John Fischer's Philadelphia
Vol. 1 - Number 20 - 07/12/99
Back when I had to make the decision as to which college to attend, choices were based largely on reputation, reports from high school alumni, and a number of even less reliable factors. In my case, it actually came down to a decision to attend a college because more of my classmates were attending it than the others at which I was accepted.
A lot has changed since then. Now, many colleges and universities offer programs for high school students in the summer following their junior year in which they actually spend time on campus, working with the department in which they are interested in majoring. It not only gives them a heads up on the college or university, but also a brief introduction to what college life involves.
My niece is in the area attending such a program at one of the local universities. For the next two weeks she will be living in a dorm with a roommate, attending classes and taking field trips, completing a project and getting a chance to see Philadelphia up close.
It's really a great idea and one I wish had existed when I had to make the decision of which college to attend. So, if you have a son or daughter, this is something definitely to check out.
This was certainly a lot nicer a weekend than the last. You could actually go outside and do something without worrying about the state of your health.
Sunday, before we dropped our niece off at the university, we had a chance to show her and her parents around a bit of the historic area of Olde City and Independence National Park. We also took a walk over to South Street, which even on a Sunday morning is a pretty active place. My niece's father wanted to have a cheese steak at Jim's. We walked past Jim's at 11:30 am and noted that they did not open until noon so we kept walking towards Front Street planning to arrive back at Jim's by noon.
We actually arrived back at about 11:50 am only to notice that the line outside the door was about a block long! Since time was a problem, we had to skip it this time around.
That is just another sign that life in the city is really on an upswing. For a Sunday morning the city was really hopping with tourists and locals alike.
One thing I would really like to see is more control over the prices that the parking lots near Delaware Avenue charge. Have you even noticed that on a weekday you can park all day for as low as $3.00 but more often for $5.00? Look out, however, on the weekend, especially when there is an event at Penn's Landing. The price jumps to $8.00 and often as high at $10.00.
The parking garages in the area are no better. If you park all day and arrive before 10:00 am, the cost is $6.75 in many places. If you want to park for 3 hours on a Saturday or Sunday, the price is $9.00. So, here's a tip, of you go into the city often for two or three hours at a time, get a roll of quarters. You can park at one of the readily available meters in Olde City, many along Front Street, for $1.00 per hour, up to three hours.
Philadelphia is a pretty friendly city, but it's not very friendly to someone trying to park a car.
Well, that was my weekend. I hope yours was great. We'll catch you again on Wednesday. You can join me in our chat room almost every evening - Philly Chat - or drop me a note at philadelphia.guide@about.com. Also, be sure to check out our new Philadelphia Forum where you can share your comments and feelings, ask questions, post classifieds and much more.
If you missed any of our recent columns you can still catch them:
John Fischer's
Philadelphia 06/23/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 06/25/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 06/28/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 07/05/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 07/07/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 07/09/99