Fodor's Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Dutch Country

by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc.

• ISBN13: 9780679034056
• ISBN10: 0679034056
• Edition: 10th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-02-01
• Publisher: Fodors Travel Pubns

Summary

"Judith Lee, an entitled descendant of the Korean royal family, has grown quite accustomed to the privileges of the aristocracy. Unfortunately for her, royal descent does not equal money. Her family lost their fortune long ago, and when her parents add insult to injury by cutting off her allowance upon her graduation from Yale, Jude (as she is known) learns the hard way that her fancy upbringing has left her unprepared to deal with her monstrous debts. As she hobnobs in New York with her clever, wellborn friends, she is introduced to Madame Tartakov, a charismatic Russian emigre, who has the solution for Jude's financial woes. The catch: Jude must put in two years at "Tartakov's Translation Services" - a front organization for the flock of high society girls, collected from all over the world, who now work as Manhattan's most coveted courtesans." "Jude's taste of the good life convinces her that she's right at home in Madame Tartakov's luxurious Upper East Side town house. She has finally found a job that uses the unique skills of a blue blood, and she is quite taken by the fiery classical violinist who pays for her "companionship" - that is, until she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Joshua Spinoza, a penniless philosophy student who has a stutter and poor taste in wine, and who leaves the opera at intermission because he thinks it is over." "Dark forces begin to test Jude's already limited moral fiber when she discovers not only that she is falling in love outside her clientele, but that an illegitimate relative is harboring a grotesque secret and something catastrophic is hidden in the family archives." "Ultimately, Jude is forced to take a good, hard look in her warped antique Tiffany mirror. Is being born into a world of privilege a gift? Can bad things really happen to blue bloods? And perhaps more startlingly: are courtesans nothing more than prostitutes in Prada?"--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

About Our Writers Each year the Gold Guides are written and updated by more than 500 resident writers

New This Year Keeps you up to the minute on recent changes

How to Use This Book Describes organization, icons, and other key information

Don't Forget to Write Tells you how to get in touch with our editors

The Gold Guide: Smart Travel Tips From A to Z An easy-to-use section divided alphabetically by topic

Under each listing you'll find tips and information that will help you accomplish what you need to in Philadelphia

You'll also find addresses and telephone numbers of organizations and companies that offer destination-related services and detailed information and publications

Destination: Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Dutch Country Helps get you in the mood for your trip

New and Noteworthy Cues you in on trends and happenings

What's Where Gets you oriented

Pleasures and Pastimes Describes the activities and sights that make Philadelphia unique

Great Itineraries Helps you make the most of your time

Fodor's Choice Showcases our top picks from special restaurants and one-of-a-kind accommodations to out-of-the-ordinary sights and activities... Let them inspire you! Festivals and Seasonal Events Alerts you to special events you'll want to seek out

Exploring Philadelphia Guiding you to the best of Independence Hall, the Old City, Society Hill and Penn's Landing, Center City, Rittenhouse Square, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Fairmount Park, Southwark and South Philadelphia, Germantown and Chestnut Hill, and Manayunk

Dining Shopping Nightlife and the Arts Outdoor Activities and Sports Shopping Side Trips from Philadelphia The Brandywine Valley, Valley Forge, Reading and Environs

Bucks County Lancaster County, Hershey, and Gettysburg Portraits of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Dutch Country "Portrait of an Amish Family," by Carolun Meyer, and related books and videos that use Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Dutch Country as a backdrop

Index Maps

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Pleasures and Pastimes

The Spirit of 1776
Many Americans think they know something about the birthplace of the nation: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson's drafting of the
Declaration of Independence, the sayings of Poor Richard, the signing of the Constitution. Still, these grade school facts and figures do little
to prepare you for the actual Philadelphia experience. To walk through "America's most historic square mile" -- Independence National Historical
Park -- is a tour that exercises not only the feet but the spirit. Who can fail to be moved by the words "proclaim liberty thro' all the land,"
inscribed on America's best-loved relic, the Liberty Bell? The story begins in 1753, when the Provincial Assembly, meeting at Independence Hall, notified the British Parliament of its refusal to "make laws by direction." The meeting of the Second Continental Congress in 1775 then lighted the fuse for the American Revolution. The spirit of 1776 found its fullest expression as Congress acted on Richard Henry Lee's famous Resolution for Independence. Today, Independence National Historical Park continues to embody America's noblest ideals.

