• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

The canopy walk at Morris Arboretum's new exhibit.   (Photo: Paul Meyer)

Hop on the Septa R8 regional rail at Suburban, 30th Street, or Market East stations for a less-than-an-hour ride to cobblestoned Chestnut Hill, a tony enclave flush with Victorian homes and dozens of one-off boutiques. Stop first in the consignment shops lining Germantown Avenue. The women of Bird in Hand (8419 Germantown Ave.; 215-248-2473) have a special knack for acquiring upmarket household goods and tableware. Fashion Forward stocks choice designer labels—Laundry, Gucci, Prada—while Worth Repeating (7900 Germantown Ave.; 215-247-1422) is where to score the odd pair of Manolo Blahniks. Grab a to-go slice of vegetarian whole-wheat pizza at the Night Kitchen Bakery and enjoy it in the nearby World War I Meditation Garden (Mermaid Ln., at Germantown Ave.). Afterward, stop at the Apothecary Garden to pick up a bottle of organic or wild-crafted herbal tinctures before grabbing a short cab ride to the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania ($14 admission), a 92-acre historic public garden with over 2,500 types of exotic plants. View the Wissahickon Valley forest from 50 feet above on the "Tree Adventure" exhibit that opened in July.

Published on Sep 2, 2009 as a web exclusive.