pa Travel Guide

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Philly's 30th Street Station Spruces Up For National Train Day

May 9, 2013 at 4:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

If you're going to be in Philly this weekend and are looking for something fun to take the kids to (or you just happen to really love train stations), then here's something to add to the ol' itinerary. 30th Street Station, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of 200 stations celebrating National Train Day this Saturday May 11th.

The theme of this year's event, which will be taking place simultaneously in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington DC (just to name a few), is "trains matter." Well, duh. We could've told you that!

Still, the event offers Amtrak an opportunity to bask in its own glory for a brief moment, and celebrate the 31.2 million passengers who used the national rail service in 2012.

Last year, Philly's 30th Street Station hosted a day-long event with model train displays, giveaways, and culinary demonstrations of meals served in Amtrak dining cars—so you can expect much of the same this year. Additionally, the station will be offering tours of private luxury railcars, in case you've never been in one of those before.

Regardless, 30th Street Station is a must-see train station, and one of our favorites that we've traveled through. Not only is it the second most active station in the entire US, its gorgeous main terminal is on par with that of Grand Central, in terms of soaring ceilings, giant windows, and the pleasant hum of commuters shuffling by all day long. There's even a KAWS statue at one end of the terminal!

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Why Rainn Wilson Wants to Take a Dump on a US Airways Plane

May 6, 2013 at 2:48 PM | by | Comment (1)

On Friday, Rainn Wilson optimistically boarded a flight from LAX to Scranton, PA but by the time he landed in Philadelphia for a quick layover he was Tweeting a different tune.

Rainn and his fellow Office cast mates were on their way to Scranton for The Office Wrap Party but their plans were derailed when their flight from Philly to Scranton left 10 minutes early. After missing the flight, Rainn unleashed a Twitter rant on U.S. Airways.

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Get Behind the Scenes of Oscar-Nominated Film 'Silver Linings Playbook' in Philly

February 22, 2013 at 2:21 PM | by | Comments (0)

Several hotel chains and tourism boards across the country are jumping on the Oscar bandwagon this week, but if you really want to immerse yourself in the world of a Best Picture nominated film, The Hotel Palomar Philadelphia has the package for you.

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How To Snag Last-Minute Tickets To The Made In America Festival

August 28, 2012 at 12:49 PM | by | Comment (1)

This weekend the Budweiser Made In America Festival kicks off on the Ben Frankin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmont Park and, surprisingly, there are still single-day and general admission passes available.

The concert will feature 30 performances curated by Jay-Z who is also one of the festival headliners. Other acts performing on Saturday, Sept. 1 and Sunday, Sept. 2 include Pearl Jam, Run DMC, The Hives, Chris Cornell, Jill Scott, Afrojack, and Drake.

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How To Get Tickets To This Weekend's MixTape Festival

August 14, 2012 at 4:50 PM | by | Comments (0)

The Summer MixTape Fest, which is kinda like Bonnaroo for moms - or anyone who still enjoys mocking '90s boy bands - will take place this Friday and Saturday (August 17 & 18) at Hersey Park Stadium in Hersey, Pennsylvania.

The MixTape line-up includes NKOTBSB (a mash up of New Kids On Th Block and the Backstreet Boys), a performance by New Kids on their own, and a special reunion of 98 Degrees. Then, while the moms in the audience are squeeing over Donnie Wahlberg, their kids can look forward to sets by Carly Rae Jepsen, The Wanted, and DJ Pauly D.

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Training Camp Travel: Terrible Towels and the Pittsburgh Steelers

July 26, 2012 at 11:24 AM | by | Comments (0)

Are you ready for some football?! There’s still a few months before the first official kickoff, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t time for a sneak peek. Training camps are set to do their thing later this month, so if you’ve always wanted to check out the scrimmages and practices now’s the time to start planning:

As best we remember the Steelers had a pretty good season in 2011, but after finishing with 12 wins during the regular season they were bounced from the playoffs by Tim Tebow and the Broncos. The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to be a threat to win it all each and every year, so we’re kind of expecting much of the same come 2012.

Hines Ward is gone, but Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu are back and looking to help the team earn Super Bowl win number seven. There’s plenty of teams with an alternate plan for this season’s Steelers, so we’ll just have to wait and see how the season shakes out.

