Also this issue:

Art
-Sam Adams, Nate Chinen, Deni Kasrel, Patrick Rapa, Robin Rice and Toby Zinman

Night Lights
A CP theater critic takes on Lights of Liberty.
-David Anthony Fox Illustration by mario zucca

Oh Captain, My Captain
Camden's Walt Whitman House is a find for poetry aficionados and amateur historians alike.
-Karen Williams

Death and Statues
Looking for an art outing? Try Laurel Hill Cemetery.
-Robin Rice

Wise Guides
CP staffers took to the streets to rate a selection of area tourist traps on a scale of one to five tricorn hats. (Five hats means it's a don't-miss destination, one hat means stay home and rent a movie.) Arch Street Quaker Meeting House
-CP Staff

June 6-12, 2002

cover story

Broke-Ass Summer

Where to go when your dough is low.

by Daryl Gale Illustration by don haring

So your funds are at a minimum, and a night on the town sipping $15 martinis and mingling with the black-clad posers in Old City is out of the question. Ditto taking in a hit show or even a ballgame. So what do the financially challenged do for fun in this town? More than you might think.

If you can get yourself down to South Street, check out Bob & Barbara's, between 15th and 16th. The drink specials are affordable even if you're an art student. Three bucks gets you a shot of Jim Beam and a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon, plus a no-cover show if you go on weekends to catch Nate Wiley and the Crowd Pleasers, or one of the struggling but often pretty good local bands during the week. And the special is not just a happy hour come-on. It is, as they say, the everyday low, low price. Directly across the street at the Tritone, your measly three bills buys the same drink special, except you'll get a 16-ounce bottle of Pabst instead of a 12-ounce can. Beat that with a stick. There are also great bands at the Tritone, so, as long as you're not hungry, you've got yourself an evening. If you're still in a drinking mood, try Dirty Frank's at 13th and Pine or McGlinchey's on 15th near Locust. There you'll also find quite reasonably priced refreshment and more than a few kindred spirits, long on personality and charm but short on cash.

And if you do get hungry? Well, you can go for an $8 tourist cheesesteak, but on your budget you should consider one of the food carts on corners everywhere in Center City. Steak sandwiches are usually about three dollars, meatball sandwiches two dollars and soft pretzels are three for a buck. Don't forget that all the fast-food joints now have dollar menus, so lunch on the cheap is a very real possibility. And you'd be surprised at how filling three pretzels can be when you wash them down with cheap beer.

There are always lots of readings and discussion groups at bookstores like Borders and Robin's, and they're usually free. Famous and not-yet-famous authors, poets and playwrights read their works all the time, and as a bonus, by attending a reading you can look like an intellectual scholar even if the last book you read was Green Eggs and Ham. Of course, you can consult the back of this newspaper for times and dates, but rarely a week goes by without several readings, so you're almost sure to catch one.

If you're the sporting type, head to the Longknockers Driving Range in Fairmount Park, at 33rd Street in North Philly. For three dollars you'll get a paint bucket full of balls and a driver, enough to keep you swinging until your shoulders ache and your hands swell. Or shoot a little pool at Mosconi's at 21st and Oregon in South Philly. The hourly rates are dirt cheap, and you can spend an entire afternoon improving your bank shot for less than five bucks.

If you're on a date, there's no end of romantic spots to take a stroll, like Penn's Landing, Rittenhouse Square or Boathouse Row on Kelly Drive. Just because you're broke there's no excuse to sit at home feeling sorry for yourself. Get out there and feel sorry for yourself in public like the rest of us.

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June 10, 2004
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