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Photo: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
It used to be open only to medical students, but this collection of medical oddities is quickly becoming one of the city's most popular attractions. Not for the faint of heart, this museum includes lots of items in formaldehyde, lots of skeletons, and one of the only women to ever decompose into soap.
The Mütter Museum is a medical history and science museum located in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. It contains a collection of anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment. The museum is part of College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The original purpose of the museum, founded with a gift from Thomas Dent Mütter on December 11, 1858, was for the education of medical professionals, medical students, and invited guests of College Fellows, and did not become open to non-Fellows until the mid-1970s.
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The newest of the city's parks, but already becoming one of the most popular. For a century, Philadelphia's waterfronts were cut off from its residents by industry and an extensive system of railroads. Now gone for decades, the waterfront is a kaleidoscope of residential development, recreation, and good living. Center City's ongoing Renaissance is being charged by new amenities such as this urban river-side park, which carves its way deep into the city, culminating in South Philly.
As close to a central park as one can get in Philadelphia. Only 4 blocks west of Broad St and the main business areas, it is an oasis in the heart of the city. It is surrounded by tall buildings, and there are many nice restaurants in the area. Summer concert schedules are listed in the park. The square was named after a patriotic leader David Rittenhouse. As you explore through the square you will see outdoor art exhibits, several art sculptures, annual flower markets, a reflecting pool, and many people having a picnic or watching their children play. Some places to eat near here are: gelato and sorbetti shop Capogiro, Starr restaurant Continental and the Marathon Grill. Lodging includes the Four Seasons Hotel, AKA Rittenhouse Square, Rittenhouse Hotel, and the Ritz-Carlton. Cultural hot spots are the Kimmel Center, Wilma Theater, Prince Music Theater and the Philadelphia Horticultural Society. Another activity that one can take part in when in Rittenhouse is shopping. Some places include Barnes & Noble Booksellers (with a Starbucks Cafe inside on the 3rd floor), Armani Exchange, Philadelphia Runner, Guess, and just a few blocks away is the Liberty Place.
Not just a natural history museum, this institution also has an active research arm and library. Highlights of the museum include a 2-story dinosaur exhibit, a butterfly walk-through area, and a children's nature center with live animals. It is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas.
This museum attracts some of the top scientific exhibits in the world, including special exhibits that change every few months. Be sure to walk through the giant-sized human heart, a favorite with kids. Also features planetarium and the immense Tuttleman IMAX Theater and its four-story, domed screen with fifty-six speakers. This museum is incredibly popular as a field trip destination for local schools, so mornings and early afternoons on weekdays may be crowded with schoolchildren.
Hourly tours (Tu-F 11AM-4PM) take visitors through this fine old townhouse owned by a pair of rare-book dealers, which has grown into a museum and archive. The Maurice Sendak room, full of his sketches and pages, also contains Herman Melville's own bookcase, which holds the copy of Moby-Dick he inscribed to Hawthorne. A handsome double library on another floor holds Joyce's manuscript for Ulysses. On the top floor, poet Marianne Moore's Greenwich Village living room has been installed, to go along with the Rosenbach's trove of Moore papers.
Neighborhood has some good restaurants and pretty tree-lined streets. The charming 2400 block of Panama, supposedly, has been re-created on a Hollywood lot for the show Cold Case. A Saturday morning farmers' market runs spring-fall.