Top 10 places to sit in Philadelphia

By Lisa Angelucci
Collegian Editor
March 21, 2007

You might think we’re scraping for topics for the top 10, but in fact, it is now officially spring, and we can expect the yellow tables to soon return to the Union Patio. Once this happens, La Salle students will all be thinking of the same thing – sitting. There are more places to sit besides the tables and benches at La Salle, though, so here are Philly File’s top 10 choices for places to sit in the city of Philadelphia.

1. Seats at the Academy of Music—Not only is the theater beautiful, but there are some really good shows coming up. If you’re lucky enough to score typically expensive parquet seats, then you’ll be watching the performances in style, but the more affordable balcony seats are a little cramped. However, it might be worth it if you make the trip downtown to Broad and Walnut Streets to see Monty Python’s Spamalot, a musical based on the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which will be in Philadelphia from March 20 – April 8.

2. Any table at Café Loftus—This restaurant on South 15th Street serves a gourmet peanut butter and jelly lunch menu. The “gourmet nut butters and jellys,” as the restaurant refers to its sandwiches, are simple enough for even the pickiest college student’s taste but decorative enough to be worth a trip downtown. Examples include “The Elvis,” a grilled peanut butter sandwich stuffed with bananas and honey or “It’s Hazel-Nuts,” hazelnut butter and raspberry jam with cinnamon sugar on your choice of bread. They’ll even cut off the crusts.

3. Any table at The Pop Shop— If we’re going to mention gourmet peanut butter and jelly, we can’t ignore gourmet grilled cheese. This restaurant in Collingswood, N.J. offers over 30 different kinds of grilled cheese. The Pop Shop caters to families, and there’s a chance you’ll be serenaded by 6-year-old’s karaoke, but the sandwiches are a step up from childhood favorites. Named for various streets in Collingswood, the grilled cheese options include “The Lawnside,” with mozzarella, prosciutto and caramelized onions on a French baguette or “The Madison,” with mozzarella, tomato, basil and garlic olive oil on country white.

Think you may be interested in going to a dance? Admission to the dances generally runs about $12. However, students with ID will receive $3 off the admission price, or a person can bring a baked good to the dance and also receive $3 off of admission.

4. Manayunk Stoops—OK, so this art exhibit on the Manayunk Canal Towpath isn’t technically there for people to sit on, it’s really just meant to be seen, but the ideology is still about sitting. Artist Diane Pieri designed nine decorative stoops that were placed on the towpath to symbolize Manayunk’s history and the city’s love of the stoop. Residents of Manayunk and the rest of Philadelphia can often be found on their stoops socializing – these stoop sculptures reflect this social culture.

5. Seats on the Market-Frankford El—The Market-Frankford line celebrated its 100th birthday on March 4. Although SEPTA celebrated that day with free rides, there are still plenty of reasons to take a ride. With stops in University City, Old City and at the Delaware River Ferry, there are tons of good places to go. Besides, considering SEPTA is in desperate need of funding, every token counts, right?

6. The Rocky Steps—There are 72 steps leading to the East Entrance of the Museum, but it can be pretty challenging to run all the way to the top. If you’re not feeling physically fit enough, take a slow walk to the museum terrace and people-watch as all of the other tourists huff and puff their way to the top. Who knows what you might see – Rocky Stories writer Michael Vitez and photographer Tom Gralish were witnesses to a year’s worth of interesting people, including several marriage proposals.

7. Benches at Boathouse Row— On a nice day, after sitting at the Rocky Steps, take a walk down to Boathouse Row and check out the activity in this area. It’s a popular place for recreation, with Fairmount Park’s recreation center, Lloyd Hall, located in the first of the 11 buildings on the row. The rest are all various rowing clubs, but rowing isn’t the only activity that’s popular in this area. It’s also frequented by runners, dog-walkers, roller skaters and many others.

8. Upcoming Internet café at the Central Library—Project H.O.M.E., with support from Bank of America, plans to open an Internet café at the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia by this summer. The café will be off the lobby of the main branch at 19th and Vine Streets. The wireless café is supposed to provide formerly homeless individuals and at-risk teens with a place to learn job skills and transition into the workforce. Metropolitan Bakery will provide baked goods, as well as act as a business consultant.

9. Seats at the Palestra—This historic basketball arena on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus is host to many of the Philadelphia Big Five basketball games, as well as the home gym for Penn’s men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and wrestling. Although this season’s games are over, be sure to check out a La Salle game next year. With seating for almost 9,000 spectators, the arena is an exciting place for a sporting event. There’s no barrier between the crowd and the game – the bleachers end at the floor and allow the spectators to get extra up-close.

10. Anywhere on the Schuylkill Expressway—If you weren’t smart enough to sit in the seats on the Market-Frankford line and decided to drive through the city, chances are you’ll end up in traffic on the Schuylkill. In fact, anyone who travels this highway even semi-regularly probably has at least one horror story about sitting in traffic in Philly. Although it’s not actually a place Philadelphians want to be sitting, the city just wouldn’t be the same if we couldn’t complain.

angeluccil1@lasalle.edu