Jaunted

Tags: Gnome Travel / Travelocity / Travel Promotions / DC / Boston / Philadelphia / → All Tags

Tell the Travelocity Gnome Where to Roam Next

Travelocity’s cuddly/creepy garden gnome mascot is ready to hit the road again, and the travel website is asking fans to vote on where he should head next.

After hitting up Vegas (thanks to some voting from the crew over at Vegas Chatter!), the gnome jaunted down the west coast, hitting up Sedona and Arizona, but now he’s swinging back east. Thus, Travelocity has delved into the eternal Northeast travel battle: which city (after New York of course) is most worth a visit? Visitors to the gnome’s website are asked whether he should visit Boston, Philadelphia, or DC.

And so far, DC’s rumored Obama-era coolness is nowhere to be seen, as the district (14%) is lagging far behind Boston (46%) and Philly (40%). Cast your vote over at the gnome's website, and follow his travels—where else?—on twitter.

Related Stories:
· Pick the Roaming Gnome’s Next Adventure [Travelocity]
· Travelocity Hides Rising Prices With Fancy Words [Jaunted]
· Tell Travelocity's Roaming Gnome To Come To Vegas, Baby, Vegas [Vegas Chatter]

[Photo: Travelocity]

Tags: Historical-Battles-Map / Wars / Historical Travel / Philadelphia / → All Tags

Re-Enacting History: Revolutionary Germantown in Philly

Along with the tasty barbeques and popping fireworks of the middle of summer come the re-enactments of historical battles. To help you plan fun excursions to watch guns go off, we're listing our favorite battle re-enactment sites all this week. Any suggestions or questions? Let us know.

So you've seen a little French & Indian War action and even some Samurai swordplay, but nothing's more prevalent in the Northeast when it comes to re-enacting battles than the Revolutionary War, and Philadelphia has your fix.

When the leaves begin to fall in October, war history buffs will get together in the historical quarter of Philly to re-enact the 1777 Battle of Germantown, the only conflict within city limits. Aside from shooting blanks, there will be eight historic sites to visit where you can interact with locals who love their city's olden days. While there is a fee of $10 to visit all of the spots of the festival, it encompasses traditional residences and a shuttle bus between all points. And let's face it; this re-enactment is fare more convenient to NYC-dwelling folk than the Fort Niagara one.

Related Stories:
· Revolutionary Germantown [Official Site]
· Revolutionary Germantown Festival [GoPhila]
· Historical Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: michael feagan]

Tags: Monuments / Tourist Traps / Liberty Bell / History / Philadelphia / → All Tags

Jaunted How-To Guide: The Liberty Bell

If you ever find yourself visiting Philadelphia for the first time, the Liberty Bell is going to definitely fall into that category of "I've got to see it once, but OMFG there are way too many people here!" Fortunately, Jaunted has your how-to guide for checking this must-do tourist trap off your list.

more ›

Tags: Music Festivals / Music Travel / The Roots / Philadelphia / → All Tags

You Can't Take the Roots Out of Philly

When it comes to hometown pride, you gotta hand it to The Roots. Despite all their album sales, Grammys, and even now a steady late night TV gig, the Philadelphia locals won't even consider a move to Manhattan. Most of the band still commutes via train to their Jimmy Fallon gig everyday, and despite that busy schedule, they still save their most exuberant show of the year for a homecoming: the annual Roots Family Picnic, which Jaunted was on hand for this weekend.

The Roots basically performed all day, kicking off the show with a mini-set at 2 p.m., then backing up Public Enemy later in the evening and closing out the show with a second, hour-long set of their own. The day was also a showcase of Philly's up-and-coming hip-hop scene, with homegrown acts like Santigold, King Britt and Written House.

Next up on the Philly music agenda: Check out a ton more local bands at the free Popped! 2nd Street Music Festival in Northern Liberties on June 20. Then Philly brings back its rock-ier side for the Xponential Music Festival, which takes place July 24 – 26 on the Camden Waterfront, with big-name acts like The Hold Steady, They Might be Giants, and Peter Bjorn & John.

