Birthplace of America

This year’s AAO annual session returns to one of its frequent stops, Philadelphia, after previous visits in 2013 and 2002. The Pennsylvania Convention Center, centrally located in the Old City, will host the meeting April 25-27. Here is JCO’s annual preview of attractions, events, and restaurants in the convention city.

April high temperatures in Philadelphia average in the upper 60s, with lows around 50. Overcast skies and rain are common.

Philadelphia International Airport is only about seven miles from downtown. Taxis, charging a flat rate of $32 to Center City, depart from Zone 5, limousines and vans from Zone 6, and app-based services from Zone 7, on the South Commercial Roadway outside each baggage claim. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) provides rail service to Center City every half-hour on weekdays (hourly on weekends). You can buy a Quick Trip at the airport kiosk for $6.75, or you can purchase a SEPTA Key Card in advance for $4.95 (which is credited to your wallet), and then load it as needed (septakey.org).

Philadelphia Visitor Centers are located at City Hall, on the Independence Mall, in LOVE Park, and at the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Besides souvenirs and information, the centers offer discounted tickets for tours, attractions, and theater productions. You can also get discounts by using either the Philadelphia Pass (philadelphiapass.com) or the Philadelphia CityPASS (citypass.com), which can be purchased online before your trip. LOVE Park (officially JFK Plaza) not only contains Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture, but is currently the home of the Portal, a giant video installation by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys, featuring a rotation of livestreams from several global cities.

Philadelphia claims to be the “Mural Capital of the World,” with more than 4,300 installations curated by Mural Arts Philadelphia (muralarts.org). You can search for public art, or take a self-guided tour, through the Association for Public Art (associationforpublicart.org). Many other self-guided walking or driving tours are suggested on the Visit Philadelphia website (visitphilly.com).

Additional historic sites worth visiting include the National Constitution Center; Carpenters’ Hall, site of the first Continental Congress; the Betsy Ross House; and Elfreth’s Alley, one of the nation’s oldest residential streets. The familiar City Hall, America’s largest municipal building, offers a tower tour with a spectacular view of Philadelphia from 548 feet above ground level.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art may be best known for its “Rocky steps,” but it is also one of the world’s leading museums, featuring new galleries designed by Frank Gehry. Current exhibits include “Mythical Creatures: China and the World” and “Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s”; also on site will be the Philadelphia Show, a touring national art and design fair, running April 25-27. Nearby, the Beaux-Arts-style Rodin Museum houses one of the largest collections of the French sculptor’s work, while the excellent Barnes Foundation will be spotlighting “Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations.” The Franklin Institute is presenting “Body Worlds: Vital,” an “inside-out look” at how the human body works; the museum’s Fels Planetarium offers various astronomical shows.

Those with more specialized interests can find a plethora of museums in Philadelphia, including the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Fireman’s Hall Museum (a restored 1898 firehouse), the Museum of the American Revolution (showing “Banners of Liberty: An Exhibition of Original Revolutionary War Flags”), the Museum of Illusions, the newly renovated Science History Institute museum, and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. A bit farther from the convention center are the Penn Museum, the University of Pennsylvania’s museum of archaeology and anthropology, showcasing “Native American Voices”; Congregation Rodeph Shalom, the 1920s-era Byzantine-­style synagogue housing the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art; Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, “an immersive mixed media art environment” by mosaicist Isaiah Zagar; and the rather controversial Mütter Museum, operated by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

Just across the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park, the Philadelphia Zoo, billed as “America’s first zoo,” is undergoing some renovations and is currently open only Thursday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., with last admission at 1:30 p.m. Nearby are the Please Touch Museum (Philadelphia’s children’s museum) and the Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center (a traditional garden and teahouse built in Japan in 1953).

A few blocks east of the Historic District, Penn’s Landing is the centerpiece of the Delaware River waterfront, where you can hike the 3.3-mile Delaware River Trail. The World War II submarine Becuna and 1895 cruiser Olympia are berthed at the Independence Seaport Museum. Across the water in Camden, New Jersey, you can visit the Battleship New Jersey and the Adventure Aquarium.

Events

The renowned Philadelphia Orchestra will be presenting pianist Yefim Bronfman with conductor Tugan Sokhiev in Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto, paired with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4, April 25-27. On April 26, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra performs an appealing concert featuring pianist Yuja Wang and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto No. 1; also on the program will be Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps, Maurice Ravel’s Shéhérazade, and Claude Debussy’s La mer. The cutting-edge Opera Philadelphia offers an old favorite, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni, April 25 and 27. PHILADANCO! showcases its own chore­ographers April 25-27 in “Relentless Resident Visions!”

Restaurants

The much-decorated Marc Vetri headlines the Philadelphia dining scene with his flagship Vetri Cucina. The Vetri-founded northern Italian Osteria is still serving in the Spring Garden district under new ownership, but other outposts have sadly closed in recent months. Stephen Starr continues to lead a reliable Philly empire, including Barclay Prime (steakhouse), Buddakan (modern Asian), Butcher and Singer (classic American), The Continental Midtown (eclectic), The Dandelion (British pub), El Rey (Mexican), El Vez (Latin), Frankford Hall (German Biergarten), Morimoto (home of a former Iron Chef), Parc (French bistro), and Talula’s Garden (farm to table).

Other highly rated Philadelphia restaurants: a.kitchen (new American), Amada (Spanish), Barbuzzo (Mediterranean), Café y Chocolate (Mexican), Forsythia (French), Friday Saturday Sunday (tasting menu), High Street (new American), Irwin’s (Sicilian), Jansen (new American), Kalaya (Thai), Kampar (Malaysian), Laurel (French), My Loup (new French), Pietramala (vegan), River Twice (new American), Vernick Fish, and Zahav (Israeli).