For better and worse Rittenhouse Square is a bubble. It’s Philadelphia’s nicest, ritziest, and energetic neighborhood yet retains a comforting feel. It’s noisy but not overwhelming. There are nooks that are a respite from the city, despite still being in the middle of the city. The downside to the bubble is that I wonder how much people who live in Rittenhouse know about what happens outside their and nearby neighborhoods. The life of someone living in Rittenhouse Square and someone living in Northeast Philadelphia are worlds apart. In one world you are living amongst the skyscrapers, in the other you are looking up from a distance—that’s as much metaphorical as literal.
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My views on Rittenhouse have shifted over time, particularly since living in Manayunk. I need to be careful to not over stereotype and group Rittenhouse residents together but I’ve always viewed them as your classic limousine liberals—they are cool with the city’s sanctuary city status and safe injection zone plans…so long as those activities stay out of Rittenhouse.
In an unorthodox comparison I think they are similar to Angelinos in the sense that they seem blissfully ignorant to the rest of the city. They aren’t arrogant in thinking Rittenhouse is the greatest neighborhood but they seem ignorant to the world beyond Market, Broad, South and the Schuylkill. |
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LA COLOMBE COFFEE
130 South 19th Street
The Original La Colombe and a must stop for any coffee lover. With regards to third wave coffee (the ultra high quality, artisanal stuff) there's Stumptown and Intelligentsia, and maybe Counter Culture, then there's La Colombe. Is it the best coffee in the city? Possibly. Is it the most iconic and "historical" spot to get coffee? Yes. The interior is a bit sparse. I average a 50/50 split between drinking the coffee in house and wandering over to a bench in Rittenhouse Square.
130 South 19th Street
The Original La Colombe and a must stop for any coffee lover. With regards to third wave coffee (the ultra high quality, artisanal stuff) there's Stumptown and Intelligentsia, and maybe Counter Culture, then there's La Colombe. Is it the best coffee in the city? Possibly. Is it the most iconic and "historical" spot to get coffee? Yes. The interior is a bit sparse. I average a 50/50 split between drinking the coffee in house and wandering over to a bench in Rittenhouse Square.
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MUTTER MUSEUM
19 South 22nd Street
http://muttermuseum.org/
Search for "off the beaten path" or "unusual attractions" in Philadelphia and I guarantee the Mutter Museum will be on the list, likely at the top. The "museum" houses a collection of medical oddities ranging from several fetuses and skulls to the crowd stopping eight foot colon which is 27 inches in circumference at its widest. The museum has become a victim of its success - it's so "off the beaten path" that it's become a popular attraction.
On an overcast, Saturday, January afternoon everyone decides to descend on the Mutter Museum. The museum is poorly designed to handle large crowds. First it's small space. Second the objects in the displays are small which requires guests to be near the glass to see the object and read the descriptive plate. Third the layout is as tight as a Whole Foods. If there's no one at the museum the $18 entrance fee would be a deal. On a crowded Saturday I tried as best as I could to make the loop through the two major exhibit areas, made sure to see the colon and the equally creepy photo of the guy from where it came, and was on my way. The other draw back is that there's no photography allowed.
The Mutter Museum also provides a brief historical medical overview. Philadelphia has always been a leader in medical developments and there are several exhibits that highlight this past. On a side note, The Gross Clinic, arguably the most famous (and only?) painting of a medical operating room is based on a Philadelphia facility. There's an exhibit that contains medical surgical equipment that was used in the Civil War and throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. We've come a long way.
19 South 22nd Street
http://muttermuseum.org/
Search for "off the beaten path" or "unusual attractions" in Philadelphia and I guarantee the Mutter Museum will be on the list, likely at the top. The "museum" houses a collection of medical oddities ranging from several fetuses and skulls to the crowd stopping eight foot colon which is 27 inches in circumference at its widest. The museum has become a victim of its success - it's so "off the beaten path" that it's become a popular attraction.
On an overcast, Saturday, January afternoon everyone decides to descend on the Mutter Museum. The museum is poorly designed to handle large crowds. First it's small space. Second the objects in the displays are small which requires guests to be near the glass to see the object and read the descriptive plate. Third the layout is as tight as a Whole Foods. If there's no one at the museum the $18 entrance fee would be a deal. On a crowded Saturday I tried as best as I could to make the loop through the two major exhibit areas, made sure to see the colon and the equally creepy photo of the guy from where it came, and was on my way. The other draw back is that there's no photography allowed.
The Mutter Museum also provides a brief historical medical overview. Philadelphia has always been a leader in medical developments and there are several exhibits that highlight this past. On a side note, The Gross Clinic, arguably the most famous (and only?) painting of a medical operating room is based on a Philadelphia facility. There's an exhibit that contains medical surgical equipment that was used in the Civil War and throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. We've come a long way.
The Rosenbach, a rare book museum is a fitting attraction for the haughty, taughty Rittenhouse neighborhood. First, the Rosenbach is on one of Philadelphia’s most beautiful blocks, a block so beautiful it has its own name, Delancey Place. Second, I’ve always wanted to see what the homes in this section of the city looked like, in all their glory, before they were subdivided into condos—the Rosenbach is a Rittenhouse row house its full glory. So who were the Rosenbach’s and how did they obtain all these rare books? The Rosenbachs were brothers and book distributors during the early 1900s. There was some great European literature from the likes of James Joyce, etc. that was released while the Rosenbachs acted as one of a few distributors of European books in the U.S. In their role, they obtained several copies of books, sold some, kept others, and over time built an impressive collection of books that one hundred years later are literary benchmarks. The early 1900s also saw a resurgence in the wealthy collecting historical artifacts such as artwork, sculptures, and books. For books, the Rosenbachs acted as a broker and accumulated historical books that they were unable to resell. This includes many original copies of Poor Richards Almanac. Beyond the book rooms are several grand rooms that show off that the Rittenhouse row homes are as amazing on the interiors as they are on the exteriors.
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Rittenhouse is home to many great restaurants, many local restaurants/bars that have been in the neighborhood for years, such as The Happy Rooster, home to Philadelphia based Urban Outfitters flagship store, a branch of the New York based Shakespeare and Co., the original(?) La Colombe coffee, and is simply a great place to wander or not wander—just grab an open table at Parc, Devon, or Rouge—if you can.
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