Philadelphia and the Countryside - Press Room

Those interested in seeing President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration in Washington, DC on January 20, 2009 will be hard pressed to find a hotel room in the nation’s capital, but hotel availability is currently plentiful in Philadelphia—just two hours from DC by train and three hours by car or bus—and the affordable Philly Overnight® Hotel Package includes many irresistible perks such as free hotel parking.

Where To Stay:
Visitors can take their pick from the more than 30 hotels in the city and region offering the popular Philly Overnight® Hotel Package, a two-night offer that comes with free hotel parking

An Elvira-hosted Halloween party, Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary and a reading of The Raven at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site are just a few of the reasons why fans of the ghoulish holiday—conveniently taking place on a Friday this year—should spend the weekend in the city. Seasonal events and affordable hotel packages are available at gophila.com/halloween. Here’s a sampling of packages worth considering for All Hallows Eve 2008:

All About Elvira:
Haunted Halloween Bash Hotel Package – Elvira hosts one of Philadelphia’s biggest Halloween parties in the hotel where Bram Stoker penned

Openings:

• Please Touch Museum and Centennial District – When it opens on October 18, 2008, the children’s museum’s new location in Fairmount Park’s Memorial Hall—a National Historic Landmark built in 1876 for the Centennial Exhibition—will boast three times more space for exhibitions and programs. Just outside the museum, kids and adults will also delight in riding the meticulously restored 1908 Woodside Park Dentzel Carousel. (215) 963-0667, www.pleasetouchmuseum.org
• President’s House – Within close view of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Center, the President’s House Commemorative Site, to be erected in 2009, will mark the location of the nation’s

Last chance, last chance! That thought will run through a million minds as people from all 50 states make travel plans to Philadelphia to see Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, presented by Mellon Financial Corporation. And, ticketing for out-of-towners couldn’t be easier. Two un-timed, VIP tickets come with every booking of the King Tut Hotel Package. (That means visitors can see the show at anytime during exhibition hours.) Philly is the final (and only East Coast) stop of the pharaoh’s current North American tour. The Franklin Institute will host the blockbuster show, on view February 3

More than 3,000 years after his death, ancient Egyptian boy pharaoh King Tutankhamun is about to rule once again: this time his empire consists of Philadelphia and The Countryside™, and his reign will last not a decade, but seven months, from February 3 through September 30, 2007. The landmark exhibition, entitled Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, presented by Mellon Financial Corporation, is making Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute the last stop on its North American tour. To welcome Tut, his royal family and the record-setting number of visitors who will visit the exhibition, leaders from the cultural, educational