Out on the Town - Museums After Dark

Museums After Dark

When living in a city, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of great experiences. Often it is difficult to keep track of all the goings-on associated with city living. We here at The What Magazine pride ourselves on finding colorful ideas for making the most of your urban experience with Out on the Town, a feature highlighting the latest and greatest in your city.

In recent years, many museums have moved beyond your typical programming to offer a variety of cool events and happenings after regular operating hours. These evening events are often intended to attract the 21-35 crowds, and therefore usually include food, tasty adult beverages, and a main attraction that the type of people who are reading this would enjoy.

Pickelodeon: Philadelphia Science Festival 2012

Welcome to Pickelodeon, a little feature where we review all that is reviewable in the world. Pickelodeon is your one stop shop for the inside scoop on the best restaurants, bars, movies, music, events, and anything else you want to hear someone else's opinion on before you try it. Drop us a line in the comment box for any suggestions on what we should review next!

Philadelphia Science Festival 2012

If you have not been to a Philadelphia Science Festival event, you are missing out. Learning about chemistry and mechanics with beer, using comedy to discuss sexual impulses and food cravings, discussing instinct and survival in the context of a zombie apocalypse, speed dating, scavenger hunts, quizzo, and more make this fest unlike any science classroom you could imagine. The Philadelphia Science Festival is so cool that this is the second time we're reviewing it! (You can check out last year's preview here and the review here)

The 2012 Festival built upon the success of last year's extravaganza and the entire year of planning that went into this event shows. The Franklin Institute staff that run the Festival have outdone themselves and set the bar high for the 2013 event, assuming the aforementioned zombie apocalypse doesn't happen before then. Let's take a look at a few events that have stood out from this year's festival.

Day Tripper - New York State of Mind

One of the many perks of living in Philadelphia is its proximity to so many snazzy places. Philadelphians are within a two or three hour drive of the mountains, the ocean, and some of the coolest and most important cities in the world. With that in mind, the What is proud to present Day Tripper, our guide to the numerous fun trips you can take in and around the Philadelphia region.

New York State of Mind

 

Taking a day trip up to New York City is always a great time. Last time Day Tripper visited the Big Apple, we kept it touristy and stuck around Times Square. Now it's time to move on and check out another part of NYC. I had been itching to check out the Brooklyn Bridge and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum for awhile, and decided to combine the two for a nice walking tour with my pops. What we found along with the two main attractions led to a fantastic day trip.

Subway Serenade
The day began early, as I met my Dad at 30th Street Station around 8:30AM. Making the trip with someone who was just as interested in walking the legen-(wait for it)-dary Brooklyn Bridge and visiting the Tenement Museum definitely added to the fun. We hopped on SEPTA's Trenton line, departing at 8:49 and rolling into the Trenton Transportation Center around 9:30. From there, we hopped on a New Jersey Transit line headed into Penn Station in Manhattan, arriving around 11AM. One short ride on the A train took us to High Street in the heart of Brooklyn Heights.

Checklist - March 2012

The internet is full of magical, mystical things. So much, in fact, that it is sometimes hard to sift through all of the crap to get some decent information. In the interest of providing you with colorful ideas for everyday life, we here at the What present the Checklist so that you may find some helpful information from other sites along with a comic that makes us giggle.

Pizza + Beer = Happy
Mamma Mia Pizza Beer
Two of the greatest things on earth. The two reasons your friends will help you move. The two mainstays of any house party. Finally, they are together as one. A couple from Illinois took homebrewing to the next level when they created Pizza Beer. That's right, pizza-flavored beer. This is probably one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time, so check out their site and order some Pizza Beer!

Common Grammar Mistakes
Lit Reactor
There are more than enough websites, blogs, and such dedicated to poor grammar, but this one from Lit Reactor focuses on some of the more forgotten rules. Even the staunchest Grammar Nazi will be alarmed to find that they have been mistaken. I have probably broken several rules in this column alone. Regardless, check out these 20 Common Grammar Mistakes and improve your ability to correctly communicate.

Monthly Top Five - December

Hey, remember the What's Weekly Top 5 feature? So do we. The only problem is that it rarely came on a weekly basis, so we're switching gears. In  High Fidelity, the characters compare their top fives in a variety of categories. Being big fans of both the film and novel, we here at the What bring you our Weekly Monthly Top Five, a feature focused on five fantastic things that you should become familiar with.

