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Right off of Jewelers Row, is Craftsman's Row Saloon, an American comfort food restaurant with the kookiest burgers, fries and shakes you've ever had. The space is equally as extraordinary as it is beautifully decorated, with 5,000 feet of garland and over 3,000 decorative ornaments, covering every surface from floor to ceiling.
Their biggest selling burger is the MacDaddy, a double patty burger topped with mac-n-cheese, but for me, getting into the holiday spirit was easy with their Christmas Dinner Burger. It's a double patty with a layer of sweet potato fries, stuffing and cranberry sauce, on a potato bun.
But they are most famous though for their loaded milkshakes. Their holiday-themed shake is called the Ugly Sweater, and there is nothing ugly about it. The glass is dipped in vanilla icing and red and green M&Ms with an eggnog and gingerbread shake inside. There are gingerbread cookies, cherry taffy, whipped cream and sprinkles generously loaded right on top.
The Ice Ice Baby is a brand new concoction. I was the very first person to try the magical blend of birthday cake shake, vanilla icing, blue and white holiday M&Ms, whipped cream, sprinkles, ice rock candy, and two Hostess SnowBalls. It's fun for the whole family, but don't you worry, you can make the shakes "adult" if you want to.
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Make sure you get yourself to the Philadelphia Zoo this season to check out Luminature. You can pay a visit to your favorite animal friends while walking through the zoo grounds that have been transformed into a sparkly winter wonderland.
Everywhere is a photo op, and it's a sensory overload, with brand new light displays, sounds of nature, performances, and seasonal treats.
Christmas Village is an outdoor holiday market right in the heart of Center City. It's modeled after the traditional Christmas markets in Germany with wooden booth souvenir shops, and food and drinks, like waffles, gingerbread, bratwurst, mulled wine, and my favorite, the Raclette Cheese sandwich. A cheese wheel is placed under a heat lamp and melted right onto a crunchy baguette. They topped mine with honey mustard, onions, pickles, and salami. It was love at first bite.
Make sure you catch Part 2 here!