Sorry for the long post, but with a month to go until my trip to Philly, I'm right in the middle of planning. Hopefully, some of you who know the city well can help me with some info and suggestions. I'll be in Philly from February 1st-10th, going to four games in that time and in between I have time to fill with touristy things.
Subway. The tourist sites I looked at all said the subway as such was pretty safe. I'm planning to use it mainly to get to and from games (my hotel is near the Race-Vine station), so it'd be only a few stops on the Broad Street Line. Do a lot of fans use the subway to get to WFC? (And especially to get back, riding it alone at night is something I'd avoid if people say it's not really all that safe).
Wifi. Free Wifi hotspots are a necessity to me because my data plan does not cover the US. Starbucks is one of the usual suspects, and Reading Terminal Market claims on their homepage to be a free hotspot, but what about the WFC? I read somewhere that it was a free Wifi hotspot, can anyone confirm that?
Bookstores. I'll be checking out the Barnes & Noble on Rittenhouse Square for browsing for its size, but I'm a big fan of small independent bookstores. So if there's some great independent bookstores you can recommend, let me know.
Sights. So far, my touristy list of things to do include: Cheesesteak at Jim's, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, Rocky statue and steps, Eastern State Penitentiary, One Liberty Observation Deck, The Franklin Institute, maybe the Zoo or the Aquarium, maybe the Blue Cross River Rink Winterfest.
Any other recommendations? I'm open to all kinds of things except for art museums, especially the lesser well-known things that don't show up on every tourist site and in every guide book.
Thanks so much in advance, and Happy New Year everyone!