Reasons to Visit Philadelphia in 2012

The City of Brotherly Love is a fantastic destination for arts and culture. With a great selection of museums, galleries, and theaters, there is no shortage of fantastic cultural institutions to choose from. While many flock to New York for theater or Washington for museums, Philadelphia has the best of both worlds. In 2012, several exciting events and exhibits are scheduled to be the highlight of Philly's cultural calendar.


5. Philly (Insert Fun Thing Here) Week - Chances are that no matter where your interests lie, Philly has a week for that. During Restaurant Week one can sample a variety of delicacies from the city's stellar selection of top-notch dining establishments. Fashion Week comes twice a year and boasts the best of Philly fashion. After taking a sabbatical in 2011, we can only hope it returns in 2012! If not, one can always find comfort in Beer Week. Beer Week is likely my favorite of all the weeks, as it is the perfect way for Philly's excellent roster of brewers to show their stuff.


4. The Festival Circuit - Philadelphia has become a hotbed for a variety of festivals over the years. With fests celebrating Film, Craft Beer, and all things folksy leading the helm, there are two somewhat newer festivals that lead the pack. In only its second year, the Philadelphia Science Festival looks to be at the top of many to-do lists after a strong debut in 2011 (as discussed by the What here). Perhaps the most anticipated of the many festivals offered in Philadelphia, is the Live Arts & Fringe fest. With a brand new headquarters and an ever-growing roster of participants, the Fringe is always a fantastic fest.

Monthly Top Five - November

Hey, remember the What's Weekly Top 5 feature? So do we. The only problem is that it rarely came on a weekly basis, so we're switching gears. In  High Fidelity, the characters compare their top fives in a variety of categories. Being big fans of both the film and novel, we here at the What bring you our Weekly Monthly Top Five, a feature focused on five fantastic things that you should become familiar with.

Fall Beer

Though we are less than a week away from the biggest holiday shopping day of the year, it is still fall, and there is still plenty of time to enjoy some fall beer. Seasonal beers are always interesting, but there is something special about the fall varieties that stand out. Last year's Fall Beer Tasting was a blast, and while 2011 boasts no official tasting, we here at the What have still done our civic duty by going out and enjoying beer.

5. Saint Benjamin Evening Wheat Dunkelweiss - So maybe a dunkelweiss is not technically a Fall beer, but this brew's overwhelming popularity at the Elfreth's Alley Museum's Brew Fest was undeniable. This up and coming Philadelphia brewery has been making a name for itself by providing exceptional, full-flavored beers like this one at a number of events around the City of Brotherly Love. Saint Benjamin will return to Elfreth's Alley for Deck the Alley with a colonial-style porter, so be sure to check them out!

4. Flying Dog Dogtoberfest Märzen - Sometimes it is easy to get confused by brewery names that are similar like Flying Dog, Flying Fish, and Dogfish Head. Luckily, all three are known for their quality brews. Dogtoberfest is no exception. Nor is Flying Fish's Oktoberfish, for that matter. Admittedly, as you will see after the jump, I was focused on pumpkin beers this year and did not devote enough time to Oktoberfests, but you can rarely go wrong with Flying Dog.

Pickelodeon - Pennypack Wheat Beer

Welcome to Pickelodeon, a little feature where we review all that is reviewable in the world. Pickelodeon is your one stop shop for the inside scoop on the best restaurants, bars, movies, music, events, and anything else you want to hear someone else's opinion on before you try it. Drop us a line in the comment box for any suggestions on what we should review next!

Pennypack Wheat Beer

On October 15, 2011, the Elfreth's Alley Museum played host to Brew Fest. This new annual October event was highlighted by a local home brewer competition. This year's competition was a low-key, anything-goes battle of the home brewers. Four different brewers submitted four very different beers. Ed Coffey, in keeping with the autumn-themed event, submitted a delicious Pumpkin Ale. Bill Shouldis submitted his German-style Roggenbier as a nod to Oktoberfest traditions. Keith Gormley's cleverly-named Magnum PIPA was also submitted along with the eventual winner, Candy Graham's Pennypack Wheat Beer.

