Philadelphia recommendations, summer special snowflakes inside

There's a great jogging/biking path on the east bank of the schuykill that runs from the south street bridge all the way up into fairmount park. Perfect for a 3-5 mile round trip run.

Go eat at the Sahara Grill (on Walnut St between 13th and Broad. Also, Broad = 14th street, fyi). It's a great Lebanese place and is a nice longish walk from Penn right down Walnut, or you can easily take the el there. Northern Liberties is a fun neighborhood to check out. Take the el to Spring Garden Street and walk north on 2nd street (then back down 3rd and 4th). There are tons of restaurants and bars there. Also, spend an evening in Old City (unless you like the just barely post-college bar scene, go on a weeknight). The Reading Terminal is really great too, but I don't think it's open in the evenings. If you can sneak out for lunch, it's definitely worth a visit. There's also the perennial recommendation: the mutter museum. If you like medical history and specimens, you'll love it. If you're easily squicked out, you might want to skip it. Philadelphia's a great city for walking - there are lots of great neighborhoods that are accessible on foot or via public transit from Penn, so just go for a walk and check them out.

Walk over to the Phila Museum of art and catch the Philly Phlash Bus. You can ride it all day for $5 and hop on and off as much as you want. It takes you through much of the city so you can go and explore more. Get to the parks in the eves. Rittenhouse Square and possibly Clark Park for activities. Check out www.uwishnu.com for happenings. Penn might still have their botanical gardens that you might like. See a show at World Cafe Live.

Make your way down to the gorgeous main branch of the http://libwww.freelibrary.org/branches/branch.cfm?loc=cen. It's open till 9 on weeknights.

All suggestions above are great. I just want to add in that you definitely will not need to drive, at all. Besides taking the Phlash, you could take the green or blue lines into center city, or even walk (it would take about 30 min, but you might not want to walk there too late) . The Art Museum is close by and definitely worth a visit. Hop on the blue line to go to Chinatown (get off at 8th and Market and walk north); it's fun to walk around, with some cool shops and restaurants. Chinatown is in center city and not far from Rittenhouse. Like people said, the city is very walkable, especially center city, and it won't get dark till close to 9 so you're fine. City Hall at 15 and Market is pretty cool to walk through and look up at!

There's a ton of good and mostly cheap food in West Philly/University City, especially if you like food from around the world. I don't get over there much but know there are restaurants clustered along Baltimore Ave and also I want to say Chestnut. Little Baby's ice cream is not cheap but is delicious and memorable. The popsicle shop is also very good. Neighborhoods around Clark Park are nice to walk around. For libraries, we have tons. My favorite to look at is the Furness Library at Penn. The central branch of the Free Library is also great. The Library Company usually has interesting exhibits, and the Athenaeum is like going back in time from what I remember. Also it's on Washington Square, which is lovely. The Rosenbach museum is another. The Schuylkill Banks trail is very nice, and extends to a trail along Kelly Drive that's scenic. The Wissahickon would take a bus or train ride to get to (or very long jog) but is beautiful. Uwishunu, City Paper, and Philadelphia Weekly will have event listings. And yeah, you have to go to Reading Terminal Market. Center City includes a couple neighborhoods, all of which are nice to walk around in, and I would also recommend Queen Village and Passyunk (east of Broad) depending on what you like to look at. Just avoid Old City Friday nights, it's nice during the day and week nights. If you walk across the South St bridge you can either get on the Schuylkill trail or wander north and eastish through Fitler Square neighborhood and up to Rittenhouse Square. They also just opened two pop-up parks, one at 15th and South and one at Penns Landing on the Delaware around Locust. I haven't been but the one last year was really wonderful.

In terms of healthy/cheap restaurants, I would recommend http://www.fuelrechargeyourself.com/menu.php. I've only been to the Center City location, but I've enjoyed it. Plus, wandering down Walnut Street is always fun. Closer to Penn, there are two http://hipcityveg.com/menu/ locations, if you like vegan food. Nthing the central branch of the Free Library; you might want to see if you're interested in either of the http://libwww.freelibrary.org/authorevents/ they'll have while you're in town. The http://muttermuseum.org/ http://www.penn.museum/ I would recommend close at 5, but the http://www.philamuseum.org/visit/ is open until 8:45p on Wednesdays and Fridays. I would second wandering around Old City one evening as well. I didn't grow up here, and it still amazes me to casually wander by http://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/independencehall.htm. If you're interested in American history, I think the free (or cheap, if you book online) tour is worth it (and you don't need a ticket after 5:00p, according to their website). (I am less impressed by the http://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/libertybellcenter.htm, and seeing it from the sidewalk is perfectly sufficient to me, but it's also free if it's a must for you.) http://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Thank you so much, guys! I ate at Capogiro today and it was amazing! Tomorrow will be the first day actually venturing into other parts of the city, but I've enjoyed walking around the Penn area. We ate dinner as a group at Tap House and Distroto. I still need to eat a cheesesteak, and I'm hoping to visit Reading Terminal Friday afternoon when the conference ends early. Thanks again, guys!