Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

Historical Sites & Attractions:

• Wannabe sailors can visit the nation’s most decorated battleship, the Battleship New Jersey, and take tours of the ship, ride the 4-D flight simulator, climb into the onboard helicopter and sleep in the sailors’ bunks as part of its award-winning Overnight Encampment program. 62 Battleship Place, Camden, (856) 966-1652, battleshipnewjersey.org
• America’s most famous flag maker greets guests in her interactive 18^th-century upholstery shop at the Betsy Ross House. Visitors learn about Betsy’s life and legend from the lady herself. Summer brings a weeklong, annual Flag Fest celebration with free events every day. Also,

One hundred years ago, Philadelphia was known as the greatest brewing city in the Western Hemisphere, or the “Cradle of American Libation,” according to food critic Craig LaBan of The Philadelphia Inquirer. In fact, it was in Philadelphia taverns that the American Revolution took hold. Today, area craft breweries have reclaimed the region’s reputation by brewing some of the world’s best beer and earning the recognition as Maxim’s “favorite beer burg” and one of the “The 5 Best Beer Cities in America” according to GQ, among other notable designations assigned by the national press. Visitors can tour the facilities, sample

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) released its 2013 annual report, which reveals that the region welcomed a record 38.8 million domestic visitors in 2012. Those visitors generate economic impact and taxes for the region and support residents’ jobs. Titled The Evolution of a Destination and Its Marketing, the report also emphasizes the major changes in Philadelphia and in marketing since GPTMC began.

“Philadelphia is a better, more complex destination appealing to more types of travelers and more trip types,” said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of GPTMC. “Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all marketing. Today, we use

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) today announced a new hotel search engine for visitphilly.com: BookDirect. A product of JackRabbit Systems, the search engine:

• Gives consumers the opportunity to compare and shop for rates as always, but enables them to book accommodations on their preferred hotel’s website. That means they can secure the best available rate and build or use loyalty points.
• Makes it easier for visitors to find the hotel that best suits their needs thanks to a new map view and search results that are filtered by amenity, location, price and property.

“Experience tells us that

Philadelphia’s concert schedule gets a boost this spring and summer thanks to the addition of several concerts headlined by Latino artists. Scheduled to perform in the coming months: Prince Royce, Juanes and Miguel, to name a few. Here’s a look at how Latin rhythms will liven up Philadelphia’s stages:

Festivals & Concerts:

• Latino artist Prince Royce promises to attract a wide audience to the EL ZOL Concert at Penn’s Landing. That’s because the triple-platinum-selling vocalist’s sweet version of “Stand by Me” is the first bachata song ever to be played on mainstream American radio. Opening for Prince Royce will

Spring in Philadelphia means more than baseball and cherry blossoms: It also means brand-new BYOBs, gastropubs, a biergarten, a raw bar, a noodle bar and the list goes on. Among the crowd of culinary creators are a number of second, third and beyond acts by some of the region’s hottest restaurateurs. And, as is appropriate in the warm weather, there’s news on the ice cream front too. Here’s what’s cooking in Philly this spring:

Recent Openings:

• Northern European cuisine, including smoked fish, smørrebrød, bitterballen and lots of beets, get their day in the sun thanks to Chef Joncarl Lachman’s

Philadelphia is brimming with historical riches, and the sites and attractions that show off the city’s historic side are constantly evolving to create richer experiences for modern-day visitors. This year brings upgrades, expansions and exhibitions designed to shine a new light on Philadelphia’s well-established historical attractions.

Renovated & Renewed:

• The Pearl S. Buck Museum reopens after the completion of its eight-year interior restoration project on June 26, which would have been the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer’s 121^st birthday. Tours of the national historic landmark home feature increased access to collections, including clothes that she wore, tableware and linens that

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) awarded the With Art Philadelphia™ website, found at withart.visitphilly.com, a Webby Award. Dubbed the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, the IADAS-sponsored awards honor online excellence around the world. A collaboration of GPTMC, the City of Philadelphia and more than a dozen other civic and cultural partners, the With Art site nabbed a recognition in the Association category. GPTMC worked with Northern Liberties-based web firm BlueCadet to create the site—complete with vibrant photography, renowned artworks, an interactive map, art itineraries, event and exhibit listings and more. It is

For those visitors who like to stray off the beaten path, Philadelphia is bursting with attractions that pay homage to the unusual. The region boasts a slew of delightfully quirky spots, including a bench that seems to contradict the laws of sound, the country’s largest bug museum, an anatomical model made of a human nervous system and more. Here’s a look at some of the Philadelphia-area attractions that make the region just a little delightfully weird:

Collections Of A Natural Kind:

• There’s an unsettling site at the entrance to the bookstore at Drexel University College of Medicine’s East Falls

Spanning from Broad to 10^th Streets and from Market to Pine Streets, Midtown Village is the lively center of downtown Philadelphia. Other neighborhoods converge here, but Midtown Village—a new but buzzing city enclave—maintains a distinct personality thanks to a business boom that includes independent shops and restaurants, small cafes, alfresco tables along every sidewalk and a rainbow street sign-lined Gayborhood. On the neighborhood’s western border lies a district appropriately named for its place as Philadelphia’s performance hub: the Avenue of the Arts, which runs along Broad Street from City Hall to Lombard Street. The wide stretch is home to