Summer is over and you can't help but shed a tear that you weren't in Philly to experience what the City of Brotherly Love has to offer during the summer months. Thankfully, Street is here to tell you the best summer tours you can still catch before the sun officially sets on summer 2006.
Lights of Liberty
PECO Energy Liberty Center
6th and Chestnut Streets
(877) GO-2-1776
Until Oct. 28, Thu-Sat,
$16.50-19.50 general
www.lightsofliberty.org
Relive the days of our Founding Fathers by enjoying the nighttime spectacular that is fast becoming a Philadelphia summertime institution. Lights of Liberty is a tour unlike anything you've ever experienced. Unlike traditional tours, participants do not simply follow a guide from site to site. Instead, the tour combines a stirring musical score with elaborate visual projections to captivating effect. So come don your audio headsets and walk in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin. It's your turn to take up the lights of liberty and, hell, who doesn't harbor a secret desire to be a patriot? Specially priced promotional tickets are available.
Once Upon A Nation
Adventure Tours
Free Quaker Meeting House
500 Arch St.
Until Oct. 28, Fri-Sat, $25-70
(215) 629-4026
www.onceuponanation.org
Once upon a time someone had the brilliant idea of using costumed interpreters to tell history as a story. Unbeknownst to them, this suggestion would give way to Once Upon A Nation. During the summer months, the company offers everything from storytelling benches stationed at prime historic locations to evening performances of 1776, the interactive movie-musical. While there are fewer activities during the fall, this is no reason to abandon ship. This time of year, Once Upon A Nation still enthralls Philadelphia visitors and residents alike with its Adventure Tours. Tours vary and include such exciting offerings as a three-course dinner at City Tavern and ghost stories, along with more typical historic sights. Regardless of whether you find yourself dreaming nostalgically of your bygone childhood or are mesmerized by the thought of visiting Edgar Allen Poe's grave, Once Upon A Nation has a tour for you.
Public Sails
475 N. 5th St.
Until Oct. 28, Sat, 7-9 p.m., $25
(215) 413-0451
www.citysail.org
Everyone loves to sit back and relax, and most of us relish the opportunity to feel the wind in our hair and smell the salt of the ocean, but how often do we really get to do so? Can we say, umm . never? Landlubbers, take heart. For those of us who lack the time or the money to invest in a sailboat, Public Sails has the answer: the general public can enjoy sailing on its 75-foot schooner, the North Wind. Evening sailings showcase numerous sights of interest along the Delaware River, including the USS United States, USS New Jersey and the former US Navy Yard. But act fast - reservations and pre-payment are required.
Philadelphia Art
Museum District
Tours
I-Glide Segway Tours
Until Nov., Mon-Sun, 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 7 p.m., $49-69
(877) Glide-81
www.iglidetours.com
Remember the days when tours were limited by how far you could walk? There was only so much you could see before your legs gave out and that was that. Well, those days have come and gone. Sightseers of the world, watch out. History has met its match in the segway, the two-wheeled transportation device that has taken California, and now Philadelphia, by storm. Join I-Glide Segway Tours and see Philadelphia's Art Museum district as the artists of old never could have imagined - on a segway. And don't worry, your tour comes complete with a wireless headset, training and equipment and a knowledgeable tour guide. Reservations are required.
Neighborhood Tours
Philadelphia Trolley Works
5th and Market Streets
Until Oct. 28, Sat, $27
(215) 389-TOUR
www.phillytour.com
The people at Philadelphia Trolley Works can take you all over the city of Philadelphia, past the usual tourist spots in their popular neighborhood tours. With four different tours, one for each Saturday of the month, Philadelphia Trolley Works is sure to please even the pickiest traveler. Tours allow participants to experience Philadelphia on a more personal level and cover such regions as Northern Liberties, University City, the Underground Railroad and Chinatown. With the exception of Chinatown, which is explored on foot, the other neighborhoods are examined onboard a classic Victorian trolley. If you want an insider's view of Philly, look no further than Philadelphia Trolley Works.
