Weekend in Philly… and Camden

In a rarely seen phenomenon, we had an entire weekend with no plans. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zero. It was shocking. Rather than sit around and stare at each other, we decided to do an overnight in Philadelphia.

We had two things in mind that we wanted to do (three if you include me getting a cheesesteak from Pat’s, which, incidentally didn’t happen, and four if you include seeing the Liberty Bell, which you will read about shortly); go to the Please Touch Museum and the Adventure Aquarium (which is not in Philly as we had originally thought, but across the river in Camden, hence the title of this post).

The Please Touch Museum is AMAZING. I have been to a few children’s museums. We are actually members at a museum in CT. And for those of you who have never been to one, but “museum” I mean area where kids can run around and play with stuff in themed settings. So, one area might be a supermarket theme and kids can shop, or work a register, or stock shelves or whatever. Another area might be all water activities. One might be animals. The Please Touch Museum is like a children’s museum on steroids. It is HUGE. My wife and I were very impressed.

That night I mentioned that I wanted to see the Liberty Bell. I mean, I’m in Philly, I should see the Liberty Bell. My wife was tired from walking around and from being 7 months pregnant. So, I asked my son if he wanted to take a walk. We set off to find the Bell. It is not outside, as I thought, and the building that houses it closes at 7pm. I got there at 7:09. So, I was able to peer through a dirty window, from about 25 feet away and see the Bell.

Our next stop was the Adventure Aquarium. Again, a home run. Great aquarium. Lots to see. A couple of interactive areas for kids. Just a great day overall. We missed the Hippo feedings, but other than that we saw everything we wanted to see.

I would definitely recommend either of these places to anyone looking for a good day trip (or weekend) who is within comfortable driving distance to the Philadelphia area. I also hear the Zoo is nice. And I still need to get back for my cheesesteak!

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