4 More Reasons to Visit Philadelphia

There’s always more to see and do in Philadelphia, even after you’ve eyeballed the Liberty Bell and toured Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were adopted. Here are four more reasons to visit Philadelphia this spring.

National Constitution Center

Find out if you or your tweens and teens could make it through a presidential campaign at Headed to the White House, a special exhibit at the National Constitution Center through November 8. You can create a campaign commercial, assess your message against your opponent’s and discover some unexpected outcomes to past elections.

In the interactive permanent exhibits, touch screens to find out which groups of people had the right to vote in various decades or hear a fireside chat delivered by Franklin Roosevelt. Stand at a podium and take the presidential oath of office, sign the Constitution, cast a ballot for your choice of chief executive and walk among 42 life-size bronze statues of the Founding Fathers.

Photo Credit: Sichuan Tainyu

Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival in Franklin Square

Dancing cranes, colorful tulips, playful penguins and a 200-foot-long dragon are just some of the 28 illuminated Chinese lanterns that adorn Franklin Square, one of Philadelphia’s original five squares. Every evening the festival offers free performances of Chinese songs and dances at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The festival takes places from April 22 through June 12.

Come early to Franklin Square so that your kids can ride the carousel, play miniature golf, and romp in the playground.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

International Pop, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (pictured at top), provides a fresh look at the bold colors, unusual (for the time) images and often controversial works that defined Pop Art in the 1950s to 1970s. The 150 pieces include items from such US and international artists as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and Evelyne Axell. Through May 15.

Save time to walk through the one-acre Sculpture Garden, adorned with such noted pieces as Claes Oldenburg’s Giant Three-Way Plug and Ellsworth Kelly’s Curve I.

Independence Seaport Museum

Continue your pop culture tour by viewing Hello Sailor: The Sailor Icon in Pop Culture at the Independence Seaport Museum. Curator Alex Stadler says that the exhibition is “A three-dimensional mash-up of everything ‘sailor’ from 1930s sheet music to Jean Paul Gaulthier perfume ads to Kim Kardashian on her way to a Halloween Party…”. Through fall 2016.

In the rest of the museum, learn about Philly’s seafaring past from early navigation on the Delaware River to the city’s connection to the 18^th century China trade to the shiploads of immigrants who arrived in the 20^th century. Then, see the 1892 cruiser Olympia, the oldest steel warship afloat in the world as well as the 1944 submarine Becuna.