All four beers that were a part of this inaugural competition were very popular amongst the judges. Both Tim Patton, owner and founder of Saint Benjamin's Brewery, and John Boswell, owner and founder of the Port Richmond Pour House, agreed that they would gladly pay to drink any of the brews submitted. The judges of the competition liked the spice of the Pumpkin Ale, the full-flavored Roggenbier, and even the non-IPA fans in the group enjoyed the Magnum PIPA. All four beers were so popular at the tasting that the Elfreth's Alley Museum is looking forward to bringing all four brewers back for future First Friday events.

Elfreth's Alley Museum Brew Fest 2011

 Originally posted on the Elfreth's Alley Museum Blog

The mercury has lowered and the leaves are changing, it's October and that means that something wicked this way comes. And by wicked, I mean wicked awesome. In less than a week, the Elfreth's Alley Museum will present Brew Fest 2011, a celebration of our city's sudsy past, present, and future.

During a tour of the museum at Elfreth's Alley, many are surprised to learn that beer was the beverage of choice for Philadelphians of all ages back in colonial times. This little tidbit is much less shocking than the reasons why! Philadelphia has always been a beer haven, from it's first European settlers in caves along the Delaware River right through Prohibition and into the modern trends of micro-brewing and home-brewing.

CHATS
Attendees of Brew Fest will get all the juicy details regarding Philadelphia's rise to prominence in the brewing world. America's best tour guide and noted historian Edward Mauger will discuss Philly's role as the beer capital of the colonies. Also on hand for a chat will be Mixed Pickles director/president of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides, Bob Skiba, discussing the Prohibition Era of bathtub booze and speakeasies. With all of that history, we will also get into current events with a talk on pairing beer with delicious food from the experts at Triumph Brewing Company as well as a quick lesson on how to start home brewing from Saint Benjamin's Brewery.

BREWS
Once your thirst for knowledge is quenched, it will be time for the beer. Leading the charge of participating breweries is our proud sponsor Triumph Brewing Company. With several locations throughout the Delaware Valley, including right around the corner on the 100 block of Chestnut Street, Triumph is a great spot to try some of America's freshest micro-brews while enjoying some particularly delicious eats. Neighborhood restaurant Race Street Cafe will also kindly be donating a couple of kegs to our cause. Joining Triumph and Race Street will be the pirate-friendly brewers of Heavy Seas out of Baltimore and up-and-coming local favorite Saint Benjamin's Brewery. With such a wide selection of beer, you are sure to be satisfied!

GRUB
With the Autumnal Equinox behind us, it would be remiss not to pay homage to the great German tradition of Oktoberfest, albeit a few weeks late. Therefore, to accompany the stellar brews being served there will plenty of snacks to please your palate. Chef Walter Staib of City Tavern and A Taste of History fame is generously donating his delicious German sausages to be grilled on site. If tubular meets are not your thing, feel free to chow down on some soft pretzels, a Philly tradition brought over by early German settlers.

TUNES
Beer, food, and a little bit of learning would be enough for most people, but the Elfreth's Alley Museum wants to give you more. So in addition to all of the above, troubadour Joe Becton will be on hand to entertain you with tavern tunes both past and present as a group of Philadelphians compete to determine who has the best home brew. The winner will be determined by a panel of judges including Elfreth's Alley Association board member Danniel Gaidula, GEDO Project co-founder Adam Piazza, Elfreth's Alley Museum docent Karisa Blake, Saint Benjamin's Brewery founder Timothy Patton, Port Richmond Pour House owner John Boswell, former bartender/current teacher Alyssa McIntyre, and Brian Krisch, who has worked at too many Philadelphia cultural institutions to name.

SWAG
Finally, we have one more thing for you to look forward to for this year's Brew Fest. Each person who purchases a ticket to the event will automatically be given a raffle ticket. Prizes to be raffled off include cases of beer, books autographed by the authors, souvenirs from the Museum Shop at Elfreth's Alley, gift cards to local businesses, tickets to events, and more. There is also the soon-to-be-legendary Swag Wagon. The Swag Wagon is a wagon chock full of all of the aforementioned prizes. One lucky winner will walk home with that wagon. To increase your chances of winning, you can purchase more raffle tickets throughout the evening!

