There’s a lot to look forward to right now, as the summer sun shines down on a city eager to get out and experience all we’ve been missing this past year.
Of course, here at Guild House Hotel, the historic boutique hotel in Center City, Philadelphia, we’ve also got a very exciting summer ahead as we plan for our grand opening and finally get to welcome all our friends—new and old—and fresh visitors to our historic hotel and property. Stay tuned for our grand-opening dates! We’ll also start taking reservations soon, so you can start planning now for your fall getaway or winter gatherings at our historic luxury boutique hotel, where you can book a room or suite, book the house or plan an event in our beautiful library lounge.
In the meantime, we’ve been busy putting the finishing touches on the place, and can’t wait for the big unveiling. Last month, we celebrated the 115th anniversary of the original move-in day at 1307 Locust Street— that is, June 6, the day the New Century Guild members first moved into their welcoming headquarters—by moving all the furnishings into the hotel. It’s looking spectacular!
But back to the world just outside our front door: Summer in Philadelphia is a glorious time, what with the queues of happy kids outside the water ice spots, Phillies games a-go-go (and Citizen Bank Park open once more to fans!), open-air restaurants and patios everywhere you look (especially this year!), and any number of events, concerts, parties and reasons to get out and enjoy the city. And now that Philadelphia is open and the season is in full swing, there’s an endless list of ways to keep busy in these warm, bustling months.
Here, we’ve rounded up some of the very best bets—14, to be exact—for great things to do in Philadelphia this summer. Some are close to our little perch in Washington Square West, some are further flung: All are great ways to celebrate the history and culture and Philly-ness of this fine city over the next couple of months.
Ps. Whatever you do over the next few weeks, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook and to sign up for our newsletter (click here to do that!) so you can stay in the loop with all our happenings, updates, deals, invites, events and sneak peeks of Guild House boutique hotel as it all comes together. See you out and about!
The Guild Guide: Summer Fun and Happenings in Philadelphia
- Outdoor Movies At Some of Philly’s Most Historic Places
Outdoor movies abound all summer, but there are a few spots that are peak Philadelphia, and worth a special trip. To wit: In addition to its always-impressive roster of events and tours, the famed Laurel Hill Cemetery offers movie nights under the stars and between the tombs once a month: On July 17th, you can catch Little Shop of Horrors; on August 14th, it’s Wall-E. You can also head down to Old City for First Friday Movie Nights Under the Stars and Stripes at the Betsy Ross House, where they show quirky old films like Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (July) and Alligator People (August) at one of the most historic sites in the city.
This new exhibit at the Mutter Museum—a collaboration between the Designing Motherhood curatorial team, the Mütter Museum, and thought leaders Maternity Care Coalition, an organization that ensures families can birth with dignity, parent with autonomy—is a fascinating collection and exploration of the designed tools that shape and affect birth, fertility and parenthood, from menstrual cups to forceps to IUDs, and more. As the New York Times recently put it, “Only by examining the secret lives of these objects, the curators argue, can we unpack the systems that produced them, and address the inequities within.” Of course, as the Mutter Museum itself notes on its site, “These are not just women’s issues. They are human issues. They matter to us all.” You can see the exhibition this month through the end of the year.
Dilworth Plaza, the park in the shadow of our historic, stunning City Hall, features different musicians and dancers every Wednesday evening as part of its “Arts on Center Stage” programming. The shows range from orchestral serenades and ballet performances to jazz instrumentals and more. (Organizers suggest that people buy to-go meals from local restaurants, and bring them to eat al fresco. Also, the on-site cafe offers a special menu, as well as cocktails.) PS: It’s free!
The eastern-most edge of the city abuts the Delaware River, which offers a whole catalog of activities and ways to enjoy the waterfront. Spruce Street Harbor Park is a major summertime attraction, with hammocks and nearby arcades and rides and a roller-skating rink. Not far from that site is the maritime Independence Seaport Museum, which offers ship and submarines to tour, as well as exhibits such as “Tides of Freedom: African presence on the Delaware River,” featuring artifacts and first-person accounts around themes of enslavement, emancipation, Jim Crow and Civil Rights. You can also find the a series of different piers with different vibes and offerings— Cherry Street, Race Street, Washington Avenue and Morgan’s Piers—as well as the the majestic Ben Franklin Bridge, which offers pedestrian walkway right over the river, a perfect spot to catch a sunset
- Shakespeare in the Park
It’s technically Shakespeare in Clark Park, West Philly’s beautiful, sprawling green space that’s long been home to the free, professional theatrical performances that have become a Philly tradition. This year, the play is Pericles, Prince of Tyre, and it runs nightly July 28th through August 1st. What could be better than Shakespeare under the stars?
One of the many remarkable things about the New Century Guild was that it was a bit of a magnet for many writers and artists who were in so many ways ahead of their time—in part, simply because they were women pursuing their art at a time when the literary and art world was so wholly dominated by men—and so it’s feels impossible not to note this exhibit of all-female artists at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which you can see now through the beginning of September. The exhibition, as PAFA notes, “examines the approaches of women artists for whom space is a critical feature of their work, whether they take the space on a wall, the real estate of a room through sculpture and installation, engage seriality as a spatial visual practice, cast a wide legacy in art history or claim the space of their body.” And, as it happens, this show is one of three exhibitions at PAFA in 2020–2021 celebrating women artists in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution—the amendment that granted women the right to vote.
