Top 20 Best Bets For Philly Visitors In 2010

As the second decade of the new millennium gets underway, some of Philadelphia’s most venerated cultural and historical institutions are gearing up to spend the current decade newly energized and outfitted for a tech-savvy, sophisticated new generation of visitors.

Brand New Reasons To Visit

1. The President’s House

Details: 6th & Market Streets | (215) 597-0060 | President’s House Commemorative Site

Fall 2010 in Philadelphia will be one for the history books thanks to the scheduled ribbon cutting on the much-anticipated President’s House Commemorative Site on Independence Mall. The site will be open around the clock so that visitors can see the exposed underground remains of the home where Presidents Washington and Adams lived during their terms. Through interpretive panels, videos and a spot for silent reflection, the site recognizes the nine enslaved people who served the first president as he led the young country in its pursuit of freedom and equality.

2. Philadelphia Union

Details: Chester Waterfront | Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union, the nation’s 16th Major League Soccer team, kicks off its first season during a nationally televised away match on March 25, 2010, and then plays its first home game two weeks later. To provide seating to a greater number of fans, the team has arranged to play that inaugural home opener on April 10, 2010 and several major games at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.

Once the 18,500-seat soccer stadium being built in Chester is complete in spring, the Union will play most of its regular season games there. Spectators at the new stadium will enjoy views of the Delaware River, a restaurant, 30 luxury suites, a club section and dedicated areas for tailgating, picnicking and music.

3. Sugarhouse Casino

Details: Columbus Boulevard & Frankford Avenue | (267) 232-2000 | SugarHouse Casino

The city of Philadelphia rolls the dice on its first casino in summer 2010 when the first phase of SugarHouse Casino opens in Fishtown. What makes this place a winner? 1,700 slot machines, a restaurant with outdoor seating, two bars/lounges and a promenade with a walking/biking path so that even non-gamers can get in on the action.

The completed SugarHouse is set to open in 2013 with 1,300 additional slot machines, three more restaurants, a food court and shops.

Tried & True, But New To You

4. Electricity / Changing Earth

Details: 222 N. 20th Street | (215) 448-1200 | Franklin Institute

The Franklin Institute ushers in spring 2010 with two newly re-imagined permanent exhibitions. When Electricity returns in mid-March, curious guests can manipulate electrical phenomena, light up a sustainable dance floor by their dance moves alone, view authentic historical artifacts and tackle questions of sustainable electricity generation and use.

After a long hiatus, Changing Earth will return to the museum as well, examining the interconnectedness of water, air and land. Aspiring meteorologists can immerse themselves in the powerful sensory experiences of the planet’s changes through a fog screen, a climate change multimedia game and a weather prediction reporting station.

5. The Lights of Liberty Show

Details: 6th & Chestnut Streets | (215) 629-5801 | Lights of Liberty Show

The Lights of Liberty Show will shine ever brighter after a complete overhaul of the historically themed nighttime ambulatory light-and-sound program, set to launch in July 2010.

A major digital upgrade will make the only show of its kind even more dazzling as participants wearing 3-D sound headsets tour the outside of several of Independence National Historical Park’s most significant buildings to see and hear recreations of the events that took place during the nation’s founding. Summer will also mark the debut of an indoor show, with the details to be announced as the season nears.

6. The Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia

Details: 15 S. 7th Street | (215) 685-4830 | The Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia

The museum that houses some of Philadelphia’s most significant historical artifacts is renovating its historic pre-Civil War building to usher in a modern future for the next generations of visitors who want to learn more about the history of the city.

In fall 2010, The Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia will reopen to the public with new galleries that highlight the city’s diverse neighborhoods and its 300-year evolution as a community and a globally significant geographic region from Colonial times through the present. Iconic objects from the country’s legendary residents, including George Washington, William Penn and Benjamin Franklin, will be on view, as well as immigrant treasures, African-American heritage objects and sports memorabilia. The world’s largest map of Philadelphia anchors the “Experience Philadelphia!” gallery.

7. National Museum of American Jewish History

Details: 55 N. 5th Street | (215) 923-3811 | National Museum of American Jewish History

When the new National Museum of American Jewish History opens in November 2010, visitors to Independence Mall will notice a striking glass façade reflecting the accessibility of the museum, the open nature of America and the perennial fragility of democracy. Inside, intriguing permanent and changing exhibitions, rare artifacts and interactive displays will mark the trials and triumphs of American Jews through every phase of our country’s history.

The 100,000-square-foot, five-story museum welcomes all people, inviting them to discover what they have in common with the Jewish experience in America, as well as to explore the features that make this history distinct.

Extraordinary Exhibitions

8. Ancient Rome & America

Details: 525 Arch Street | (215) 409-6700 | National Constitution Center

What does Rome have to do with America? Lots. Visitors can learn just how significantly the Republic-turned-Empire impacted the new nation when they explore Ancient Rome & America, an 8,000-square-foot exhibition at the National Constitution Center, on view February 19 to August 1, 2010.

The exhibit features more than 300 ancient artifacts, including bronze and marble sculptures, ceramics, coins and jewelry, from Rome’s Republican and Imperial periods and examines what America’s Founding Fathers learned from the ancient civilization.

9. Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris

Details: 26th Street & the Benjamin Franklin Parkway | (215) 763-8100 | Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art continues its tradition of hosting major traveling exhibitions that lure art lovers from around the country with two blockbuster shows (see #13) scheduled for 2010. Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris, on view February 24 through April 25, 2010, pulls from the museum’s own collection and from loans by individuals and explores the decades between 1905 and 1945—the period some consider to be the artist’s most productive and influential.

