Fairmount

Introducing: Top 5’s! My top picks for cheap fun in Philadelphia.

Introducing: Top 5’s! My top picks for cheap fun in Philadelphia.

First up: Top 5 spots for FREE live music!* The Curtis Institute. Talented young musicians perform solo and chamber pieces nearly every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during recital season at Field Concert Hall in Rittenhouse Square. Fiume. This tiny West Philly hot spot hosts a blue grass night every Thursday featuring the band City-Wide Specials. Bob and Barbara’s. Every Friday and Saturday, from 9:30 to close, veteran jazz musicians, The Crowd Pleasers, bring down the house. The Kimmel Center. Their “Free at the Kimmel” series features a wide variety of musical acts, with most events taking place Saturday or Sunday afternoons. World Cafe Live. Every Friday afternoon at noon, you can get up close and personal with bands big and small, local and national. A great segue to a lunch date, or skip lunch and enjoy a naughty mid-day drink at the bar! *Top 5′s are listed in no particular...

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A Museum Date at the Perelman

Perelman

Museums make great dates. And the Philadelphia Museum of Art is world-class. But at $16 a head, it’s sadly out of range for this cheap dater. And though the museum kindly offers pay-what-you-wish admission on the first Sunday of every month, those days are predictably crowded – not necessarily the laid-back atmosphere you’re looking for on a date. What most people don’t realize, however, is that the Art Museum is not just the big building on the hill; it also includes the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building just across the street. With a stunning art deco facade outside, and sleek modern exhibit spaces inside, the Perelman is plenty impressive in it’s own right. The Perelman has showcased many of the museum’s collections, sometimes for the first time, yet it’s hardly ever mobbed. And because it is a smaller space, you can see everything in one visit without feeling...

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Disc Golfing in Sedgley Woods Park

Disc Golfing in Sedgley Woods Park

I admit that I was a little hesitant at first (ok, resistant may be more accurate) to the idea of trying “disc golf,” “frisbee golf,” (or “FROLF” as my date likes to call it).  But after a few hours spent flinging discs, tramping through the woods, and feigning a competitive edge, I was sold.  This game is really fun!  And being that it’s totally free to play, it’s also a cheap date!  In fact, the Sedgley Woods disc golf course is actually one of the oldest free, public pole-hole disc golf courses in the United States.  A more detailed history of the sport here in Philadelphia can be found here. Disc golf also has the benefit of being an outdoor sport that takes place mostly under the cover of trees — a definite advantage for hot summer afternoons.  And much like standard golf, you can go at your own...

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Get Coffee then Get Creepy at Eastern State Penitentiary

Get Coffee then Get Creepy at Eastern State Penitentiary

There is something kind of exhilarating about having the daylights scared out of you, especially when you have a date’s hand to cling to in the dark.  In October, through Halloween, haunted houses pop up all over Philly and the surrounding area.  These spook shows are fun, for sure –  but they’re not cheap.  Tickets to Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary during off-peak hours are $20, and go up from there.  But, as I discovered on a recent date, this dilapidated prison fortress in Fairmount is pretty darn creepy all by itself, even in daylight hours.  Get your imagination going by trading ghost stories over a cup of coffee at Mugshots across the street, then go walk the long, ghostly halls of Eastern State, which many believe to be haunted. If you dare. Why this will impress your date: Because being scared on a date is kind of...

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