- Flags and Founding Documents
This new summer exhibit at the recently reopened Museum of the American Revolution features dozens of rare American flags alongside historic early state constitutions and the first printing of the proposed U.S. Constitution of 1787—a fresh and intriguing way to celebrate and contemplate America’s long (still unfolding!) road toward a more perfect union. You can see this one through September 6.
- Sipping Drinks and Soaking in the Views
Nothing beats a rooftop bar for an easy, breezy (literally!) way to admire the city, and there are a handful of them scattered about town. A few to try? Bok Bar in South Philly; Continental Midtown in Rittenhouse; Revolution House in Old City; Positano Coast in Society Hill … for starters. You can also find a great list of places where you can simply drink outside
Whether you’re a lifelong native of Philadelphia who wants to reconnect with the city a bit or a first-time visitor, the Big Bus Tours make for a truly fun day. (Philadelphians: Don’t underestimate the joys of being a tourist in your own city!) You can sit in the air-conditioned lower level or feel the breeze on the upstairs deck (or go back and forth between the two), and spend all day taking in some of the most important, intriguing and monumental sites Philadelphia has to offer. The bus is an incredibly convenient way to see the whole city, and hop off to spend time in the places that interest you the most before hopping back on whenever you’re ready to keep moving. Stops include the Liberty Bell (which has its own stories and ties to various freedom movements in the U.S, beyond what you already know); Reading Terminal Market (located not terribly far from our Guild House Hotel neighborhood, actually!); the famed Philadelphia Museum of Art (which is featuring the New Grit exhibit through August, highlighting 25 emerging and established Philly artists); and the lovely Elfreth’s Alley, which is 300 years of history on one tiny, twee little Philly street.
One of the newer summer traditions in Philadelphia is also one of the best: Every summer a handful of city parks turn into outdoor beer gardens, with food and drink and lawn games. (Depending on the park, there are often—not always—hammocks and benches, but for the most part, it’s BYO chairs and blankets!) The partnership between the city’s Parks and Recs department and FCM Hospitality, the ongoing program was meant to highlight the glorious outdoor space that dots the city … and proceeds benefit the Fairmount Park Conservancy, which keeps the parks running. Right now, Parks on Tap is happening at Water Works, behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
This newish experiential art gallery in the newish Fashion District in Center City is a two-story gallery that features pieces from artists around the world, including a light show and, per Philly Voice, “a hanging garden of living plants that sonically react to gentle touch” and virtual reality experiences … and more. It’s a different sort of museum for people who like art and experimentation and immersive experiences, and the space where all those things overlap.
One of the many defining characteristics of Eliza Sproat Turner—the founder of the New Century Guild and creator of the Guild legacy that we honor at Guild House Hotel—was a deep love of nature, and a belief in the natural world’s role in our overall well-being. She had a country home in Chadds Ford, which she would share each summer with the less fortunate children of Philadelphia—but Philadephians today don’t need to travel outside the city to immerse themselves in nature: We have Fairmount Park, the largest urban park in the country. And what’s even better than all that land is the wide range of activities that it offers people who live in and visit Philadelphia. For instance? You can take a moonlight kayak tour. You can jog the famous Boxers’ Trail, so named because it was the route of choice for Joe Frazier. You can tour or hit up special events at the historic houses scattered throughout the park, or visit a Japanese tea house (and museum), complete with koi pond, boathouse and waterfall, or picnic in a massive arboretum, or work your way through an obstacle course in the trees (with zip lines, naturally), or go see live music at the Dell or the Mann, or grab a pair of binoculars to go bird-watching with your family, or … well, you get the idea.
And while we’re talking parks: A few blocks from Guild House Hotel, you’ll find one of the prettiest in all of Philadelphia. Washington Square is a peaceful, tree-covered idyllic square close to the big Philly (American!) landmarks (Independence and Congress Halls, Liberty Bell, Christ Church, and etcetera), but is also a landmark itself with a long history. William Penn initially planned it as a public graveyard for the poor citizens of Philadelphia, and for the better part of a century, it was a burial ground that held the poor, as well as soldiers (British and American) of the American Revolution, and yellow fever victims. The city eventually stopped burying people here and turned it into a public park named for George Washington, who used to visit the park. (There is, however, still the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier, with an eternal flame.) Today, it’s a popular place for tourists, exercise enthusiasts, and picnickers who can pick up lunch from one of the surrounding restaurants (try the charming Talula’s Daily, right on the perimeter of the Square, which offers sandwiches, salads, cheeses, sweets and other foods to-go!) and settle in under the shade of the trees.
- Do a Water-Ice Crawl
It’s a six-minute walk from Guild House Hotel to Rita’s, a Philly staple for water ice and frozen custard right in the neighborhood; a 20-minute walk to the beloved John’s Water Ice in Bella Vista (get the cherry); and a 45 minute walk (or, hey, a super-quick Lyft) to Pop’s, a South Philly stalwart. You can be an expert in Philly water ice after a single afternoon of sampling.
