Smith's playground and playhouse

Highly recommend!

Offline NumbersGuy

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #584 on: July 04, 2018, 09:18:04 PM »
Brief TR for July 4 Overnight:

Tuesday July 3

Left NYC in the early Morning and drove straight to Valley Forge National Historical Park (about 30 minutes W of Philly). Valley Forge is a massive site with an excellent visitor center. The visitor center plays a film on a loop and contains exhibits on the history of the park. To actually explore the grounds, there are a number of options. You can join biking or trolley tours ($15-$30) or explore the sights on a self-guided driving tour. The self-guided tour can be augmented by calling an automated system with your cell-phone and entering the relevant number to prompt the operator. Altogether, spent about 2.25 hours in the park; 1 hour at the visitor center and 1.25 hours on the standard driver tour loop, including stops. I'd recommend visiting the site if you are interested in American History.

On my way to Philly, stopped at Star of David (about halfway to Center City) for lunch. Ordered their Lunch Special (Soup, Sandwich, Fries for $16). Vegetable soup was pretty good, schwarma in pita was excellent, and fries were OK.

Then drove into Center City and stopped by the two Museums that were participating in the Wawa Welcome America celebration that day. Basically, each day in the week leading up to July 4, there is a museum or two that offers free/pay what you wish admission. First up was the Rodin Museum. Was able to find street parking right off Benjamin Franklin Pkwy. The museum is small but has a very impressive collection of Rodin sculpture and is very-well curated. 1 hour is plenty of time. Note: I believe the museum is always pay what you wish but I'm not 100% sure of that.

After that, drove over to the National Liberty Museum, where I also was able to find street parking around the corner from the Museum. The National Liberty Museum celebrates people who have contributed to the advancement of liberty through a variety of exhibits. Highlights include a very impressive Chihuly piece, the "Inspiration" Exhibit which details high-achievers who were able to overcome disability, and an exhibit focused on various heroes from around the world, where Holocaust era heroes are well-represented. Also a pretty small museum, 1.5 hours is plenty.

I then headed back to Cherry Hill where I spent the night. Ate at Cherry Grill with a friend for dinner; Cherry Grill Salad was pretty good, Entrecote was ok, and service could have been a little bit better.
 
Wednesday July 4

On July 4, lots of roads in the historic area of Philadelphia shut down for day parades and night time festivals/fireworks. So I drove to Frankford Transportation Center, which is the last stop on the Market-Frankford line. Parking was $3.50 for the day by the Transporation Center, and round trip SEPTA train tickets were $5. Took the train to 5th Street and briefly watched a ceremony on Independence Mall. As it was pretty early in the day, there wasn't much of a line to go see the Liberty Bell so I quickly stopped to see the Liberty Bell and supporting exhibitions. The wait for Independence Hall tours was about an hour, leading me to pass on seeing it.

I then briefly walked around the historic area, stopping by one of Ben Franklin's old houses and Mikveh Israel, which was closed. I then went to the National Museum for American Jewish History, which was participating in the Welcome America festival. Admission is normally $15 and well-worth it IMO. Spent nearly four hours in the museum; started on the first floor which has a small exhibit on famous American Jews, and then went up to the top floor for a special exhibit on Leonard Bernstein. You then work your way down the next 3 floors, each floor focusing on American Jewry over a particular period (1654-1880, 1880-1945, 1945+). Very much a can't miss for anyone with an interest in the subject matter.

Gave a passing thought to sticking around for the festivities at night but decided to head back to NYC. Drove from the Frankford Center to House of Kosher in NE Philadelphia, about 15 minutes and basically on the way to NYC. Very impressed with the store, which is basically a fully-kosher Supermarket a la what you'd find in Monsey, Brooklyn, Baltimore, Chicago, LA etc. The store has a full-deli and pizza store, as well as packaged-prepared foods, sushi, and goods from an offsite bakery. Tried the pizza which was very good as well as some items from the deli which were also pretty good.