We here at the Elfreth's Alley Museum are eagerly anticipating this huge event and hope to see you there. We also encourage you to visit the links in this article as we would not be able to host this event without the help of all of these wonderful organizations.

SCHEDULE:
6:00 - Doors open
6:15 - Welcome/Food Pairings
6:45 - Home Brew How To
7:15 - Philadelphia: The Colonial Beer Capital
7:45 - Prohibition Preview/2012 Plans
8:00 - Raffle Prizes and Home Brew Competition Winner

Get your TICKETS here!

Weekly Top Five - 9.Aug.11

In  High Fidelity, the characters compare their top fives in a variety of categories. Being big fans of both the film and novel, we here at the What bring you our Weekly Top Five, a feature focused on five fantastic things that you should become familiar with.

Summer Beers

 

Beer is a wonderful beverage to enjoy any time of the year. Yet I find that each year the two seasons I enjoy a cold one the most are in summer and autumn. The seasonal varieties offered by breweries worldwide between May and November are some of the best beers available. After highlighting some of the best Fall Beers last year, this year I'd like to take a look at a few summer offerings. For more information on each selection, click the link to see their pages on Beer Advocate.

5- River Horse Summer Blonde
This New Jersey beer is light, tasty, and refreshing, just as an ideal summer brew should be. While many places did not give it very high ratings, I enjoyed it several times this summer, meriting its inclusion here.

4- Brooklyn Summer Ale
I can not think of a beer from the Brooklyn brewery that I have not enjoyed. This seasonal is consistent with their regular offerings in its taste. For me, this beer replaced last year's favorite: Blue Moon Honey Moon.

3- Troegs Sunshine Pils
While Victory makes my favorite Pils, theirs is year-round and their attempt at a summer ale was lackluster. Troegs, out of Harrisburg, puts out this German-style Pilsener each summer and it was definitely a hit for me this year.

Four Nights in Philly or What to do when it's not Friday or Saturday night

Philadelphia is a fun, vibrant city with a ton of things to do on any given night. If you know where to go, you can find some sweet deals at bars, restaurants, theaters or any number of locations to have a good time. We decided to help you out with finding some of these deals by creating a little weekly calendar that will help guide you through the city and through the week.

Monday: Movie Mondays at the Trocadero (Chinatown)- While Movie Mondays have been going on for quite some time, I actually did not discover the event until Geekadelphia hosted a showing of Machete on January 10th. The cover for this event is $3, and that $3 goes a very long way. If you arrive between the doors opening at 6:30PM and 7PM, you will get a special ticket that is good for one free can of PBR and a small popcorn. Everyone who comes to Movie Mondays also gets a wooden nickel, good for $3 at the bar, and a raffle ticket for prizes to be given out later. In addition to the raffle, there will be trivia based on the film for additional prizes. To give you an idea of the potential for prize winning, as a result of my first time attending Movie Monday, I walked out with $50 of free swag. Not too shabby for a $3 cover. Check out the Troc's schedule to see what movies they have on tap.

Tuesday:  Taco Tuesday (South Philly, West Chester) - Adding the word "taco" to it makes Tuesday my favorite day. I first discovered the joys of Taco Tuesday at Jitter's Sports Bar in West Chester when I had friends attending the school over there. Fifty cent tacos and $3 Coronas kept me coming back for years. These tacos are so good that I'd pay five bucks for a plate of them, so the fifty cent price tag is an amazing deal. For those not willing to make the trip to West Chester, Tres Jalapenos in South Philly gives you all you can eat tacos for $12.99 and Tattoed Mom's on South Street for $1 tacos. There is no shortage of Taco Tuesdays around, so keep your eyes peeled and get ready to enjoy some tacos!

Pickelodeon: PYT

Welcome to Pickelodeon, a little feature where we review all that is reviewable in the world. Pickelodeon is your one stop shop for the inside scoop on the best restaurants, bars, movies, music, events, and anything else you want to hear someone else's opinion on before you try it. Drop us a line in the comment box for any suggestions on what we should review next!