Related Stories:
· The Roots Return Home to Philly This Weekend [Jaunted]
· Popped! Music Festival [Official Site]
· Xponential Music Festival [Official Site]

[Photo: Jaunted]

Tags: Music Festivals / Music Travel / The Roots / Philadelphia / → All Tags

The Roots Return Home to Philly This Weekend

Philly's favorite hip-hop sons, The Roots, will be taking a break from their gig as the house band on Jimmy Fallon's show this weekend and hopping on the Amtrak back home for their second annual Roots Picnic.

The band will be joined at the Festival Pier at Penn's Landing by a few thousand of their closest friends, along with a diverse array of artists, including TV on the Radio, Santigold, the Black Keys and Public Enemy.

At a not-so-insane $47 a ticket, the Roots Picnic is a welcome break from some of summer's more overpriced music festivals, and according to the forecast, all this rain should be out of the way in time for a sunny, 80-degree Saturday in Philadelphia. Jaunted will be there representing—come join us!

Related Stories:
· The Roots Picnic [Official Site]
· Questlove Swears He Won't Become a New Yorker [Jaunted]
· Jaunted Does Lunch with Questlove of the Roots [Jaunted]

[Photo: zachclean]

Tags: Events / Buenos Aires / Philadelphia / Los Angeles / Sydney / → All Tags

This Weekend in the World: Anzac Day and Book Fairs Galore

· Buenos Aires: Beginning this weekend in the La Rural exhibition complex, the Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires brings over 1 million people together for the Spanish-speaking world's largest literature festival and book fair. Whether you're in the market to beef up your home library, tracking down signatures of your favorite authors or taking in a free lecture, the Feria is fun for all. Fluency in Spanish is of course highly recommended, but then we're sure they'll have language instruction for sale as well. Check out the full schedule for the fair, which runs until May 11, at its website.

more ›

Tags: Jaunted-On-Location / Jamie Foxx / Gerard Butler / Philadelphia / Jaunted on Location / → All Tags

Where To Find Jamie Foxx Working in Philadelphia

"Law Abiding Citizen", starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, is filming in the courtyard of Philadelphia City Hall at 1600 Arch St today. The movie, which started shooting this week, is about a guy who decides to take justice into his own hands after his family’s killer is set free.

We have heard that so far only Jamie Foxx has been on set but he has been talking and posing with waiting fans. Props, plants, trucks and lights are set up on the lawn of City Hall, a sign they are planning on being there for a while. Local media outlets are reporting they will be at the location through at least the end of the week.

Philadelphia has been the backdrop for dozens of movies like "12 Monkeys", "National Treasure", "In Her Shoes", "Beloved" and of course, "Rocky". The city now offers a “Philadelphia In The Movies” Tour. Stops along the route include the Striped Bass Restaurant ("Sixth Sense"), the Philadelphia Museum of Art ("Rocky") and City Hall ("12 Monkeys"). It also provides riders with plenty of behind-the-scenes gossip, trivia and anecdotes. You can book a tour for any group through Philadelphia’s Convention and Visitors site.

If you have any tips about where movies or TV shows are filming, send them our way at tips@jaunted.com.

Related Stories:
· Hollywood Shoots New Flick at Philly's City Hall Thru Friday [KYW]
· 1.22.09 Filming Locations [OLV]

[Photo: I'm Not Obsessed]

Tags: Green Travel / Philadelphia / Recession Shopping / → All Tags

Shopping the Non-Toxic Side of Philadelphia

The mantra "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" has never been more apt than when it comes to Philadelphia's Big Green Earth Store, an eco-boutique out to save the world one ounce of natural laundry detergent at a time.

Set between other independent shops on Market Street in Philly's Old City, Big Green Earth aims to draw in the curious passersby and convert them to the religion of eco-friendly cleaning supplies and household goods. Entering the store, one passes by life-size figures of Spiderman and Batman (perhaps an example of reuse from an comics shop) and is immediately confronted with recycling bins. Don't know where to take those old cell phones and chargers? Big Green Earth has a bin for them and for a few other curious things too.

more ›

Tags: Celeb Travel / Philadelphia / Music Travel / Live Music / → All Tags

Music Travel: David Lee Roth Fans "Jump" For Joy

Classic Van Halen fans, rejoice: The boys are on tour again in North America, and this time they're taking original singer David Lee Roth along. Roth left the group in 1985 over creative differences with Eddie Van Halen and hasn't toured with them since, but apparently they have smoothed over their differences with stacks of delicious cash.

