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Quick Fun Free Things to Do In Philadelphia

Updated on November 16, 2014
View of City Hall (center), Philadelpia, PA
View of City Hall (center), Philadelpia, PA

Introduction

Philadelphia is located in south eastern Pennsylvania.

It is a beautiful city rich with history, theater, food, nightlife and art.

There are countless places to go, things to see, and fun to be had in Philadelphia. Far too much great stuff to do for this short article.

I go to downtown Philadelphia often and enjoy everything this city as to offer. Philly is a great city to visit. What you decided do in Philadelphia depends a lot on the time of day, the amount of time you have and the mood you are in.

This article will cover just a few quick, free and fun things to do in Philadelphia. If you only have a few hours to spend in town, you can easily spend a few minutes at each of these locations and be very satisfied. If you have bigger plans in the city, try squeezing some of these ideas in between.  You'll love it.


The Comcast Center Giant HD Video Experience !

Comcast Center Building
Comcast Center Building
A
comcast center philadelphia:
Comcast Center Property Management Office, 1701 John F Kennedy Blvd # 300, Philadelphia, PA 19103, U

get directions

The Comcast Center Building - Comcast Experience

There are a couple of fast and free reasons to check out the Comcast Center Building. First of all, it is the tallest building in Philadelphia at 975 feet tall. It has the appearance of being made entirely from glass and is a big part of the Philly sky line.

The other and more fun reason to visit the Comcast building is for the Comcast Experice HD Video Wall. This is a very fast and entertaining. "The Comcast Experience,” is a short video on the 2,000 square-foot LED screen against the wall of the Comcast center lobby. It supposedly has resolution 500% greater than that of an HD television.

It is a giant 84 foot wide by 25 foot high,HD video screen that projects seasonal themed videos. They run throughout the day, year round. there is no charge. The public is welcome and encouraged to watch.

The program runs I'd say about 15 minutes tops and runs probably every half hour or so by my guess.

The video quality is stunning and you feel like you can reach out and touch the characters on the screen. It is a lot of fun.

The video quality is incredible. The video is for all ages and always has an idyllic, cheerful, uplifting theme to it. See picture below for an example and keep scrolling down for more great footage :-)


If You Are Early to the Comcast Experience, LOOK UP!

Check out the picture below. You might have a few minutes before the video begins. The lobby gets pretty crowded but not unbearably crowded. Instead of looking at the back of a strangers head, look up into the sky. See the pictures below? That is what you'll see. The lobby shoots up into the air and is it fun to check out the 'people' walking on the girders above.

Be sure to look up when in the lobby! Interesting artistic view.
Be sure to look up when in the lobby! Interesting artistic view.
More video pictures.
More video pictures.
A
elfreths alley:
Elfreths Alley, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

get directions

Elfreth's Alley

Elfreth's Alley is touted to be the countries oldest residential street. It was completely in 1702 and continues to be a residental street today.

Located in a very scenic section of Philadelphia's Olde City, you feel like you have stepped back in time when walking down Elfreth's Alley. The houses are very quaint, side by side homes row type homes. The street is a very cozy and narrow cobble stone road.

There are private homes but two of the homes are open to the pubic. There is also a very, very small museum shop inside one of the homes is still furnished with period pieces and going inside really gives you a great idea of how city living life was back in Philadelphia during the days of our nations forefathers.

For the no cost, and super fast trip, stroll along the alley. The alley isn't long, less than a city block for sure, but very scenic. Then stop in the museum shop for a fast look of what the downstairs of one of these homes looks like.

Remember too that there are private residences along this street. My guess is that they enjoy all of the positive attention but keep in mind, this is their home so treat the street with respect and enjoy your time there.

The big plus about this trip is that, in a matter of a few minutes, you can say that you have visited America's oldest residential street.

Check out the picture below and keep scrolling down for more great Philly fun.

Elfreth's Alley Philadelphia

Rodin Sculpture
Rodin Sculpture
Inside Rodin Museum
Inside Rodin Museum
A
rodin museum pa:
Schutte-Rodin Sharon L MD, 3624 Market St # 2, Philadelphia, PA 19104-5803, USA

get directions

Rodin Museum

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was a French artist who was a master at sculpture. His most famous of works is "The Thinker"

Philadelphia's Rodin museum does not house the original thinker, but a bronze sculpture of the Thinker sites outside the main entrance of the Rodin Museum Grounds. The original thinker is in the Mussee' Rodin in France

The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia is within walking distance of the Philadelphia art museum.

The Rodin Museum, while technically free, does ask for a $5 donation, but there is no pressure to pay. I did pay during my first visit and did not my second (though I admit, for the second, I had previous paid admission to the 'parent' museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, which I felt justified my thrift on the next visit :-)

For the casual Rodin admirer, the museum only takes a few minutes to walk through. It is pretty small. There are no rows and rows of art here. The museum, while small, is very nice and well kept. There are no special videos or lecture halls. It is a simple museum with great works of art.

This museum is very punchy. Fast to tour, very cheap and priceless works of art. This is a nice low cost tour site that only takes a few minutes to go through, yet you experience one of the most brilliant talents in sculpture of all time.

This museum does allow the taking of photographs, so bring a camera if you want Rodin artwork photos.

Rodin Museum

Inside Rodin Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Inside Rodin Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Entrance to the Rodin Museum grounds
Entrance to the Rodin Museum grounds

Conclusion

So go check out these sites! Whenever I take a trip somewhere I not only think about what I want to see, but what sort of story am I going to tell?  You always want to answer the question to "Hey, how was your trip? What did you do in (Philadelphia) ?

By just doing these three sites you can say:

"I visited the tallest building in Philadelphia and saw a great show there!"

"I saw the oldest residential street in the country. You can't believe how small those homes were back then!"

"I saw sculptures by one of the most renowned artists in human history!"

Not too bad.


Philly Looks Pretty Bad in the Movie "42"

Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love. It is one of my favorite places on Earth. In general, people are kind, helpful and fun to do cool stuff around the city with.

One guy that I suspect didn't like Philadelphia at all was Jackie Robinson. I learned this in the movie "42" Check out my post below to see what I mean

Jackie Robinson Hated in Philadelphia in 1940s

working

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