Traveling During a Pandemic: Philadelphia
Eager to explore a new city, Brian and his friend Will ventured to the City of Brotherly Love the last weekend in July. Brian revealed what their experience was like visiting Pennsylvania's largest city during a pandemic.
Q. Where did you fly from and to, and did you have any layovers?
A. Will and I flew nonstop from Akron Canton Airport (CAK) to Philadelphia Airport (PHL) on American Airlines.
Q. What was your check-in experience like at your starting airport?
A. I was thrilled and delighted to fly out of the new wing at Akron-Canton Airport, which is absolutely beautiful. Here are some pictures I took upon departure...
Q. What were the main things you noticed about traveling to Philadelphia during a pandemic?
A. The biggest bummer was that all the museums and restaurants (with indoor seating only) were closed. I really want to go back to Philadelphia in the future to see all the cool museums and specifically the Liberty Bell.
For restaurants you could only sit down and eat if the restaurant had outdoor seating. That limited us with food options, but Will and I were very impressed with Moshulu, which is a restaurant aboard a pirate ship which qualified as outdoor seating. The live music was great and the view of Camden, NJ was lovely.
Q. How did you make your experience memorable?
A. Since we couldn’t do museums we found other fun things to do such as the Philly Segway Tour. After a brief safety lesson on the Segways we were given whisper sets (headphones) where we could hear commentary of the city from our tour guide as we traveled all over the city on our Segways. I was very impressed to Segway past the original White House as well as City Hall, which was gorgeous.
Also, we were huge fans of Reading Terminal Market (which was open!), which is an indoor marketplace for many vendors to sell food, coffee, drinks, souvenirs, etc. It’s very brightly lit and aesthetically pleasing. (Fair warning: the smells are all over the place!)
Q. Did you try a Philly Cheesesteak?
A. We did! However, we quickly learned that some of the main Philly Cheesesteak places that you must try are actually tourist traps. We were not very impressed with the cheesesteaks, but when we go back we’ll make sure to do better research to see and ask where the locals get their cheesesteaks (which differs from where the tourists get theirs).
Q. Anything else you recommend?
Spend lots of time by the Delaware Riverfront – that’s where the action is! Lastly, make sure to run up the Rocky Steps and get your picture with Rocky!
While many people are waiting for international travel to pick back up, there are several amazing trips you can take in the beautiful USA. If you have a trip in mind or have questions about planning a trip, give us a call or email us. We'll make sure you can travel safely while having a great time.
