During the last weekend in May, nine tall ships from the eastern U.S., Bermuda and Portugal dock at Penn’s Landing. The four-day event includes a waterfront festival, tours of the boats and admission to the Independence Seaport Museum. You can also take 90-minute or two-hour cruises; while the tickets aren’t cheap, these ships are the real deal. If all you want is a good look, the view from Ben Franklin Bridge is $0.
Philly in the summertime means drinks on stoops and on rooftop bars, fireworks on the parkway, block parties, festivals in Philadelphia, midnight pretzels, baseball games in the open air, and bricks and concrete baking away in the sun. Also, everywhere, a vapor cloud of hot garbage. Sometimes you can lean in and embrace it all. Other times, you’ve got to hang it up and escape to where the air is fresh. That could mean going hiking near Philadelphia or taking one of a slew of fun day trips from the city—but why not up the adventure factor and get yourself on a boat? But how? Glad you asked—we’ve got some fun ideas for tubing, kayaking, canoeing and more below.
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