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richlevy · 03-24-2013, 03:05 PM

Consider going to the Barnes Foundation. Up until recently it was a private exhibit that the owner set up in his will to be housed in his mansion in the Philadelphia suburbs. A combination of pressure from Philadelphia and his neighbors not enjoying the public attention got them to partially break his will a few years ago and move the exhibit to Philadelphia.

The wiki article correctly deals with the controversy.

I have not been to the new digs, but from the one of the pictures on the website it appears that at least part of the will is in effect in that pictures are grouped on the walls and combined with objects and small pieces of furniture that the original owner set up.

To be clear, the original purpose of the Barnes Foundation was as a school and teaching establishment and not a traditional art museum. It would have been much cooler if you could have seen it before the move to Philadelphia. I went there twice in my life, once in high school and maybe ten years ago with my family.

Check the park service for changes due to sequestration here at http://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/hours.htm

I would have recommended the free underground Franklin Court but it is closed for renovations. The Benjamin Franklin Post office and Postal Museum is still open and they will hand cancel envelopes so you can get a souvenir for the price of a stamp. The printing museum is next door. A few blocks aways is the National Constitution Center (NCC) and Benjamin Franklins grave is catty corner to it http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...id=364&page=gr . The grave is next the to sidewalk behind a fence. People put pennies on his grave for some reason.

The Philadelphia Mint gives free tours http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/?action=philadelphia and is a short walk from the NCC. On the other side of the NCC, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve has a free exhibit about money http://www.philadelphiafed.org/educa...ney-in-motion/ .

Almost everything that I mentioned, except the Franklin Post office, is in or surrounding Independence National Park which is a 4x1 city block rectangle http://www.nps.gov/common/commonspot...e=Independence . Independence Hall is inside the rectangle at one end and the NCC is at the other and the Liberty Bell is near the middle. The Mint and the Fed Reserve are surrounding the NCC on the West and East, with restaurants and the Franklin Post office about a 2-3 block walk. If you park at one of the garages in the park and don't mind walking 5 or 6 miles, you can see all of it while parking your car once.

I highly recommend restaurant.com or groupon for restaurants. There are deals everywhere. Philadelphia has a pretty good Chinatown for food, which is about 1/2 mile northwest of the NCC.

The NCC costs some money, as well as the Barnes, but almost everything else I mentioned is free and maintained by the Postal Service, the Park Service, the US Mint, or the Federal Reserve.

Let us know when you get in. I would love to meet you for dinner. It's been about 2 years since I've been to Chinatown.

Heat in the summer is hit and miss. In colonial times, people would sleep on their roofs because of the heat.

BTW, Harleysville might be 45 minutes to Philadelphia at 3am, but during the day add a half hour.

03-24-2013, 03:05 PM	#9
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	Consider going to the Barnes Foundation. Up until recently it was a private exhibit that the owner set up in his will to be housed in his mansion in the Philadelphia suburbs. A combination of pressure from Philadelphia and his neighbors not enjoying the public attention got them to partially break his will a few years ago and move the exhibit to Philadelphia. The wiki article correctly deals with the controversy. I have not been to the new digs, but from the one of the pictures on the website it appears that at least part of the will is in effect in that pictures are grouped on the walls and combined with objects and small pieces of furniture that the original owner set up. To be clear, the original purpose of the Barnes Foundation was as a school and teaching establishment and not a traditional art museum. It would have been much cooler if you could have seen it before the move to Philadelphia. I went there twice in my life, once in high school and maybe ten years ago with my family. Check the park service for changes due to sequestration here at http://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/hours.htm I would have recommended the free underground Franklin Court but it is closed for renovations. The Benjamin Franklin Post office and Postal Museum is still open and they will hand cancel envelopes so you can get a souvenir for the price of a stamp. The printing museum is next door. A few blocks aways is the National Constitution Center (NCC) and Benjamin Franklins grave is catty corner to it http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...id=364&page=gr . The grave is next the to sidewalk behind a fence. People put pennies on his grave for some reason. The Philadelphia Mint gives free tours http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/?action=philadelphia and is a short walk from the NCC. On the other side of the NCC, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve has a free exhibit about money http://www.philadelphiafed.org/educa...ney-in-motion/ . Almost everything that I mentioned, except the Franklin Post office, is in or surrounding Independence National Park which is a 4x1 city block rectangle http://www.nps.gov/common/commonspot...e=Independence . Independence Hall is inside the rectangle at one end and the NCC is at the other and the Liberty Bell is near the middle. The Mint and the Fed Reserve are surrounding the NCC on the West and East, with restaurants and the Franklin Post office about a 2-3 block walk. If you park at one of the garages in the park and don't mind walking 5 or 6 miles, you can see all of it while parking your car once. I highly recommend restaurant.com or groupon for restaurants. There are deals everywhere. Philadelphia has a pretty good Chinatown for food, which is about 1/2 mile northwest of the NCC. The NCC costs some money, as well as the Barnes, but almost everything else I mentioned is free and maintained by the Postal Service, the Park Service, the US Mint, or the Federal Reserve. Let us know when you get in. I would love to meet you for dinner. It's been about 2 years since I've been to Chinatown. Heat in the summer is hit and miss. In colonial times, people would sleep on their roofs because of the heat. BTW, Harleysville might be 45 minutes to Philadelphia at 3am, but during the day add a half hour. __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama Last edited by richlevy; 03-24-2013 at 03:13 PM.