Made it back to NYC in less than 2 hours so this is a trip I'll have to make again in the future.





Offline itreu001

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #585 on: July 10, 2018, 10:13:48 PM »
We were in Philly 2 weeks ago, and I wanted to provide a TR.

Congregation Mikve Israel has a great deal with the hotel next door (Wyndham) and has a shul rate for $129 a night. We booked 2 nights (along with our friends) and spent Friday night and Sat night there. The rooms for 129 do not have refrigerators, so if you want one, you need to upgrade to a higher class, which is a whopping $139 a night.  We took it.

The hotel was nice, nothing special, but it had a rooftop pool which is open from Memorial Day until Labor Day. Our kids loved it and spent allot of time there. We also got to see Fireworks over the Delaware River Sat night after shabbos.

Mikve Israel and the Hotel are in the Philly eruv downtown. Its a block away from all the historical stuff, and most of it is free on shabbos.

Mikve Israel also has affordable shabbos meals every week. We didn't go Friday night because they davened at 7pm, and we were driving from NY,  so 7pm for shabbos was a bit early for us.

The Shul is nice enough to let us park in their lot for free while we were there for shabbos. Just that was a savings of at least $100 for 3 days of parking in downtown Philly.

We davened in the Shul by day. It is a Sefardic Service as per the rites of the Spanish and Pourtegese nussach. Davening starts at 9 and ends at 12. It is followed by kiddush/lunch. We pre-reserved the meal over the phone earlier in the week and the shul asks that you please reserve meals by the Wednesday before. Everyone was friendly and the Rabbi was very nice. They davened mincha after lunch this week.

In the afternoon we went to museums. We went to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (You need free tickets, which we picked up earlier in the morning, or you can reserve for $1.50 a piece in advance, you need 2 weeks in advance to get them), and the visitor center. The entire area is in the eruv, so there is more that we could have done.

The next day we walked around the corner and went to Franklin Place. We got in with a heavy discount, because for every 4th grader you have with the National Parks Pass you get that child free and 3 adults free. We printed off the pass in the hotel.  We then went to Blackbird for lunch (vegan pizza place under the IKC), and then fruit picking on the way back to NYC.

Offline ludmila

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #586 on: July 10, 2018, 10:46:59 PM »
We were in Philly 2 weeks ago, and I wanted to provide a TR.

Congregation Mikve Israel has a great deal with the hotel next door (Wyndham) and has a shul rate for $129 a night. We booked 2 nights (along with our friends) and spent Friday night and Sat night there. The rooms for 129 do not have refrigerators, so if you want one, you need to upgrade to a higher class, which is a whopping $139 a night.  We took it.

The hotel was nice, nothing special, but it had a rooftop pool which is open from Memorial Day until Labor Day. Our kids loved it and spent allot of time there. We also got to see Fireworks over the Delaware River Sat night after shabbos.

Mikve Israel and the Hotel are in the Philly eruv downtown. Its a block away from all the historical stuff, and most of it is free on shabbos.

Mikve Israel also has affordable shabbos meals every week. We didn't go Friday night because they davened at 7pm, and we were driving from NY,  so 7pm for shabbos was a bit early for us.

The Shul is nice enough to let us park in their lot for free while we were there for shabbos. Just that was a savings of at least $100 for 3 days of parking in downtown Philly.

We davened in the Shul by day. It is a Sefardic Service as per the rites of the Spanish and Pourtegese nussach. Davening starts at 9 and ends at 12. It is followed by kiddush/lunch. We pre-reserved the meal over the phone earlier in the week and the shul asks that you please reserve meals by the Wednesday before. Everyone was friendly and the Rabbi was very nice. They davened mincha after lunch this week.

In the afternoon we went to museums. We went to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (You need free tickets, which we picked up earlier in the morning, or you can reserve for $1.50 a piece in advance, you need 2 weeks in advance to get them), and the visitor center. The entire area is in the eruv, so there is more that we could have done.

