Great Dates for Grown-Ups in Philadelphia
Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Photograph by Jauhien Sasnou
Let the tweens get giddy on 64-ounce sodas over at the dirty multiplex; take your main squeeze for Toblerone and a foreign flick at the artsy Bryn Mawr Film Institute (Bryn Mawr, 610-527-9898). If you’re hoping for a little more, um, action, catch a Big 5 basketball game at Philly’s classiest sporting venue, the Palestra (University City, 215-898-4747), and debate which ’Nova/St. Joe’s Holy War game was the best. After, stroll over to the Shake Shack (University City, 267-338-3464) for a black-and-white milkshake … one straw.
If you’re no longer a nine-to-five sucker, consider a day date. In the city, try the Free at Noon ’XPN concerts at World Cafe Live (University City, 215-222-1400) on Fridays; the singer-songwriters are varied and always really good. Afterward, you can ramble along the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk.
There’s just one path at Chanticleer Garden (Wayne, 610-687-4163), but it swings you past a variety of mini-gardens with plenty of places to sit and chat and eat. Pick up chicken salad sandwiches at the clandestine cafe in Valley Forge Flowers (Wayne, 610-687-5566) before you go. Or do a loop around the Golden Nugget Antique and Flea Market (Lambertville, 609-397-0811), unearth ephemera, then swap childhood memories over gin martinis at the Boat House bar (Lambertville, 609-397-2244).
You might also opt for a lecture at the Free Library’s main branch (Logan Circle, 215-686-5322), which has gratis talks with under-the-radar authors and paid talks with luminaries. Then sit at the counter at nearby Pizzeria Vetri (Logan Circle, 215-600-2629) and order a pie and some house red.