The tour kicked off in Charlotte, North Carolina, and if you can't hear them coming already, they will be in Uncasville, Connecticut; Toronto, Canada; and Cleveland, Ohio this week. Enjoy this fan-made video of the finale from the third stop on the tour, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Related Stories:
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Music Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Video: cityjet, via Oh No They Didn't]

Tags: Philadelphia / Coffee Shops / Starbucks Alternatives / → All Tags

Starbucks Alternatives: Canvas Coffee Company

We hate to make a "daily grind" joke in a piece about coffee shops, but sometimes it's not just Starbucks that gets old, but the whole hoity-toity coffee shop vibe, whether it's a Starbucks or not. We're talking about the downtown places that attract people who think that $7.00 for a coffee beverage (not coffee, coffee beverage) is reasonable. These are the sort of folks who know nothing about jazz, but they sure do want to listen to it while drinking their coffee.

That's why we like Canvas Coffee Company (their website appears dead) in Philadelphia. It's off the downtown-suit path (and is, in fact, very close to Penn Treaty Park on the Delaware River, as you can see above), and it's just...a coffee shop. Really. It's not stuffy, nor is it hipster pretentious, the sort of place you'll get a sneer if you don't get soymilk. We recommend getting a baked good while you're there too. They're dense and rich and certainly not healthy enough for every day consumption. However, they're certainly better than whatever you usually get during the daily grind (zing!).

Related Stories:
Canvas Coffee Company [Philadelphia City Paper]
Coffee Shops Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Travel Deals / Philadelphia / → All Tags

Philly to Boston, $89 RT, all-in

On the Northeast corridor, the train-versus-plane-versus-LimoLiner issue is often a close call, and from, say, New York to Boston, we prefer the train, sometimes. We like this AirTran deal, however, because a regular Amtrak ticket on the same route only dips below $140 during some terrible timeslots, and that journey takes about six hours. Also, now that carry-on liquid rules have been slightly relaxed, it's feasible to make an all-carry-on, quick 'n' easy getaway out of this.

Fares are lowest on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, so for maximum action on a short jaunt, you have a choice between flying out on Saturday morning and enjoying Saturday night, or flying out on Wednesday, enjoying Friday night, and high-tailing it out on Saturday.

[Photo: uBookworkm]

Tags: Movie Set Travel / Philadelphia / → All Tags

Movie Set Travel: Invincible

The end of summer always seems the perfect time for a come-from-behind sports movie. Today's won't disappoint. South Boston's own Mark Wahlberg has taken time from producing Entourage to hit theatres today with Invincible.

The film is the story of Vince Papale, a down-on-his-luck teacher/bartender who gets a shot to try out for the Philadelphia Eagles and by some miracle, makes the team. Billed as "every man's dream," it's no surprise this one also comes from the producers of The Rookie.

As much of the film was actually shot in Philadelphia, we offer you some cool things to check out around town:

Where To Stay:
Park Hyatt
Recover and rest your bruised body after the big game at one of the city's most luxurious hotels--it's a Philly institution. The Park Hyatt, on the corner of Broad and Walnut, offers guests a champagne toast, plud the lobby's stocked with upscale shops. Check into the Bellevue Suite for 831-square feet of space and an awesome city view.

Where To Walk Around:
Old City
Stroll through one of America's most historic neighborhoods and check out Betsy Ross's former digs, the U.S. Mint, and a ton of museums. Billed as "hipstoric" by the Old City District org, the neighborhood does offer interesting things like sidewalk sales and a "First Friday" open art event.

Where To Watch the Game:
For Pete's Sake
A more upscale sports bar than most, this one's got microbrews and a gas fireplace, and of course, big screens. Menu items can be as ritzy as you'd like, from New Zealand mussels and pan seared salmon to nachos and chicken wings. Come during the week and take advantage of the after-work drink specials. Who knows, maybe you'll run into Andy Reid and he'll ask you to try out!