The next day we walked around the corner and went to Franklin Place. We got in with a heavy discount, because for every 4th grader you have with the National Parks Pass you get that child free and 3 adults free. We printed off the pass in the hotel.  We then went to Blackbird for lunch (vegan pizza place under the IKC), and then fruit picking on the way back to NYC.
Thank you. Any pictures?
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Offline Ays

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #587 on: July 25, 2018, 01:04:11 PM »
We're going to Philly next week with 7 kids what's the best hotel options? Preferably using points I have spg Hilton and ihg

Offline noturbizniss

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #588 on: July 26, 2018, 07:05:15 AM »
We're going to Philly next week with 7 kids what's the best hotel options? Preferably using points I have spg Hilton and ihg
Search spg and Hilton website
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Offline 12HRS

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #589 on: July 26, 2018, 07:29:59 AM »
We're going to Philly next week with 7 kids what's the best hotel options? Preferably using points I have spg Hilton and ihg

FWIW the Hyatt at the Bellevue is a great hotel in a lower category then it probably should be.

Offline Ays

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #590 on: July 26, 2018, 07:54:42 AM »
Search spg and Hilton website
Doesn't seem like they have rooms that fit that many ppl

Offline noturbizniss

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #591 on: July 26, 2018, 10:26:20 AM »
Doesn't seem like they have rooms that fit that many ppl
Most standard hotels don't. You need a suite or adjoining rooms
READ THE DARN WIKI!!!!

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Offline Ays

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #592 on: July 26, 2018, 01:42:09 PM »
In my experience adjoining rooms don't always work out. And I'm looking for 2 bedroom suites but there do not seem to be any out there

Offline skyguy918

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #593 on: July 29, 2018, 10:49:20 AM »
In my experience adjoining rooms don't always work out. And I'm looking for 2 bedroom suites but there do not seem to be any out there
Why not just Airbnb/VRBO? There are very few hotels with suites big enough for a family of 9 (in general, and certainly not in a major city like Philadelphia), and even when you find one you usually can't get it with points anyway.

Offline Luvtotravel

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #594 on: August 03, 2018, 12:11:49 PM »
anyone know what latest minyan shachris is in area? or in cherry hill?
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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #595 on: August 03, 2018, 12:31:11 PM »
In my experience adjoining rooms don't always work out. And I'm looking for 2 bedroom suites but there do not seem to be any out there
I booked a two bedroom suite at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott (full kitchen) for next week Sunday-Friday for 40k Marriott Rewards points. Young Israel of Cherry Hill is 3.5 mi away. Cherry Grill 5 min. All Philadelphia attractions and restaurants about 20-30 min. Funplex 7min.

Offline Ays

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #596 on: August 03, 2018, 02:38:29 PM »
I booked a two bedroom suite at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott (full kitchen) for next week Sunday-Friday for 40k Marriott Rewards points. Young Israel of Cherry Hill is 3.5 mi away. Cherry Grill 5 min. All Philadelphia attractions and restaurants about 20-30 min. Funplex 7min.
Thanks! How'd you do it? Doesn't let me book a 2 bedroom online and I called they said 2 bedroom is not available for points

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #597 on: August 03, 2018, 02:40:17 PM »
Thanks! How'd you do it? Doesn't let me book a 2 bedroom online and I called they said 2 bedroom is not available for points
o called and asked nicely.... I'm gold so maybe that helped.

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #598 on: August 06, 2018, 02:04:21 PM »
Anyone used economy parking lot at phl airport? Is it better than off site lots?

Offline ahron15

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Re: Philadelphia Master Thread
« Reply #599 on: August 06, 2018, 02:17:26 PM »
Anyone used economy parking lot at phl airport? Is it better than off site lots?
Just used it last week much better experience than off site lots no wait times for the shuttle also came out the same price as the off site lots as they charge $11 flat rate without any other  taxes and fees! Just one thing to consider there are three different entrances do some research which one is the closest to the airport so hopefully you won’t have to sit in the shuttle as it circles the lot it’s pretty big!