PYT

After reading several reviews of Northern Liberites' most banging burger joint, PYT, it occurred to me that I had yet to review it myself (save for this blip here), which is inexcusable. For an entire year, as I lived in South Carolina, I heard friends raving about this new place at some Piazza that opened up weeks after I left Philadelphia. For one whole year, I heard hype upon hype upon hype about how amazing PYT was, from the menu to the atmosphere to the staff. A twelve month stream of Facebook messages, texts, calls, and more all  hailing this bar as the greatest thing since beer. Yet somehow, despite the mountainous heap of praise I heard, once I experienced PYT for myself, it managed to surpass any hype I had heard. Let me break it down for you.

Weekly Top Five - 3.Jan.11

In  High Fidelity, the characters compare their top fives in a variety of categories. Being big fans of both the film and novel, we here at the What bring you our Weekly Top Five, a feature focused on five fantastic things that you should become familiar with.

Good Decisions I Made in 2010

 

While many people are busy making resolutions for the new year that won't last past next week, I'd like to start off 2011 by reflecting on the positive things I did in 2010. Toward the end of 2010, I started falling into the trap of thinking the year was terrible and that the calendar changing would make everything better. But, after I sat and thought for a moment, I realized that 2010 was one of my best years yet, and here are five reasons why.

5. Snazzed up the wardrobe - Had you asked me prior to 2010 to describe my "fashion sense" in one word it would have been comfortable. I was known for wearing whatever I found comfortable with little consideration for how it looked. Beginning in 2009 I began making slight adjustments to improve my wardrobe, but 2010 was the year when I put a lot of effort into it. With help from sites like Primer Magazine, Dappered, and the Effortless Gent, I gradually improved my style. Instead of wearing a pair of New Balance sneakers with everything, I began alternating between Chuck Taylors, loafers, and dressier shoes. Graphic tees were replaced by solid V-necks and I began shopping at places like H&M and Banana Republic. While I still have a ways to go, in 2010 I made significant improvements to my wardrobe.

PRIMER - Fall Beer Review

Click the image above to be taken to the full article on Primer Magazine's website. Read on for a few notes and quotes that I cut from the final article.

Magic Hat Hex

• "What is fall about this?" Ashley
• "The burp tastes better." Adam
• "Tastes like water." Buddy
• "Bland, unremarkable." Candy

Magic Hat Oktoberfest

• "Tastes better when held in mouth longer." Mary
• Ashley and Patrick noted a fruity, apple aroma.

Abita Pecan Harvest

• "Tastes like disgusting." Debra
• "Not good." Buddy
• "Smells like poop. Pecan taste is failure. Tastes like dirty nuts." Mary

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest Marzen

• "Spunky beer but with a solid taste." Debra

PBC Joe Coffee Porter

• "Smells like Juan Valdez's dirty diaper. Tastes like bad coffee." Debra
• "DON'T LIKE IT!" Charlie

Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale

• "Smells like hop and barley sex." Patrick
• "Smells terrific when first opened, taste reveals over-spicing." Debra
• "Smells great, doesn't follow through on taste - needs more spice." Mary
• "Great smell, good pumpkin flavor and after taste. One of the few beers to use pumpkin well." Charlie

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

• Alyssa noted hints of cinnamon while Debra and Charlie noted that it goes down nice and smooth.
• "This smells happy." Patrick
• Mary suggests that this beer is better when left to warm up a bit.

Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen

• "(It tastes) like someone butt-raped a hop." Andy
• "If you are a hipster vampire, you will love this taste of iron blood beer." Alyssa
• "I'd rather drink my own blood." Alyssa
• "Disgusting after taste." Charlie
• "Tastes like blood. I feel a growing aversion to garlic." Debra
• "Tastes like a blood-flavored corn tortilla." Ashley

Blue Moon Harvest Moon

• "I wish this beer was a snack so I could eat it." Patrick
• "Good, but not fall enough." Adam
• "It goes down easy and smooth but lacks motivation to continue with another bottle." Debra
• "Rich and hearty with a full-bodied taste." Charlie
• "(I) prefer Blue Moon, Harvest Moon is a fail." Alyssa

Magic Hat Odd Notion Fall 2010

• "Great bouquet, watered-down flavor." Charlie
• "Smells fruity but tastes watered-down. The smell is better than the taste." Patrick
• "Apple jolly rancher smell, apple jolly rancher and plastic taste." Adam