Best Things To Do in Philadelphia

Oct 6, 2016

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Like most major cities, Philadelphia is always bustling with different events and activities. The great thing about Philadelphia is that there are activities and events for everyone, regardless of where your interests lie. Like music? You can always catch a concert or performance. Like art? There are plenty of venues with artistic events. Into movies? The Academy of Natural Sciences has Mega Bad Movie Night and throughout the summer there are other movie festivals around the city. Whatever you’re into, Philadelphia is bound to have an activity related to any interest. Although there is a lot to do in Philadelphia, I’ve narrowed the list to activities that I’ve found to be really fun over the years.

4Dream Garden at the Curtis Center

This is a hidden gem in Philadelphia because a lot of people don’t realize the Dream Garden exists. It’s totally free and is located in the lobby of the Curtis Center. Since the Curtis Center is a business park, the Dream Garden is only opened Monday-Saturday until 4 PM.

The Dream Garden is a mosaic of more than 100,000 pieces of favrile glass. The mosaic, that stretches 15 x 49 feet, was beautifully crafted by Louis Comfort Tiffany to bring to life the luminous vision of Maxfield Parrish. Maxfield Parrish was a Philadelphia native that painted the portrait that Tiffany based his mosaic on.

Visitors can sit on marble benches next to marble pillars to view this beautiful masterpiece. I went on one of the hottest days of the year and it felt nice to sit comfortably on cold marble, air conditioning on full blast, and cooling down as I admire the Dream Garden. In another lobby in the Curtis Center, which is a five-minute walk from where the mosaic is, there is a fountain that people can sit by. The fountain is a perfect place to relax and work on poetry. The Dream Garden and the fountain areas are really peaceful and a great way to relax from the hustle-and-bustle of Philadelphia.