Oh, Dem Golden Slippers
Buttoned-up Philadelphia explodes in a tidal wave of sequins, feathers, riotous sound, and pageantry every New Year's Day: the Mummers
Parade. For this day of sudden liberation, the City of Brotherly Love dons "dem Golden Slippers" and cakewalks up Broad Street in a parade that
outglitters Las Vegas. This little shindig, initially brought from England, had its American beginnings early in the 19th century, when gaily
costumed groups rang doorbells, seeking donations after reciting rhymes intended to explain their strange garb. Add in Philly's heritage of
minstrel shows and vaudeville, and you wind up with today's 12 nonstop hours of song, dance, and costumed splendor. If you're not in town for
this phenomenon, you can still catch its flavor at the Mummers Museum; the Mummers also stage a summer parade around July 4, during the city's Welcome America! celebration.

Philly Fare
Philadelphia has finally managed to beat those cordon bleus. For decades gourmet groupies wrote the city off as a lackluster dining center.
How things have changed! In 1994 Philly was named the best restaurant city in the nation, according to the Condé Nast Traveler's
readers' poll. The soufflé continued to rise with the opening of the Striped Bass, hailed by Esquire as Restaurant of the Year. And
the béarnaise never curdles at Le Bec-Fin, which some epicureans cite as the greatest temple of French gastronomy in America. Today the
city holds stellar Italian and Chinese restaurants as well as notable seafood and steak houses, not to mention a wide variety of ethnic
eateries. Quintessential Philly dining spots include the City Tavern -- called by John Adams "the most genteel tavern in America," Reading
Terminal Market, and Pat's King of Steaks. Pat's aficionados claim that nothing is more delicious than a cheese steak -- served with onions,
spitting fat, and drizzled with real melt-in-your-mouth provolone.

The Emerald City
Envisioned by William Penn as a "greene countrie towne," Philadelphia is famous as a city with a green thumb. It counts its trees as avidly as a miser counts gold and now claims more than 2 million -- maples, elms, oaks, beeches, and poplars -- scattered among city squares, parks, streets, and innumerable backyards. The city's main "garden" is Fairmount Park, the largest municipal park in the world. For Philly at its
flower-spangled best, check out some of the great Society Hill house gardens. Continuing evidence that Philly is "the city with the country heart" is the annual Philadelphia Flower Show -- the largest indoor horticultural event in the world -- held every March at the Pennsylvania  convention Center. Events throughout the city celebrate Flower Show Week. Around the area other gardens beckon, whether it's the Morris
Arboretum, in the city's northwest corner; manicured Longwood Gardens, in Kennett Square; or the springtime splendors of Winterthur, near
Wilmington, Delaware.

Artistically Speaking
Artistically, Philadelphia has always been fertile aesthetic territory. From the innovative, probing realism of such 19th-century masters as
Thomas Eakins and Robert Henri to famous collectors like the McIlhennys and the Arensbergs -- among the first Americans to collect Monets,
Matisses, and Duchampses -- Philadelphia has always played off the contrast between its traditionally staid origins and a lively interest in the
new. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Barnes Foundation, with a collection of 175 Renoirs alone in its Merion mansion. Out in the
Brandywine Valley, the Brandywine River Museum showcases the art of native son Andrew Wyeth and his famous family. Thanks to the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Painted Bride Art Center, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Museum of American Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the city's art scene remains as spirited as ever. The performing arts rival the fine arts, with the Avenue of the Arts development on Broad Street serving as a new focus for venues as diverse as the Academy of Music (home of the Philadelphia Orchestra), the Wilma Theater, and the Philadelphia Arts Bank, among others.

Sportsmania
Philadelphia is one of the only three cities on the East Coast with four professional sports teams -- the Phillies (baseball), the Eagles
(football), the 76ers (basketball), and the Flyers (hockey) -- teams that claim devoted fans. But there's another sport at which Philadelphians
are expert: spectating. Forget about just passing the popcorn; be prepared to throw snowballs at Santa Claus! Visiting teams say they've never
seen anything like the behavior of Philly's sports fans, whose hijinks make events at the CoreStates Center and Veterans Stadium shake, rattle,
and roll.

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Excerpted from Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Dutch Country: With Bucks County, Gettysburg and Valley Forge by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.