Hello,

It's totally out of topic, sorry about that, but I am already planning my christmas holidays. And I know that many Stones fans are from Philly so here is the best place to ask my questions.

I plan to go to Bernville, the Christmas town, is it worth it?
I also plan to go to the Hershey Park.
Finally, I would like to know if it's worth it to spend the 31 of December in Philadelphia? Everyone says that NYC is magical, but too crowded and too expensive for me.

Thank you in advance for your answers

Benjamin.

It's always sunny in Philadelphia ....



ROCKMAN

If you like American history, Philly has got the liberty bell and such, but I don't know much else about it. Unless you're mad about chocolate, skip Hershey Park, but then I don't really like amusement parks of any kind.

The City of Brotherly Love is it's trademark name.

I'm sure it's got some wonderful areas and people too but a quick search shows it has annual crime rate of 494 crimes per square mile. The national average is about 38. But no doubt Santa Clause visits there too, probably just keeps the reindeer warmed up in case he has to make a quick exit.

Philly was a great place to go party and attend concerts when I lived on the East coast of the USA. South Street in Philly was an always happening place to go, though, what it's like today I don't know. One of the best looking areas of any city I've visited was/is the Rittenhouse Square area of Philly. Beautiful old homes and buildings. As for New Year's Eve in Philadelphia, I would guess they have a downtown thing for partiers along with a fireworks show. The Mummers Parade was/is a Christmas season thing in Philly if I remember right. You can search new year's eve in Philly for more info.

Regarding the crime statistic cited, that would indicate, if the calculator is telling true, about 70,500 crimes for the entire square mileage of Philadelphia. If it's the daily rate, wow, are the cops in Philadelphia puttin' in some serious time. If it's the yearly average per square mile, divide it by 12 and you get an average of around 42 crimes per month per square mile which, for a major city may be okay...or not...depending on your view. Many crimes in most places are street assaults, domestic disputes/assaults, burglaries, thefts of various kinds, etc. I only note this from the years I worked in the area of criminal law and the crimes we dealt with. And, remember, like any large city, be aware from researching whatever city you're interested in whether you are planning to visit or relocate there, there are parts of it you do not want to venture into unless you have a very compelling reason. I grew up in and lived in Baltimore for many years. There are parts of the hometown I still have never ventured into.

So, all said and done, read up on Philly, watch the first three Rocky movies for a taste of what the city looks like, go visit, do Reading Terminal, the Liberty Bell, a stroll along the walkway in the park that runs beside the Schuylkill River, have a cheesesteak at Gino's, and enjoy yourself.

I didn't mean to be sensationalistic about crime in Philly. I really don't know how to interpret crime statistics and Philly is probably just as safe as any other big east coast city. Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's house, some good pubs and the road in and out of town are my clearest memories.

The following cities all have more violent crimes per 100,000 people than Philadelphia.

Detroit
Oakland
St. Louis
Memphis
Stockton
Baltimore
Cleveland
Atlanta
Milwaukee
Buffalo
Kansas City
Nashville
Indianapolis
District of Columbia
Miami
Toledo

does this list look familiar? looks a lot like the cities the stones visited on the zip code tour? exactly right. it's a list of big cities in the USA basically.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-08-06 02:54 by Turner68.

I made a beeline for the Hershey factory when the Stones played in the area. The tour (free) is unexciting. There are Hershey kisses (also free) at the end, but not really an opportunity to vacuum huge amounts.

Yes, Philadelphia has the liberty bell - but you might trip over it as it as it is so small. All the Chinese tourists were laughing at it, and the park ranger got defensive and blamed the media for misrepresenting it. The Rocky steps are fun - as also seen a few years ago in that tear-jerker Audioslave video.

As far as New Year's festivities, depends in part where you're coming from, your cold-weather tolerance, and what you want to do with or without family/friends.

Who is from Pennsylvania???
I don't think so!

London, England I believe.

Plus: Someone in Philadelphia murdered HitchBOT.

You might also want go beyond the 'Rocky' steps and into the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You'll be more exhausted after viewing all the great works of art than running up those steps.

Philadelphia has The Mummers Parade on Jan 1st which is a day long parade with people in costume marching. Philadelphia crime is on par with most large metropolitan areas. Pretty good places to eat as well. I would stay in the Center city area of the city. The parade is a city tradition and a lot of fun. Google it and check out the images.

