What Can You Do In Philly In One Afternoon?

A surprising amount, actually.

You can visit the Trenton Avenue Art Festival, which was the hipster mecca of the tri-state area this particular Saturday afternoon. The main event of the fest? The Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby!


What is "kinetic sculpture derby", you may ask? It's a valid question. I was as confused as you were when I first heard of it. Luckily, it's relatively simple. Also, Wikipedia can help.

Basically, people get creative and make float-type or other related contraptions and build them onto their bicycles. And race. It's a delightful combination of art and good ole sportsmanship. Please see the following examples:

Apparently casinos are a contentious issue in Philadelphia? Who knew!

You've gotta appreciate this troupe of creepy Wizard of Oz flying monkeys display here.

After you're done with sculpture derby, you can head across town to the Reading Terminal Market and sample the various wares (often Amish made).

Delicious vegetables

Oyster bar

Delicious authentically Amish apple dumpling!

The Amish close up shop around 5, so we did not get to see the delights of the AJ Pickle and Patch Salads. Sigh.

Next up you can visit Society Hill, and see tons of cute little historic things. Such as old rowhomes that like to display their Patriotism by flying outdated American flags.

Or you can visit a bar called the Artful Dodger. Doesn't he look artful and dodgy? I mean, look at that coat, the untied shoelaces and that smirk.

Or you can wipe your boots off at any one of these nifty little things scattered around. Too bad I wasn't wearing boots.

Lastly, if you want to see kinetic sculpture derby in action, I present you with a handy video of some of the action this afternoon.