The Tastes of Summer: Pack a Picnic
Where to find the proper basket — and the perfect spot — to make your alfresco fest an occasion.
It’s the proper basket that makes a picnic an occasion. The fully loaded ones from Coatesville-based online retailer Picnic Playground (winepicnicbaskets.com) cost about $69 and come with stainless steel utensils, melamine plates, wineglasses, a corkscrew and a cutting board.
Fill your handsome hamper from the amply stocked display cases at Di Bruno Bros. (1730 Chestnut Street, 215-665-9220; dibruno.com), and walk three blocks to Rittenhouse Square to savor the haul. Or you could tote your moveable feast and blanket (or folding chair) to the Mann Center for the Performing Arts (5201 Parkside Avenue, 215-893-1999; manncenter.org), where a Philadelphia Orchestra serenade costs a mere $10 for lawn seating.
But no shopping or packing is required for picnicking guests at the elegant Woolverton Inn (6 Woolverton Road, Stockton, 609-397-0802; wolvertoninn.com). For $100, innkeeper Carolyn McGavin provides a cooler backpack (yours to keep) and a generous lunch for two that includes antipasti, salad, a choice of sandwiches (make ours the Max & Me smoked salmon BLT), home-baked cookies or brownies, and wine. Enjoy it on the grounds, or rent bikes ($95 for two) and pedal four miles along the towpath to the nature trail at the Bull’s Island recreation area.