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Foursquare Gets Arty Farty with Philly and Launches Two New City Badges

June 11, 2012 at 9:42 AM | by | Comments (0)

So you've checked into bookstores, bars, beaches and maybe even individual boats, but that's still not specific enough for the location-based social app Foursquare. Now, Pennsylvania, the state that was first to join up with Foursquare years ago has become the first to offer official art piece venues, meaning you can check into a masterpiece (and win something!).

The focus is on Philadelphia and its Museum Miles that encompasses the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation; these plus other Philly-area institutions have pinpointed a total of 12 works of art designated as official Foursquare check-in venues. Currently, the Seurat painting above is winning with most check-ins, but you've still got until September 1 to get in on the game.

Simply check into the masterpieces and push the checkin, plus the hashtag #withartphl, to Twitter to get in the running for the grand prize of a hotel night in Philly, tickets to the museums and a Barnes Foundation membership.

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How To Get Tickets To Philly's 'Made in America' Music Festival

May 15, 2012 at 1:52 PM | by | Comments (0)

Yesterday Jay-Z announced he will curate and headline the first-ever Budweiser Made in America Music Festival, which will take place from Sept. 1-2 in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.

The festival will feature nearly 30 acts “that embody the American spirit”, and might even include President Obama.

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Relive Your Grade School Science Fair at an Upcoming Philly Fest

April 19, 2012 at 1:23 PM | by | Comments (0)

Tomorrow, geeks from around the country will descend on Philly for the second annual Philadelphia Science Festival.

The fest, which runs from April 20 to 29, 2012, offers science-centric events and festivities for everyone—from sports fans to foodies.

Below are a few of the this year's highlights:

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A Super Easy Way to Score 20% Off a Virgin America Flight

March 21, 2012 at 1:52 PM | by | Comment (1)

Virgin America is touching down in Philadelphia on April 4 and to celebrate they'll be throwing a tailgate party on the tarmac.

To promote the event, and their new Philly fares, they are giving "the ultimate tailgater" 6 passes to their tailgate party, a trip on Virgin America, and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia prize packs. They're also giving you the opportunity to vote for your favorite tailgater's photo and, in exchange for your vote, they'll give you 20% off your next flight!

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Riding an Amish Buggy through Intercourse, Pennsylvania

February 27, 2012 at 4:42 PM | by | Comments (2)

Our buggy in the snow

Intercourse in the winter. Intercourse in the snow. Intercouse in the sunshine. We experienced all the puerile jokes our hearts (and friends on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare) could take on our road trip to Amish Pennsylvania the week before last, but there was far more to our weekend away than Intercourse, Paradise, Bird in Hand or Blue Ball*—the towns we visited.

One of the things that most enchanted us on our first visit to Lancaster County, three years ago, were the Amish buggies that share the road with cars. How we loved looking at them and taking photos of them (it was two years later we were told one doesn’t photograph the Amish or their buggies).

This time, we may not have photographed them (ok, we did photograph them, but from far off and with a big zoom), but we did get to ride on one. There are a few buggy ride outfits, but on recommendation we went with Aaron and Jessica’s Buggy Rides, based on the main road between Intercourse and Bird in Hand. Don’t expect a Jessica or an Aaron – the business is owned by a man named Jack. Jessica is his daughter, and Aaron was his first horse.

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After a Weekend in Amish Pennsylvania, We Too Love Intercourse

February 24, 2012 at 2:10 PM | by | Comments (0)

Why yes, this rather dapper mug does say exactly what you think it says. And no, it’s not rude. Because it’s a souvenir from our trip to Amish country, Pennsylvania. And yes, we thoroughly enjoyed Intercourse.

Yes, not only is Intercourse, PA, a real town; the fact that it’s in the middle of the Amish-inhabited Lancaster County gives it that little extra kick. Apparently, the origin of the name is not clear, but locals told us it either comes from the “intercourse” where the two main roads cross in the center of town, or it’s from the old word for conversation: “intercourse”.

None of which innocent explanations, of course, stops the local “English” (as the Amish call the non-Amish) from raking in the profits. We’ll bring you plenty more Intercourse next week; for now, hopefully this is enough to whet your appetite.

Photo: Juliab for Jaunted

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