Washingtonians may want to lace up their walking shoes when exploring the true and authentic Philadelphia, our capital city’s northern sister.
With its simple grid layout designed by William Penn, this “City of Brotherly Love” happens to be one of the best walking cities in the country. And the exhilaration of discovery lies on its wonderful side streets and back alleys filled with hidden gems.
Just steps away from the hectic activity of main thoroughfares, the tiny neighborhood streets — often the width of a single car — are filled with diverse shops, alfresco dining in homey cafes, museums, parks, and interesting residents ready to strike up conversation.
Sidewalk warriors, start your engines.
Located on the tiny alley called Drury Street, McGillin’s Olde Ale House is an absolute must for those in need of authenticity and libation. Just around the corner from City Hall, the oldest city bar in continuous operation serves up its two house specialties – McGillin’s Real Ale and McGillin’s Genuine Lager. But as current owner Mary Ellen Mullins will tell you, her pub also serves a hearty dose of atmosphere and history.
“People want to hear the story of McGillin’s,” she said. “It was owned by the McGillin family for 100 years, then for 35 years by my uncles, and finally by my husband and me for the last 17 years.”
With a strong emphasis on seasonal beers from the world’s best brewers to accompany her dishes, Mullins noted that business was brisk with holiday visitors. Now, however, she approaches slow time with locals and their acquaintances.
“The [patrons] all know us as an old-fashioned pub that has a history to go with it,” she laughed.
Delancey Street is one of the many interesting side streets in the Rittenhouse Square section of the city. Here, Colonial structures sit side by side with contemporary counterparts, such as the Rosenbach Museum & Library, which houses one of the world’s greatest collections of manuscripts, literature and rare books. Among the many treasures, visitors will want to check out Lewis Carroll’s own copy of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and the earliest extant letter of George Washington.
Keep walking toward a “first” in our nation’s history — Elfreth’s Alley, the country’s oldest continually inhabited street. Named for blacksmith and property owner Jeremiah Elfreth, the alley was initially home to 18th-century artisans and tradespeople, the working class and backbone of Colonial Philadelphia.
Dena Driscoll is the director of 126 Elfreth’s Alley, a museum consisting of two original, adjacent row houses. Open to the public, one of the dwellings was initially occupied by two female dressmakers, the other by a chair maker. Interior rooms filled with period furniture correspond to exteriors fashioned of Flemish bond brickwork. All sidle directly up to cobblestone streets.
“Elfreth’s Alley is one of three preserved working-class streets in the country,” Driscoll said. “Over time, there have been more than 3,000 people who have lived on this street.”
East Passyunk is a great street for eats. Here, family-owned Italian restaurants as well as upscale eateries provide the visitor with tasty nourishment to walk the stretch of 13th Street from Chestnut to Locust. Known as Midtown Village, dozens of specialty shops there will offer the visitor great mementos of life on the side streets and back alleys of Philadelphia.
