Her Philly

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December 3, 2014

Charms of Fairmount Holiday Tours

Last year, in the midst of a festive holiday season, I was lucky enough to win two passes to the Charms of Fairmount Holiday Tour from HughE’s blog. My friend Tara & I had such a fun day exploring these beautiful Philly homes, but I didn’t get a chance to report on my experience before the season was over. Well – GREAT NEWS: the tours are back! Starting today (12/3) and running through 12/30, Woodford, Cedar Grove, Laurel Hill Mansion, Lemon Hill, Mount Pleasant, and Strawberry Mansion will “once again be decorated in their holiday finest for the beloved annual Holiday Tours” (I couldn’t have said it better myself).

To give you a little background, these homes, located in Fairmount Park and currently owned by the city, were once the summer villas of rich families living in Philadelphia during the 18th & 19th centuries. It took them two to three hours to get out to these babies, so they had to be fabulous. Many important people rolled through these homes during their prime (we’re talking Ben Franklin and John Adams important), and they’re a really great snapshot into what our city used to be.

Mount Pleasant Philadelphia // Her Philly

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Posted by admin 6 Comments
Filed Under: playing Tagged: fairmount, fairmount charms, history, holidays, tours

January 30, 2014

The Chinatown Tour {Part 2}

Happy almost weekend! If you’re just tuning in, earlier this week, I began documenting my Philly Chinatown tour, led by the super knowledgeable Albert Lee. So without further ado, let’s go on with the second part of our tour!

 

Tea-Do (132 North 10th Street)

Where to get bubble tea in Chinatown // Her PhillyDue to my longstanding love affair with bubble tea, a shop was one of my requirements for a stop on Al’s tour. Tea-Do has so many options to choose from, ranging from tea with milk and tapioca bubbles to fruity tea with aloe and lychee jellies. If you’ve never had bubble tea, you drink it with a huge straw which sucks up the little “bubbles” in your drink. It’s basically amazing.

Tea-Do bubble tea in Chinatown // Her PhillyEach tea comes with a plastic seal over the top, and you have to stick the pointy end of your straw through to get to the drink. That was probably the most stressful part of the day. 😉

 
Shanghai Bazaar (1016 Race Street)

Shanghai Bazaar in Philadelphia Chinatown // Her Philly With bubble tea in hand, we moved on to this humongous bazaar, filled with everything from toys to books to jewelry & more. I didn’t look much at the prices of the the items, but there was definitely a plethora of goodies to choose from.Shopping in Chinatown // Her Philly Where to shop in Philadelphia Chinatown // Her Philly

 
Joy Tsin Lau (1026 Race Street)

Joy Tsin Lau dim sum // Her PhillyAfter some shopping, it was finally lunch time! We hurried in the crowded restaurant for some dim sum, which is basically small sized portions of food served in steamer baskets or on small plates. Al explained that dim sum is to the Chinese as tea time is to the British. Dim Sum at Joy Tsin Lau in Philadelphia Chinatown // Her PhillyOur only restriction was no duck (my request), and Al quickly ordered for us off of the wizzing trays filled with food. We tried lots of different things, but I loved the shrimp dumplings & fried rice the best. Yummy fried rice at Joy Tsin Lau in Chinatown // Her PhillyLunch for four of us, including tea & dessert, and until we were literally stuffed, ended up being $27. If that’s not a gem in this city, I don’t know what is.

 
Lucky Chinese Cookie Factory (155 North 9th Street)

Lucky Chinese Cookie Factory Philadelphia // Her PhillyOur last stop was a quick visit to the fortune cookie factory! You can go in & see the cookies being made (so cool!) and pick up a bag of “X-Rated” cookies to take home with you. They also do custom cookies for events & weddings.

That stop signaled the end of our tour. We had sipped, shopped & chomped our way through Chinatown, and I can confidently say I will be back!