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nightskyman
You might also want go beyond the 'Rocky' steps and into the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You'll be more exhausted after viewing all the great works of art than running up those steps.

great tip. is the barnes museum now open too?

I would say visit the art colony town of New Hope in Bucks County, north of the city. Impossibly romantic.

Harmony or Old Economy Village might be an option if you are interested in history.It is not the big city experience but they have nice events over New Years Eve.


harmonymuseum.org/
oldeconomyvillage.org/

After the Philly 2 concert, I ended up walking around the city all night. It was a good time and the people were great.

Hershey is to chocolate as Budweiser is to beer.

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DeanGoodman
Plus: Someone in Philadelphia murdered HitchBOT.

Yeah ain't that sad? Hitch crossed Canada without a glitch and 500 miles itno his US trek he gets maimed in Philie.
I hope they didn't rape him/it before they dismembered him/it. Maybe one of the assaulters did and got electrocuted? ><

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Turner68

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nightskyman
You might also want go beyond the 'Rocky' steps and into the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You'll be more exhausted after viewing all the great works of art than running up those steps.

great tip. is the barnes museum now open too?

That I don't know, must check their website I guess. Special hours as it is smaller and more focused on particular artists.

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Carnaby
I would say visit the art colony town of New Hope in Bucks County, north of the city. Impossibly romantic.

You're right, nice handholding, strolling kind of deal. Good restaurants, too. Scenic on the Delaware River. Due north is the great geological formation the Delaware Water Gap.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-08-06 15:07 by nightskyman.

Also, for pure touristy crap, there's Independence Hall Park. Independence Hall is awesome.

Almost forgot Ben Franklin's university (University of Pennsylvania) due west.

Also, why not a stroll through Fairmont Park?

Hershey Park is great if you're taking kids ... if you're a civil war buff (a la Keith Hernandez), you also have Gettysburg as an option

I've done three school field trips to Gettysburg and would go back again. The Antitiem Battlefield is worth a trip too, it's in Sharpsburg, MD, about an hour from Gettysburg.

I recommend
The Mütter Museum
Eastern State Penitentiary

Yes, the Mutter Museum is great!

Also, again if you have kids, there is the Franklin Institute

Also, just thought of it ... Dorney Park is actually better than Hershey Park ... you get rides that are just as good, if not better, and the incredible Water Park

And if near the Pittsburgh area, you can see the incredible Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater house!!

I actually am from PA so let me help you out a bit.

"I plan to go to Bernville, the Christmas town, is it worth it?"

You're talking about Koziar's and while it is cheese beyond belief it is worth a visit to see the spectacle that it is. I hate Christmas and yet I take the family every year simply because there is nothing else like it.

www.koziarschristmasvillage.com/

"I also plan to go to the Hershey Park."

Hershey Park also has a display of lights during the Christmas season and part of the park is open during that time but none of the large coasters are open (can't run them in cold weather). So there are a lot lights, everything is well decorated and the admission is cheap compared to what they charge during the year just know that most of the park is not open.

www.hersheypark.com/seasons/christmas.php

Also, comparing Hershey to Dorney for this is irrelevant as Dorney is not open past Thanksgiving, even during the summer season their water park is highly overrated and the type of clientele from NJ and NY that comes into the park leaves a lot to be desired. I live fifteen minutes from Dorney and have not been to the park in ten plus years yet I'll happily drive to Hershey to go to the park or to Hershey Gardens.

The other FYI about Hershey is that the name might be associated with chocolate but at this point it's only a name. The chocolate scent that would permeate the entire town is nearly gone as that part of the process is mostly done in the Baltimore area and Hershey has made a good portion of their chocolate in Mexico since they opened a factory their in 2007 which employs 1500 people. Even the iconic 100+ year old East Chocolate Avenue building right by the park with the smoke stacks was sold off in 2012 although Hershey does still lease some of the space from a NYC based real estate company.

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LeonidP
And if near the Pittsburgh area, you can see the incredible Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater house!!

Surely you're not forgetting the Warhol Mueseum?!? How are you a true Stones fan if you don't think of that first...? Then again...

After traveling thru Europe and parts of the North East US, Hitchbot the Robot got beheaded in Philly - better watch what neighborhoods you go into.

Pittsburgh is a 6 hour drive from Philly, NYC is a little over an hour (80 miles).