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  • March 29, 2015 at 2:10 PM #21456
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    We find ourselves on a family vacation in Philly primarily because my wife wanted to go to the mutter museum. While here we can also see the liberty bell and run Rockys route up the steps and maybe get a cheesesteak. But as to the museum,; did you know…

    The Mütter Museum is best known for the Hyrtl Skull Collection and other anatomical specimens including a wax model of a woman with a horn growing out of her forehead along with several wax molds of untreated conditions of the head; the tallest skeleton currently on display in North America; a nine-foot-long human colon that contained over 40 pounds of fecal matter when removed from the remains of a man who appeared in a sideshow act called the Human Balloon; and the body of the Soap Lady, whose corpse turned itself into a soapy substance called adipocere better known as grave wax. Many wax models from the early 19th century are on display as are numerous preserved organs and body parts.[3]

    The Museum’s holdings also include:

    A collection of teratological specimens (preserved human fetal specimens) all of which were donated to science
    A malignant tumor removed from President Grover Cleveland’s hard palate
    The conjoined liver from the famous Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker
    A piece of tissue removed from the thorax of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth
    Slides of Albert Einstein’s brain
    A section of the brain of Charles J. Guiteau who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield
    The Chevalier Jackson Foreign Body Collection
    Harry Raymond Eastlack’s excessively ossified skeleton, used for FOP research

    March 29, 2015 at 3:28 PM #784290
    cvmom
    Participant

    Went to a conference in Philadelphia, man was it depressing. Panhandlers/homeless people everywhere. The drive in to the city was miles of run-down housing. Everyone had an attitude and was crabby. In the conference center, the union would not let us even plug anything in without union assistance. Sad

    March 29, 2015 at 3:56 PM #784291
    spdrun
    Participant

    I don’t think the drive to/from the airport is flattering to many US cities.

    March 29, 2015 at 6:05 PM #784292
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    Just saw a street fight walking from chinatown. Kids were interested.

    March 29, 2015 at 7:10 PM #784293
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    Stating in old city by independence hall. It’s pretty upscale and cool around here.

    March 29, 2015 at 10:51 PM #784295
    FlyerInHi
    Guest

    [quote=scaredyclassic]Stating in old city by independence hall. It’s pretty upscale and cool around here.[/quote]

    Yes, pretty cool there. The museums are great. Good restaurant inside museum of art.

    March 29, 2015 at 11:08 PM #784294
    FlyerInHi
    Guest

    PHL drive to center city is all freeway, almost. Now the train from the airport does take you through dilapidated housing and rail right of way full of trash.

    Scaredy, if your family didn’t take the train on arrival you should take the train back to the airport. They’ll know what it’s like to not have the comfort of an automobile.

    March 29, 2015 at 11:16 PM #784297
    spdrun
    Participant

    They’ll know what it’s like to not have the comfort of an automobile.

    Airport train in Philly is great — one-seat ride from downtown and it drops people off directly at their terminal with no change of trains. New cars since 2012, too, no more 1950s-era coaches.

    March 29, 2015 at 11:35 PM #784299
    FlyerInHi
    Guest

    haha… by what standards? compared to most of the rest of the world, philly has a sorry excuse for a transit system. trains frequently 10 to 15 min late, so plan accordingly.

    scaredy is cool so his family would have fun no matter what they do. I can picture them lugging baggage through many blocks and up and down stations. Different from Temecula where the area around the mall is considered “traffic hell.”

    March 30, 2015 at 6:46 AM #784304
    livinincali
    Participant

    Philly for me was a visit once kind of place. It was ok it just feels run down in most parts of the city.

    March 30, 2015 at 9:46 AM #784305
    spdrun
    Participant

    FlyerInHI – if you pack more than a backpack per person for a few days’ trip, you’re overpacking. When I see people lugging rollaboards up stairs, I think “chumps.”

    March 30, 2015 at 10:03 AM #784307
    FlyerInHi
    Guest

    [quote=livinincali]Philly for me was a visit once kind of place. It was ok it just feels run down in most parts of the city.[/quote]

    Don’t knock philly too much. The old city area and Washington square are one of the best stories of urban renewal in the last few decades. You could have bought for next to nothing in the 80s and be rich today. Better than downtown San Diego.

    March 31, 2015 at 8:27 PM #784345
    scaredyclassic
    Participant

    [quote=FlyerInHi][quote=livinincali]Philly for me was a visit once kind of place. It was ok it just feels run down in most parts of the city.[/quote]

    Don’t knock philly too much. The old city area and Washington square are one of the best stories of urban renewal in the last few decades. You could have bought for next to nothing in the 80s and be rich today. Better than downtown San Diego.[/quote]

    oldcity totally hipster cool. Oldest kid willing to live here.

    we are staying in a really cool condo near Christmas church. So many bars! Vintage ice cream parlor open till midnight. Fun. But u can’t buy liquor in supermarkets

    March 31, 2015 at 11:39 PM #784347
    FlyerInHi
    Guest

    I know that vintage ice cream parlor, in a corner store?
    Tell your sons to get into UPenn. It’s on the other side of the other river, but it’s kinda cool over there also; and cheaper.

    I think that’s the kind of environment where millenials want to live. With farmers markets on weekends. Alcohol can only be bought at bars or state stores. Costco doesn’t even sell booze.

    March 31, 2015 at 11:51 PM #784348
    FlyerInHi
    Guest

    Tell more about the condo you’re renting. Is that an airbnb type deal? I noticed that a lot of people prefer to travel that way.

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