Duo Travel

A Day in Philly

by Rae

My boyfriend and I recently went to Philadelphia for my birthday weekend. We were able to fit several Philly activities into just one day and I will divulge the full itinerary here! First a brief background: We took the Amtrak for a short, less than 90 minute ride from Maryland. The cab ride from the station to our hotel cost around $10 and we stayed at the Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia in the Rittenhouse Square district, which was fabulous. More to come about the hotel, because it was worthy of its own recognition. Here was our 1-day itinerary in Philly:

  • Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia
  • Manhattan Bagel
  • Harper’s Garden
  • Rittenhouse Square
  • City Hall
  • Love Park
  • Reading Terminal
  • Liberty Bell
  • Independence Hall
  • Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens
  • Pat’s King of Steaks

We spontaneously started our Saturday at Manhattan Bagel for a caffeine boost–located on 18th and Sansom Street–while waiting for Harper’s Garden to open for brunch. The Chai Tea Latte with soy milk was cinnamon-y and delicious, one of my favorites I’ve had as of late. Harper’s Garden opens at 10 a.m. for brunch on the weekends and has a lovely ambience. I would love to go again and sit outside next time to enjoy street views and people watching. The outdoor area was the best that I saw while roaming Philly.

Harper’s Garden outdoor area

Our brunch meal included bottomless mimosas (delicious), a bloody mary (good) and eggs benedict (good). Even though it wasn’t my favorite brunch I would still give it another try to sit outside and enjoy the bottomless mimosas, which were a great deal!

Bloody Mary from Harper’s Garden

After brunch we took a stroll through the nearby Rittenhouse square, which surprised us with a farmer’s market. There were lots of goodies and yummy treats! Rittenhouse square is one of Philly’s original squares, planned by William Penn, who was also the founder of Pennsylvania. Plus, the neighborhood of Rittenhouse Square is one of the most upscale neighborhoods in the United States.

Rittenhouse Square

After a stroll through the square, we footed it less than half a mile to City Hall and then we got married! Just kidding, City Hall is closed on Saturdays so it is the perfect time to meander and enjoy the world’s largest free standing masonry building, which is funny because nearby was a building with the secret society Free Mason sign. There were a lot of people taking pictures there, so if that is interesting to you, check it out.

City Hall was really impressive and worth a look!
This cute City Hall park I believe had a coffee stand.

Surrounding City Hall were various statues, such as this regal horse and rider.

From City Hall, it was a very short–.3 miles–to the famous JFK Plaza a.k.a. Love Park. There is a large area to hang out, eat at one of the picnic tables, and of course, take pictures with the Love sculpture. There was a line of about 15 people when we went, so we passed on taking selfies with the sculpture, but I was still able to get some nice snaps of it and more importantly, enjoy the area.

We walked another .7 miles to the Reading Terminal where we stopped for a rest, a snack and to watch some sports. The Reading Terminal was hustle & bustle! I did not do my research and had no clue what we were walking into, but it was alive and crowded and full of endless rows of market eateries, bakeries and more than I ever imagined!

After a much needed walking break, we footed it another half mile to the Liberty Bell! There was another long line and again, we did not like the idea of standing, but Hakuna Matata! You can see the Liberty Bell through the large display windows of the museum! The next time I am in Philly, I would like to actually go into the museum, but on a day of long walks and moseying it wasn’t what we wanted.

Similarly, we did not venture inside Independence Hall, because we had a tour of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens booked. So after enjoying the Liberty Bell-Independence Hall area, which are co-located, we walked 1.3 miles to the Magic Gardens. That was our final walk of the day, haha.

I want to write a separate post for the Magic Gardens, because it was wonderful! Even though our feet were exhausted from around 7 miles of walking plus a lot of standing during this tour, we were really wow-ed by this magical, endless mosaic of eye catching colors! I will definitely return to the Magic Gardens every time I visit Philadelphia, that is how much I loved being there.

We ended our day by taking a cab to Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks. These competitors are across the street from each other and both had outrageous outdoor lines. Our plan was to get one cheesesteak from each and split it, because the age old debate is whose is better. However, Pat’s line was shorter and we were absolutely tanked. Plus, it was February and it was still cold outside! We each got our own steak, our own cheese fry, and caught a cab back to the Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia.

Here’s the thing, neither one of us liked the famous cheesesteak from Pat’s. It was very basic and amateur, in our humble opinions. However, ironic as it is, we both enjoyed the basic and sleazy crinkle cut fries with nacho cheese; and agreed that we would get those fries again. We both felt like we needed to find a great Philly cheesesteak next time and since then, I’ve had some trustworthy recommendations.

All in all, this jam-packed walking adventure around Philadelphia on my birthday was very fulfilling and we both absolutely loved this city. It was easy to navigate, not very big and we encountered no issues. Also, yes, my hair had fun, berry highlights, which since have faded into oblivion, since hair salons are closed.