Art museums

Philadelphia Museum of Art
26th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
This is that really fancy-shmancy building by the Schuykill river that Paige used to live across the street from, and David can't pronounce the name of (the river, not the building). I can't think of another major art museum whose architect was an African-American. It also has the distinction of owning the steps where Rocky ran up at the end of his cross-Philadelphia training run i n the first of the zillion Rocky movies. (Did you know they are planning yet another Rocky movie? Isn't that one of the signs of the apocolypse?) Check out what's going on on their exhibition schedule, and don't forget to save time to poke around in the really good little gift shop on the bottom floor down the ramp from the main gift shop. Also, if you want to eat at the museum, you might want to make a reservation and you'll d efinitely want to have the Kennett Square mushroom soup. But if you eat from the salads on their "Artist's Table," be warned that the greens are organic — as in all natural (read: ineffective) pesticides. I found a little green inchworm in my salad once. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The Barnes Foundation
Merion, Pa.
Try to reserve tickets if you can, they're somewhat hard to come by. Time was Philadelphians couldn't even get in without a student or foreign guest in tow. Since the trust that maintained the Foundation was broken a few years ago to allow the artwork t o travel beyond it's walls, it has been slightly easier to get a ticket — just not much. The promotional text I found said that the Barnes is dedicated to promoting education and the appreciation of fine art and horticulture. It is home to an incomp arable collection of post-impressionist and early French modern art. It also has a not unimpressive amount of African art and local metalworking. The real reason to go to the Barnes is because of the way Dr. Barnes arranged his collection to teach the v iewer how to appreciate art. The frames climb right up the walls, and are combined with one another and with other objects to lead the eye from one artistic element to the next. Can I gush enough about this one-of-a-kind institution? I don't think I can .

Rodin Museum
22nd and the Ben Franklin Parkway
They're closing on the day after the wedding for renovations, so take the 20 minutes that it will take to walk through this little space dedicated to the art of Auguste Rodin. You'll know you're in the right place because there's a big Thinker parked outs ide. Stop for a second on your way in and admire the reflecting pond.

Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
118 N Broad St (Broad and Cherry Streets)
This place bills itself as America's first Art Museum, and you'll find it in a National Historic Landmark building done up High Victorian Gothic style. Nothing but American art, as far as the eye can see.

3rd street galleries
Old City Philadelphia
The Friday before the wedding is a First Friday, when the galleries on North 3rd Street open their doors and put out a little wine and cheese in the hopes that you will come in and buy the art. I'm not very good at these. On one particularly bad First Fr iday, I tripped over a giant fork sculpture on the floor of one gallery and then mocked the hanging leaves in another, in earshot of the gallery owner. But maybe you're much more cultured than I am. Even if you don't want to go out to see the art, check out the Old City Walkabout site, an animated view of the Old city Philadelphia art gallery scene.

Science and learning

Franklin Institute Science Museum
21st and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
The museum has evolved a lot over the years, including instaling an Omnimax Theater (with huge screens and speakers that arch overhead), but some oldstandbys, like the big walk-through heart, remain. Every child who lives within a few hundred miles of Phi ladelphia has been here on a school trip at least once. For all you old kids out there: that heart is not as big as you remember. The passages are much narrower than you'd think (which, come to think of it, is an object lesson in how fats clog the arteri es). It's a fun place--as long as you avoid the math floor. It's still just as boring as when we were kids — and it's a known fun toxin. But you can still play with the principles of lift and drag in the aviation hall, stargaze in the planetarium, and ride the real train 15 feet. But now they have a room full of computers hooked up to the Internet (with kid-proof smut screens), or feel like you're climbing Mount Everest with the Omimax film crew. Little known fact: this was the location of Paige and David's near-fatal first date.

Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Ben Franklin Parkway
It dates back to 1812, and in spite of the fact that Ben Franklin didn't found it, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia is the oldest science research institution in the Western Hemisphere. They do tons of amounts of natural science research an d education, but really you're going to go there to see the bugs and dinosaurs and try to forget that you're learning. Check the exhibit schedule before you go.

Please Touch Museum
210 North 21st Street
The Please Touch MuseumŽ is a hands-on museum for children ages one to seven, or, conversely, a place where adults can use their children as an excuse to hunker down on the floor and play like a kid.

American Helicopter Museum and Education Center
This is a little drive, as it isn't in Philadelphia, but next to the Brandywine Airport, near West Chester. The site says that the museum is dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of historic rotorcraft. The cool part is that they are running heli copter rides until November 27th. Now aren't you glad you're going to be in town?

The Mutter Museum
North 22nd Street
Located inside the College of Physicians, this is the freak show of Philadelphia's museum set. The Mutter is chock full of medical objects, specimens and instruments. Basically, if it's dead, or has the potential to decompose, or even better, if it's mal formed and dead, it's here. Yum. By the way, the whole building is one giant sweep of polished wood and marble. The Mutter is in an equally beautiful space.

Flora and Fauna

Fairmount Park
This is the first and the largest in-city park in the country. There are trails to run, bike and 'blade on (stay right, kids), a nice rock to climb on if you're in to that sort of thing, benches to take a rest on if you're not, and many many fine statues to admire, including a particularly nice one of Lincoln signing the emancipation proclamation at the museum end of Kelly Drive. Paige and David took a walk here during the previously mentioned near fatal first date, and that walk probably saved the day.

Longwood Gardens
Route 1, Kennett Sq., Pa
Created by industrialist Pierre S. du Pont who obviously had too much money, because this thing is huge. We're talking 1050 acres of your garden-variety (ha) woodlands, greenhouses, fountains, and so to speak, gardens. They're open every day of the year, including well before and after the wedding. Call ahead for a program schedule.

Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania
100 Northwestern Avenue
The promotional text says that the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is an historic public garden and educational institution. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is the official Arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl vania. So there you go.

Philadelphia Zoo
3400 West Gerard Avenue, Philadelphia
The nation's first zoo suffered a terrible loss a few years ago when its primate house burned in a terrible fire. But a few months ago they opened a brand new Primate Reserve, designed to resemble an abandoned timber mill that has been converted into a primate conservation center, the home to 11 primate species. I'm also a big fan of the polar bear exhibit, and the giant turtles hold special memories.

People

American Swedish Historical Museum
FDR Park in South Philadelphia near the Sports Complex at 1900 Pattison Avenue
I didn't even know we had a significant enough Swedish population to support a whole museum. But here it is. I would venture that when they say that they spotlight 20th century Swedish interior design they're not just giving you directions to the n earest IKEA. They also comprehensively treat the contributions of Swedes and Swedish-Americans in the United States, covering early Pennsylvania history, decorative arts, architecture, science and technology.

The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies
A multicultural library, archive, museum, and education center, documenting American ethnic and racial experience. A something for everybody kind of place.

University of Pennsylvania Museum
33rd and Spruce Streets
If you're wandering around West Philadelphia, stop in to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The text I found said that the museum is dedicated to furthering an understanding of the history and cultural heritage of huma nkind, through research, educational services, and collection and care of material culture. It's a little gem of a collection.

Mummers Museum
Years from now the aliens will be on an archeological dig on our planet and they will find remants of this museum. And they will ask themselves why grown men chose to dress up in feathers and sequins and mirrors and play in string bands. Maybe they'll be able to come up with a reason. Can anyone explain why on every New Year's Day thousand of Philadelphia area residents go to cheer these men "strut" down the street in this condition? I got nothing here, except that it's tradition.

Coming soon, info on music and dance.