10. Creatures of Habitat: A Gazillion-Piece Animal Adventure

Details: 3400 W. Girard Avenue | (215) 243-1100 | Philadelphia Zoo

This spring, it’s all about LEGO bricks at the Philadelphia Zoo, where the Creatures of Habitat: A Gazillion-Piece Animal Adventure exhibit debuts for a five-month run beginning on April 10, 2010.

Scattered throughout the 42-acre garden, visitors will find dozens of endangered creatures made out of LEGO bricks by Sean Kenny, one of only nine LEGO-sanctioned sculptors in the world. Animal lovers can use a special field guide to explore each station and find out what they can do to help save the treasured species in question.

11. Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance

Details: 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square | (610) 388-1000 | Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens welcomes spring with a new exhibition, Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance, opening on April 10 and running through November 22, 2010. The exhibit embraces the beauty of gardens, the glamour of perfumes and the pleasure of wonderful smells.

Visitors will delve into the history, the science and the evocative power of fragrance in the unmatched environment of Longwood’s conservatory filled with fragrant lilies, jasmine, lilacs and more than 260 other plants. They’ll also have the chance to make their own personalized scent card.

12. Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt

Details: 222 N. 20th Street | (215) 448-1200 | The Franklin Institute

Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt makes its world premiere at The Franklin Institute, June 5, 2010 to January 2, 2011.

More than 250 artifacts and multimedia features will transport visitors from modern-day Philadelphia to ancient Egypt, where the elusive queen ruled as the last Pharaoh before the Romans took power. While her body and much of the evidence of her life were purposely lost in the sands and waters of Egypt, her fascinating story — her rule, the opposition to her throne and her legendary romances with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony — remains.

13. Late Renoir

Details: 26th Street & the Benjamin Franklin Parkway | (215) 763-810 | Philadelphia Museum of Art

The second Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition makes one of two U.S. stops in Philadelphia from June 17 through September 6, 2010. Late Renoir follows Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s later years as he considered his legacy and created masterpieces that draw comparisons to those of the old masters. With 100 works of art, including 20 by avante-garde painters like Matisse and Picasso who drew inspiration from his artistry, Late Renoir paints a portrait of the artist as innovator, teacher and elder artistic statesman.

A Feast Of Festivals

14. Philagrafika 2010: The Graphic Unconscious

Details: Locations throughout Greater Philadelphia | (215) 557-8433 | Philagrafika 2010: The Graphic Unconscious

After five years of planning, the inaugural Philagrafika 2010: The Graphic Unconscious contemporary art festival will take place in 80 venues throughout Greater Philadelphia, making it one of the largest art events in the country. From January 29 to April 11, 2010, more than 300 artists from around the globe will feature works that engage the visual, intellectual and creative frontiers in printmaking.

15. Art in the Open

Details: Art in the Open

Another first for Philadelphia, Art in the Open celebrates artists, their inspirations for creating art and their relationships with the urban environment during a citywide festival taking place June 9 through 12, 2010. Artists will be invited to create works — in any medium or style — outside along the banks of the Schuylkill River. Local galleries and art institutions will help create a festival-like atmosphere with art displays, educational opportunities and a chance for festival-goers to interact with local artists.

Broadway, A Birthday & The Barnes

16. The Lion King and More

Details: Along the Avenue of the Arts

The Avenue of the Arts is filled with the sound of music all year long, and 2010 will be no exception. The Lion King returns to the Academy of Music for a five-week run in March, and the annual, all-night Summer Solstice party takes over the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in June. In between, performing arts lovers can catch evocative shows and touring productions at the Merriam Theater, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre and The Wilma Theater.

17. Sesame Place Turns 30

Details: 100 Sesame Road, Langhorne | (215) 752-7070 | Sesame Place

Family fun in Philadelphia is a given—especially at Buck’s County’s Sesame Place, celebrating 30 years of sunny days in 2010.

While special events will pepper the calendar throughout the year-long birthday bash, the only theme park in the nation based entirely on the popular TV show Sesame Street will also debut a new musical show called “Elmo Rocks” and amp up “The Count’s Spooktacular,” their annual Halloween celebration.

18. The Barnes Foundation

Details: 300 N. Latch’s Lane, Merion | (610) 667-0290 | The Barnes Foundation

Before The Barnes Foundation art collection makes its move from its traditional home in Merion to its grand new digs on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City, trustees of the famed collection are making it more convenient for visitors to tour the galleries that house some of the world’s most famous paintings—hung exactly as Dr. Albert C. Barnes required.

The foundation has expanded its hours for the duration of its time in Montgomery County, with its closure expected to take place in June 2011. Until then, it will be open Thursday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and open on Wednesday, June through August. As always, advance tickets are required.

Make It A Night — Or More

19. Le Méridien Philadelphia

Details: 1421 Arch Street | (215) 422-8200 | Le Méridien Philadelphia

In 2010, visitors will have two new hotels in historic buildings to choose from when planning their Philadelphia getaway. Le Méridien Philadelphia, opening in early 2010 in a 10-story Georgian revival-building that what was once the site of a YMCA, features 202 guestrooms decorated in bold black-and-white décor with red accents.

20. Hotel Palomar Philadelphia

Details: 117 S. 17th Street | (215) 563-5006 | Hotel Palomar Philadelphia

Also new on the accommodations scene: Hotel Palomar Philadelphia, a 24-story Kimpton property in the 80-year-old American Institute of Architects building. Themed “Art in Motion,” the Art Deco building’s interior design pays homage to fashion, dance, literature, architecture and the visual arts—as evidenced by the original artwork on display by local Philadelphia and national artists.