Hello,

Over the Memorial Day weekend we will be staying a day or two in Philadelphia after or before visiting relatives in Wilkes-Barre. I have a few questions about the Philadelphia area:

1. Is the Holiday Inn Independence Mall o.k. to stay at? It looks a little run down on the HI web page to justify the $159/ night price (the price on the web page...I am sure my travel agent could get a better price).

2. Are there any B&B's near Independence Mall that we should consider instead? We want to stay near the Mall to walk to all the historical sites.

3. How long does it take to get to Valley Forge by car? How do you think the traffic will be on that weekend?

4.I want to visit a curtain shop (yes, a curtain shop ) in Greenville, DE just outside of Wilmington, DE. How long does it take to drive to Wilmington from the Mall area? Does the traffic get bad on I95 Memorial weekend between Philadelphia and Wilmington?

I know that this is alot of questions. I will appreciate any replies.

Kittie

Kittie,

I live in Philadelphia. The Thomas Bond House (b&b) is wonderful (but could be booked as it is small). They have an 800 number. Location is in Society Hill and you could certainly walk to all historical sites. Your $159/night rate at Holiday Inn sounds expensive, although this may due to holiday weekend. Second choice would be Sheraton Society Hill. Phone and ask if there are any weekend pkgs.

It would take approx. 30-40 minutes to reach Valley Forge. Traffic should not be a problem as long as you avoid am or pm rush hour.

Wilmington, DE could take 30 minutes or more, depending on road construction.

Hope this helps.

Yo Kittie,

I hope you enjoy your stay. In answer to some of your questions:
3. VF by car should (operative word) take about 35-40 mins without rush-hour traffic or an accident tying up I-76 aka Schuyllkill Expressway aka "Surekill Distressway". Also, there may be a rowing regatta on the Schuyllkill River that weekend which will tie up I-76-check it out before going. If you still decide to go you might also want to visit "The Land of the Mall" in King of Prussia-huge mall with tons of upscale shops.

4. I-95 between Phila & Wilmington will
be undergoing construction & will either be closed (forcing you to take I-495)or will probably be slow. Under normal circumstances figure on about 30 mins., but circumstances will not be normal when you're coming, so all bets are off.

There's always a big festival of some kind that weekend at Penn's Landing, which is not far from Independence Mall. Otherwise, the city empties out with people heading "downa shore" (to the beach in NJ).

Check out the Reading Terminal Market & get a hoagie, cheesesteak, pretzel, tastycakes, and water ice while you're here-just ask a local for the best around.

Elaine and Chris:

Thank you so much for the info and advice! Chris: gotta get a Philly cheesesteak- my vet who is originally from Philly raves about them!

I do have another question:

How long does it take to get to Atlantic City, and is this somewhere we would want to drive to that weekend (traffic and all)?

Thanks again!

Kittie

Kittie,

Atlantic City is an easy drive from center city. Should take about an 60 minutes. However, I'd rather 'eat dirt' than make this trip on a holiday weekend. On the otherhand, if you drive to AC on Sunday, the traffic may not be too terrible. If you decide to 'wing it', listen to am radio-KYW, 1060. They give traffic updates constantly.

Elaine,

Thank you for the advice!

Kittie

I would second all the above. I would agree if you can get in at a B&B or the Sheraton that would be preferable. But I used to walk by the Holiday Inn on my way to work and it didn't seem bad. The neighborhood isn't bad and it is very convenient to the Mint, Independence Hall, etc. I would agree with the comment re driving to AC on a holiday weekend. I live in South Jersey and worked in Philly. I did that drive every Friday night for years.
Plus I have seen the traffic going that way on Saturday mornings until at least
noon. It's bad!. There might be some small window in the 2-3PM Saturday time frame when you miss the morning people and the evening gamblers. Have a great trip!

Pat,
Thank you also for your advice.

Due to my boyfriend's "corporate discount" we ended up making reservations at the Comfort Inn on Columbus Blvd. We got a great rate considering the holiday weekend.

Btw, many hotels had rooms available for Fri-Sun, but didn't have rooms available for Sunday night. Is there something special happening on Sunday night? Fireworks maybe?

I am very excited about visiting Philadelphia! I love to visit historical sites and I think that in Philadelphia I may have 'hit the mother-lode' .

Kittie

I'd agree with the above posts re: AC. If you're an early riser however & you get on the road by 6AM Saturday you should cruise to AC relatively easily(1.5 hrs). I might suggest however that you go to a nearby town for the beach (Ocean City, Stone Harbor, Sea Isle City) since AC's beach is pretty dirty & not very scenic & relaxing. Go to AC's casinos that night, or go to the honky-tonk boardwalk of Wildwood which is further south. Huge boardwalk with great rides & tons of food options. Either way the shore will be packed & coming back Sunday or Monday will be a crawl unless you leave by 6AM or after midnight.

Thanks for the info, Chris.

We will definitely travel on the 'off hours'.

Kittie

Kittie, here's a link to info about the weekend music festival: http://www.jamontheriver.com/main.asp

This might be the reason why hotel rooms are scarce in Phila that night. Even though the event is in a new location this year, the Comfort Inn is still one of the closest hotels.

FYI, we have stayed at the Comfort Inn several times (and will again that weekend, unless something better turns up.) It's very decent and clean, and as you would expect, pretty low-frills. It's a quick stroll to the historical sites you're interested in. Try for a room w/ a river view (as opposed to the parking lot.)
Helen

Helen,

Thank you so much for the info and the review of the hotel! It always is nice to hear from someone who has actually stayed at the hotel that you have reservations at . We did get a riverview room for $116/ night with a AAA discount.
The music festival sounds great! We love things like that. Thanks for the web page.
A change though, I ended up getting a terrific rate ($75.50) for an Econolodge in Atlantic City for Friday night, so we will be only staying 2 nights in Philly ( Sat and Sun). We will take our chances on the traffic and go directly from the airport to AC... There's a Hard Rock Cafe there, too so we *have* to go there .

Kittie

Oh, btw, An ammendment to my original post... it was a bad weekend for the realtives, so we will be just going up to visit Philly and Atlantic City (and hopefully the curtain shop!).
Kittie