Think you know Philadelphia? Think again. Visit Philadelphia has just released a brand-new guide to more than 20 of the city’s most unusual places — a treasure map of quirky museums, hidden history and delightful oddities waiting beyond the usual landmarks.
The list is pure Philly fun. There is the Mummers Museum in South Philly, celebrating the feather-and-sequin pageantry of the Mummers Parade. The Ryerss Museum & Library, a Victorian mansion in Burholme Park with a pet cemetery and an Asian art gallery. The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, a dream garage of 75 historically significant cars dating back to 1907. The Rosenbach, where rare-book lovers can gaze at first-edition manuscripts by James Joyce and Bram Stoker — plus Ben Franklin’s personal papers.
And it gets weirder, in the best way: the Shoe Museum at Temple University (from Dr. J’s sneakers to Nancy Reagan’s pumps), the Stoogeum — the world’s first and only museum dedicated to the Three Stooges — the Museum for Art in Wood in Old City, and Wyck Historic House, home to the nation’s oldest rose garden, dating to the 1820s.
History buffs get their share too: Grip the raven — Charles Dickens’s beloved pet, the bird that inspired Poe — at the Free Library, Peter the Mint Eagle at the U.S. Mint, and the mysterious Hermit’s Cave in Fairmount Park.
Philadelphia has layers, and this guide peels them back beautifully. Which one will you visit first?
Photo: Nick-philly / Wikimedia Commons