Touring Philadelphia Chinatown // Her PhillyI hope this blog inspires you to break out of your comfort zone and explore a new neighborhood or two. Thanks again to Al for being a great tour guide, and my friends Kelly & Colleen for braving the chilly temps with us! If this type of neighborhood tour is something you’re interested in seeing more of, let me know in the comments & I will find a new Philly hood to explore next!

Remember, Chinese New Year starts tomorrow. Get the details on all the Philadelphia festivities & have fun! xx

her philly

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Filed Under: playing Tagged: bubble tea, chinatown, dim sum, exploring, neighborhoods, tours

September 25, 2013

Touring Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary

Sometimes, when you’ve lived somewhere for a long time, you forget to take advantage of the things tourists do every day. In my quest to explore more Philly neighborhoods (and because of my current obsession with La Calaca Feliz), I recently bopped up to Fairmount to spend the day with my parents. After an obviously delicious brunch, we decided to venture down the block to that big, stone fortress looking building – oh yeah, a prison.

Eastern State Penitentiary (2027 Fairmount Avenue), opened from 1829 to 1971 (can you believe that?), is pretty much an amazing piece of history sitting right in the middle of our pretty city. My parents & I visited on a Sunday around 2:00 pm and walked right in to get our tickets. We picked up a set of headphones and made out way outside to start “The Voices of Eastern State” Audio Tour, narrated by Steve Buscemi, naturally.

Eastern State Penitentiary Tour // Her Philly Tour the Eastern State Penitentiary // Her PhillyContinue Reading…

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Filed Under: playing Tagged: eastern state penitentiary, esp, fairmount, haunted, philly activities, tourist to dos, tours

Hi! I'm Emily, a Philly lady on a quest to discover everything lovely, exciting, affordable, and beautiful about my city.

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Felt just like old times tonight… a pitcher of @ Felt just like old times tonight… a pitcher of @jose_pistolas margs, chicken tinga nachos, and a 45 minute parking spot search (what are they filming in the city rn?!). 😉 Thankful for good friends & lots of guac.
Ready to see the best thing I couldn’t wait to s Ready to see the best thing I couldn’t wait to share while I was taking an insta break? Swipe! 

We adopted a puppy!!! 🖤 Meet Putter. He was born in January in Mississippi, and brought to PA with his mom & siblings for adoption by @tlcrescuepa. 

I had been applying to rescue a pup for almost a year, so I am so thankful to @tlcrescuepa for giving us a shot. We brought Putter home 4/26/22. 🥰

Putter is fitting into our family so well, and we are loving watching him grow and learn new things. Jim & I are taking him to puppy class every Saturday and we are excited to learn more ourselves! 

I could spam you with a million pictures but I created an Insta for the baby so I don’t go overboard here. 😂 You can follow @putterthepuppy to see more of our small boy. 🥹
The last night of @linnytharp’s Philly bachelore The last night of @linnytharp’s Philly bachelorette was such a joy it deserves its own post. 🚃

I have talked about the @foundingfootsteps tours for years. The owner, Tim, is such an asset to the Philly community, and I was excited to support his company for our ladies night out. 💃🏻

I booked us the Beer & Bands trolley tour. We (the 8 of us and 3 sweet younger gals) got picked up at Betsy Ross house with our BYO @highnoonsunsips and singing voices ready. 🎶

The trolley comes equipped with musicians and an amazing driver (shoutout Koser, Nate & Justin!) and takes you on a drive throughout the city, while the musicians play Britney Spears, BSB, & other assorted covers. Though we did make several suggestions to add more Taylor songs into rotation. 😉

The windows are open and we were loudly singing along, so early on, in our drunken happiness, we decided to start waving to people out the window. Once we started getting a few waves back, it became the sole focus of the night, singing and seeing how many waves we could secure (it was a 95% wave-back rate). 

We laughed and sang and just had the most fun tour ever. The tour also stops at a brewery or two (hence that part of the name), we stopped at @victorytaproom_phl on ours, but we were mostly happy to be waving on the trolley. 😂

I can’t recommend @foundingfootsteps for your next girls night out enough. 🖤
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